Teresa, why do you think God needs any help with people? Psychology and psychiatry are, for the most part, entirely human-centered and give human solutions based on human understanding. That's a triple threat to people!
Anyone who knows the Bible and is a born again Christian has everything needed to be a friend to someone who is hurting. The wisdom from God outshines the wisdom of men any day.
As an aside, you might be interested in knowing that a number of years ago, at an international psychiatric conference in Arizona, there was a panel on schizophrenia. Five of the most prominent psychiatrists dealing with this were on this panel for the question and answer session. As it turned out, three of the five did not even think schizophrenia actually existed.
The following may be of help.
http://www.jayforrest.org/counseling.htm
One of the most encouraging trends in contemporary evangelicalism is the emergence of Biblical counseling (as opposed to so-called 'Christian' psychology). Several excellent books have been recently been written to expose the deficiencies of the psychological approach to Christian counseling. Jay Adams first warned of these dangers more than twenty years ago. No one has written more clearly or spoken with more insight on this issue. The entire church owes Jay a tremendous debt of gratitude for the work he has done to uphold Godliness and spiritual wisdom against the onslaught of secular theory and worldly wisdom. If you're seeking to understand how to counsel more effectively, I commend this seminar to you.
John MacArthur
Here is a relevant link:
http://www.nouthetic.org/adams.htm
http://www.gty.org.uk/articles/rediscoveringbc1.htm
And please note the following, from this page:
http://www.watke.org/resources/BiblicalCounselingSeminar.html
Conventional psychiatrists believe that ministers are a problem. They hold to the idea that ministers produce a feeling of guilt and an overly-sensitive conscience in people; therefore, they accuse ministers of being the culprits in the problems that many experience.
Institutional psychology and psychiatry and methodology grew out of the following view (or their basic belief) regarding ministers. Their approach consists of five major tenets:
1. They believe that ministers can do little for a person in a mental institution.
2. All the minister can do is support the patient's right to feel injured by others.
3. The pastor must understand that those admitted, who feel guilt, are no longer to be subjected to those from the outside. The pressure is to be removed so they might quietly lose their guilt and get well.
4. Pastors must consider those in mental institutions as violators of their conscience, but not victims of their conscience.
5. When the erratic behavior of the counselee is examined, it seems to be sin, but it isn't. The patient is not really responsible for his actions. He can't help what he is doing, he is sick. He blames himself for things he cannot help.
Anyone who knows the Bible and is a born again Christian has everything needed to be a friend to someone who is hurting. The wisdom from God outshines the wisdom of men any day.
As an aside, you might be interested in knowing that a number of years ago, at an international psychiatric conference in Arizona, there was a panel on schizophrenia. Five of the most prominent psychiatrists dealing with this were on this panel for the question and answer session. As it turned out, three of the five did not even think schizophrenia actually existed.
The following may be of help.
http://www.jayforrest.org/counseling.htm
One of the most encouraging trends in contemporary evangelicalism is the emergence of Biblical counseling (as opposed to so-called 'Christian' psychology). Several excellent books have been recently been written to expose the deficiencies of the psychological approach to Christian counseling. Jay Adams first warned of these dangers more than twenty years ago. No one has written more clearly or spoken with more insight on this issue. The entire church owes Jay a tremendous debt of gratitude for the work he has done to uphold Godliness and spiritual wisdom against the onslaught of secular theory and worldly wisdom. If you're seeking to understand how to counsel more effectively, I commend this seminar to you.
John MacArthur
Here is a relevant link:
http://www.nouthetic.org/adams.htm
http://www.gty.org.uk/articles/rediscoveringbc1.htm
And please note the following, from this page:
http://www.watke.org/resources/BiblicalCounselingSeminar.html
Conventional psychiatrists believe that ministers are a problem. They hold to the idea that ministers produce a feeling of guilt and an overly-sensitive conscience in people; therefore, they accuse ministers of being the culprits in the problems that many experience.
Institutional psychology and psychiatry and methodology grew out of the following view (or their basic belief) regarding ministers. Their approach consists of five major tenets:
1. They believe that ministers can do little for a person in a mental institution.
2. All the minister can do is support the patient's right to feel injured by others.
3. The pastor must understand that those admitted, who feel guilt, are no longer to be subjected to those from the outside. The pressure is to be removed so they might quietly lose their guilt and get well.
4. Pastors must consider those in mental institutions as violators of their conscience, but not victims of their conscience.
5. When the erratic behavior of the counselee is examined, it seems to be sin, but it isn't. The patient is not really responsible for his actions. He can't help what he is doing, he is sick. He blames himself for things he cannot help.
