Over the years, I have sought advice/counseling from pastors and counselors in church-based settings and have had some of the worst advice you can imagine. While that is not consistently true - I have occasionally received solid guidance - much of what I heard had more to do with political/social opinions than scripture. And as one who has suffered from depression aggravated by life circumstances from time to time, I don't really need people telling me that I need to "rejoice in the Lord" or else I am sinning against God. When I am in the pit with my feet in the miry clay (Psalm 40), I don't need someone shouting down the hole, telling me I need to change my attitude toward life and get happy. No, I need someone to come alongside and help me out of the pit.
As someone who has been in "professional" counseling/therapy on three different occasions, I feel the need to chime in here about my experience with psychologists/psychiatrists:
The first time I went to counseling was about 15 years ago when I was going through major depression because of unresolved grief over the death of a family member, as well as betrayal by my ex-wife who cheated on me for over a year (that I know of) and then abandoned our marriage. My M.D. sent me to a "secular" therapist. I didn't care for him much and found much of what he said to be unhelpful. It was clear to me he didn't understand my faith - especially in the aftermath of what had happened - and he did not have much good advice except that I needed to go start a new life for myself. That motivated me to take some personal risks and completely start a new career. Ultimately, it was a beneficial experience, although I think I could have taken that advice from anyone willing to give it to me, although no one else seemed to take the initiative to come alongside and help.
The second time I went to counseling was a few years ago after a family member committed suicide. I was unable to process the grief because of my intense anger toward some other family members who created and sustained the conditions for this person to get into the mental state that he did over the course of a decade. I also suffered a bit of PTSD after having to manage the cleanup of the suicide (shotgun in the mouth - very messy) for the family. I've seen a lot of bloody things as a first-responder, but it is different when it is a family member that you have loved. I sought recommendations from some friends and found a psychologist whom I believe is a Methodist. Over the course of a couple of months, he worked with me to refocus my anger into positive action and talk through the PTSD issues. We really didn't get into "religious" talk, but I had the sense he understood my faith and respected it.
I am actually involved in counseling with a psychiatrist at this time. I was asked to join a family member's counseling sessions for a few weeks last year and that has extended all the way to the present time because of the benefit to the family member. I did not choose the psychiatrist, but she is Jewish - although I don't know if it is merely cultural or if she is a believing Jew - and is respectful of other people's belief systems. The family member is an atheist and we regularly wade into the religious areas because that is a basic area of conflict we have. The psychiatrist is extremely fair and insightful and is doing great work for my family member. I thoroughly believe she is being used of God and that the whole thing is God-ordained and directed.
As someone who has been in "professional" counseling/therapy on three different occasions, I feel the need to chime in here about my experience with psychologists/psychiatrists:
The first time I went to counseling was about 15 years ago when I was going through major depression because of unresolved grief over the death of a family member, as well as betrayal by my ex-wife who cheated on me for over a year (that I know of) and then abandoned our marriage. My M.D. sent me to a "secular" therapist. I didn't care for him much and found much of what he said to be unhelpful. It was clear to me he didn't understand my faith - especially in the aftermath of what had happened - and he did not have much good advice except that I needed to go start a new life for myself. That motivated me to take some personal risks and completely start a new career. Ultimately, it was a beneficial experience, although I think I could have taken that advice from anyone willing to give it to me, although no one else seemed to take the initiative to come alongside and help.
The second time I went to counseling was a few years ago after a family member committed suicide. I was unable to process the grief because of my intense anger toward some other family members who created and sustained the conditions for this person to get into the mental state that he did over the course of a decade. I also suffered a bit of PTSD after having to manage the cleanup of the suicide (shotgun in the mouth - very messy) for the family. I've seen a lot of bloody things as a first-responder, but it is different when it is a family member that you have loved. I sought recommendations from some friends and found a psychologist whom I believe is a Methodist. Over the course of a couple of months, he worked with me to refocus my anger into positive action and talk through the PTSD issues. We really didn't get into "religious" talk, but I had the sense he understood my faith and respected it.
I am actually involved in counseling with a psychiatrist at this time. I was asked to join a family member's counseling sessions for a few weeks last year and that has extended all the way to the present time because of the benefit to the family member. I did not choose the psychiatrist, but she is Jewish - although I don't know if it is merely cultural or if she is a believing Jew - and is respectful of other people's belief systems. The family member is an atheist and we regularly wade into the religious areas because that is a basic area of conflict we have. The psychiatrist is extremely fair and insightful and is doing great work for my family member. I thoroughly believe she is being used of God and that the whole thing is God-ordained and directed.
