It is in the context of relationship that we become wounded, and it is in the context of relationship that we find healing. At Austin Ridge Bible Church, we believe in an approach to counseling that is both existential and interpersonal. As we work to create a safe environment built on trust, we utilize the relationship that is formed in the counseling office as a means to allow people to get in touch with the story God is writing in their lives. This allows people to freely tell their story without fear of judgement, abandonment, or scorn. It is our hope that those we spend time with would feel unconditionally accepted and valued as human beings, no matter what they have done, what others have told them, or how they view themselves in their own mind.
Once a working relationship has been established, we then begin to look at the faulty relational strategies that brought the person into the counseling office (this may include, but is certainly not limited to depression, anxiety, eating disorders, marital struggles, etc). By working together in a caring and unconditionally loving atmosphere, we can consider how these relational strategies might be playing out in the relationship between the individual and the counselor. A careful examination in the “here-and-now” of the counseling hour creates a new experience where each individual can begin to learn how to employ a new way of relating to themselves, to others, and to God, so that their presenting problem no longer has them stifled in life. This transformational experience gives each person a new understanding and greater clarity of how they can utilize God’s grace and strength to deal with the difficulties in their story.
Finally, lasting change occurs when the individual can apply this newfound experience in relationships outside of their relationship with the counselor. This is precisely why we believe counseling needs to be done in the church. While extremely beneficial, counseling in isolation of true and meaningful community is incomplete. To put it one way, counseling should be seen merely as a dress rehearsal to life, not the actual performance.
The Couch: psychology theology culture 