“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.” ― Bernard Shaw

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The serious problems with Biblical™ counseling.

I have been writing about my concerns with the “biblical” counseling movement for several years. Here are many of the posts I wrote on the problems of this quasi-licensed (they are not), poorly trained, and poorly supervised movement within the mostly hardcore Reformed churches, many of which like to say they are Reformedish. This movement focuses on sin and eschews confidentiality. In other words, they may report a person to their pastor due to a “sin” discovered in counseling. Do you think I’m exaggerating? I have the proof. In 2024, I wrote The Pain of Living With Bipolar Disease in a “Biblical Counseling” World, which provides a summary of other articles I have written.

TWW readers are well aware of my concerns regarding the biblical counseling movement. I am not a fan of ACBC (Association of Certified Biblical Counselors). On 12/23, I wrote Biblical Counseling Is Neither Professional nor Biblical. Let the Buyer Beware. I am including these posts for readers with questions about my concerns about this worrisome counseling method.

At the beginning of this post, Did Southwest Baptist University (Missouri) Deny Tenure to Behavioral Health Faculty In Order to Promote Unlicensed *Biblical Counseling?,* you can find links to several posts that I have written that express my profound dismay of the development of this counseling method usually found in the evangelical morass.

• Part 1: The Biblical Counseling Movement and Timberlake Baptist Church and Counseling Center
• What is the Difference Between Nouthetic and Biblical Counseling? Just the Spelling.
• Biblical Counseling Training: Inadequate Education, Problematic Resources and Questionably Educated Leaders
• Heath Lambert Channels Martin Luther (As If) and Writes the 95 Theses of Biblical Counseling
• Heath Lambert’s 95 Theses of Biblical Counseling Reminds Me of Bob’s Advice in Stranger Things 2: It’s All Easy Peasy.
• John Piper and Heath Lambert of the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors Views of the Mind Demonstrate Why We Have a Problem With the Biblical Counseling Movement
• Biblical Counseling: Anyone Can Do It, Sin Is the Focus, Confidentiality Is Not Guaranteed and Women Should Beware
• Another Reason to Avoid Biblical Counseling: Confidentiality Is Not Guaranteed When Sin™ Is Involved
• Julie’s Story, Part 1: Of Domestic Abuse, Association of Certified Biblical Counselors, and Cross Walk Church, Appleton, WI
• Julie’s Story Part 2: Shame on ACBC and Cross Walk Pastors. They Failed Julie and Then Blamed Her For Not Reporting Child Abuse Sooner
• Association of Certified Biblical Counselors and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary: People With Delusions May Be Faking It and Christians With Schizophrenia Are Probably Not Christians!

Let me summarize what the reader will find if they have the time to read through these articles that attracted some attention from those outside the Biblical™ counseling movement. I use the trademark symbol with the word “Biblical” since those enmeshed in this world claim they are being faithful to the Bible, and those outside of the movement are not. It’s their made-up world. To claim that a talented and faithful Christian psychologist is not or may not be biblical is playing games with the Book. Yet, they are unashamed.

In my opinion:

• Any church member can quickly train to become a “competent” Biblical™counselor, far better than those licensed and educated counselors.
• The training is minimal, relying on resources that seem weak at best.
• The people who created the resources may also have received poor training. I have listed some of those in these posts.
• Quite a lot of the current thinking is based on the older, nouthetic counseling, which is sin-based and poorly regarded.
• ACBC (Association of Certified Biblical Counselors) is not in any way a “licensing” organization, but churches present it as if they are. This is deceptive.
• The counseling is sin-based, which they believe to be at the heart of any problem a person may have. I find this particularly problematic since everyone, including the counselor, is also a sinner.
• If a client has a severe psychiatric disorder, they may be told they are not Christians. If they have delusions, they may be told they are faking it. This is dangerous and un-Christian.
• If the person is diagnosed with sin, they may be reported to the pastor or other church leaders. There is no confidentiality promised.

If one might like to read a factual account of how John MacArthur’s Church, which believes in “Biblical” counseling and is a leader in the movement,  read the following story of Eileen Gray, whose husband not only abused her but also sexually abused their children. She was told not to divorce her husband, and, before he was arrested,  she was told to bring him back into the home. She was allegedly told to “suffer for Jesus.” When she did not do so, John MacArthur told the church to treat her as an unbeliever.

EXCLUSIVE: John MacArthur Shamed, Excommunicated Mother for Refusing to Take Back Child Abuser

The complete files on Eileen Gray.

I believe this was shameful behavior by John MacArthur and his boys.

The Gospel Coalition posts an article that supports Biblical™ counseling.

Does godly™ trump comprehensive training?

The Gospel Coalition posted Must My Christian Counselor Be Licensed? Why I Say No. If I read the post correctly, there are several reasons why they believe this is true. Here is one.

Are you more likely to receive good parenting advice from a licensed 26-year-old who isn’t yet a parent, or from a godly mother of six? I’d choose the latter. I bet you would too.

I was once a 22-year-old nurse who visited families who had been accused of abusing their children. I was trained in assessing the potential signs of that abuse as a licensed nurse. In this situation, I was more likely to determine what was happening in that home than that “godly mother of 6.” The author is comparing apples to oranges. In one instance, that mother of 6 might be able to help the young mother on issues such as organization or managing the ‘terrible twos.” In counseling, one is often confronted with issues of abuse, severe depression, overwhelming anxiety, and even mental illness. Was that “godly mom of 6” trained to assess all of those possibilities? I think not.

Is licensure evil or a “necessary evil?”

We live in a world of licensure. Here is one such list, which is not extensive.

By state laws, workers in certain fields must have a license. Licensing is intended to ensure that only competent and ethical individuals practice in an occupation. Examples of occupations licensed in many states include: teachers, land surveyors, doctors, lawyers, cosmetologists, nurses, building contractors, counselors, therapists, and electricians.

To obtain a license you must demonstrate that you meet state standards for that career. Steps include completing specified training, logging a designated amount of work experience, and taking a licensure exam. Most exams assess knowledge of work processes, codes, policies, standard practices, and more.

I would guess the TGC post’s writer would want a licensed accountant to review the church’s books to ensure their accuracy. I doubt he would turn it over to a group of church members who took a weekend training course and are now “competent to account.”

Dealing with the government and licensing agencies can be frustrating. Should the church pull a type of “Atlas Shrugged” and bug out, setting up a sham church-based “licensing group” to take over the reins? Christians in the world of obstetrics have successfully lobbied not to have doctors be forced to perform elective abortions. Christians have successfully lobbied in many areas of licensure. They are also successful in lobbying and working with the secular institutions in which they work.

As an aside, it made me smile that the author would consult a licensed doctor for his cancer instead of flying to Mexico to get the “mistletoe cure” instead of getting care here in the US, where licensed researchers ensure such care is safe.

Sin is the focus, so don’t forget it.

I believe that those who have gone through the “competent to counsel” route will focus on sin, often downplaying the need for medications and other successful treatments such as cognitive behavioral therapy. The author nods at the possible need for medication, but in my observation, the biblical™ counseling types frequently question the need for meds. Instead, it is all about sin, as emphasized here.

While psychiatric medication may be needed and certain self-actualization and emotional regulation practices can be helpful, they don’t go far enough.

Scripture tells us that our propensity toward selfishness isn’t (merely) because of educational deficiencies, childhood trauma, or toxic culture, but especially because of our sinful nature. Paul says, “Just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned. . .” (Rom. 5:12). This means that to grow in spiritual and emotional health, we must deal with our sin and false beliefs.

Schizophrenics can’t be Christians, and those who suffer delusions are “faking it—two reasons why this crowd is dangerous.

Please refer to this startling post I wrote, Association of Certified Biblical Counselors and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary: People With Delusions May Be Faking It and Christians With Schizophrenia Are Probably Not Christians! In this post, you will learn that the ACBC misrepresents the medical field to promote their bizarre take on delusions and schizophrenia.

FYI: Southern Baptist Theological Seminary is the biblical™ counseling mothership.

Final Thoughts:

• ACBC’s untrained counselors in churches should be able to figure out when something is physiological in origin and consult physicians. I say they can’t. They don’t have the training.
• ACBC, and by extension, SBTS make claims about the beliefs of psychiatrists/psychologists which are easily refuted if one believes that the NIH knows more than ACBC.
• The leaders in ACBC/SBTS have no medical training. They are biblicists.
• According to ACBC/SBTS, delusions and madness are often faked. The Bible tells us so.
• According to ACBC/SBTS, most schizophrenics are not Christians. In my opinion, people with mental illness should never receive counseling from ACBC or anyone who graduated from SBTS in the counseling program.
• Do the leaders in the SBC know what SBTS and ACBC are saying and doing?
• is the SBC prepared to announce that anyone with schizophrenia is probably not a Christian?

Let me leave you with a thought submitted by a clinical psychologist (Ph.D.) who is involved in medication trials.

While our current science quite honesty leaves much for our continued research as to the etiology and most effective treatment for many/most of these disorders, the reduction to “sin” is objectionable on numerous grounds. iIhave often wondered (and occasionally expressed) as to the frequency of medication use by these same pastors for disorders like hypertension, type 2 diabetes, weight loss and the like (valid medical conditions with effective treatments) when “sinful” choices related to eating, exercise, and the like may have in fact caused or contributed to those conditions as well. This kind of hypocrisy is all to rampant in the church, as you have documented for years. Psychiatric disorders are complex, multifactorial, and usually impossible to explain easily.

I laughed so hard, coffee got all over my screen.

The author’s thoughts on godly counselors refer the reader to the groups most likely unlicensed and sin-focused. (Remember: ACBC licensure is not recognized outside of some limited Reformed church groups.)

You see, only the “Biblical” counselors are Scripture-based—the wonderful people in the Division of Psychiatry at Duke, like Warren Kinghorn, are not.

Faithful counselors come from more than one corner of the Christian counseling world. When browsing a Christian counselor’s website, look for statements that explain her understanding of Scripture’s authority as well as her views on gender and sexuality, a factor that often reveals the foundation of a counselor’s approach. You might also look to reputable biblical counseling organizations like the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation or the Biblical Counseling Coalition, which have resources to help you find a counselor.

Seek out Christian counselors committed to being clinically informed, but avoid those who merely tack their Christianity onto a secular psychological approach. Such counselors may say they’re willing to offer a Christian perspective if their clients wish them to do so. This approach doesn’t operate from a coherent biblical perspective that relies on Scripture.

Final thoughts

The author appears poorly educated about the subject matter, and it shows. I am being harsh for a reason. This philosophy floats amongst the boys in the Reformed clique, who eagerly take up the banner, never thinking of those who can be and have been damaged by this approach. I have talked to those like Eileen Gray who have been hurt at John MacArthur and John Piper’s ministries and at churches around the country, who think that Betty Lou and Billy Ray can counsel because they’ve read a few books and attended a few church classes. T

But they believe they should send an abused women with abused children back home to an abusive husband and think, “Problem solved.” How sad is that?