Christian Counseling at Christ Church at Grove Farm

Transcription

1 Christian Counseling at Christ Church at Grove Farm CCGF Policies and Procedures Purposes and Objectives CCGF Consent to Counsel Form Personal Assessment Form 1

2 CHRISTIAN COUNSELING CCGF Policies and Procedures Qualifications for Counseling Since counseling is a responsibility of the church, it is essential for an individual or couple who is in need of counseling to be a regular attendee of a local church. At the same time, in order to achieve lasting victory over problems of life, it is vital that each individual become established in a consistent Christian walk and be committed to do what will best bring victory in their Christian life. Initial Set Up If an individual or couple has met the qualifications and are in need of counseling, they shall speak with one member of our CCGF counseling team (listed on CCGF website) to be identified. This pastor will then make a determination to arrange to meet with the individual or couple, recommend them to another member of our pastoral staff or refer them immediately to a professional outside the confines of the church. Length of Counseling Christian counseling is defined by its brief approach. As a result, counseling sessions will last approximately one hour per week and will continue for 3 sessions and if needed may last up to a maximum of 6 sessions. Based upon an individual s or couple s response to counseling, the number of sessions may be increased or lessened accordingly. However, the counselor does have the right to responsibly terminate the counseling at any time if no signs of positive change are evident. If after the conclusion of the maximum number of sessions, it is clear the individual or couple needs further assistance, a recommendation for an outside professional will be offered. Appointments Each appointment will be scheduled with the assigned pastor. If an individual or couple is unable to attend the session, they should notify the counselor at least 24 hours before the session is scheduled. Cost Counseling at Christ Church at Grove Farm is a ministry of the church and therefore remains free of charge. Consent to Counsel Form Individuals or couples who have been determined fit to counsel must each read and sign a Consent to Counsel Form which is included in this packet. This form(s) should be returned to the pastor/counselor prior to the first counseling session. Or, it may also be presented to the pastor at the initial session. This form enables the individual or couple to understand the purpose of Christian counseling, identify their role as well as the role of the counselor and to recognize privacy and legal issues within the process. Personal Assessment Form Individuals or couples who have been determined fit to counsel must each complete a Personal Assessment Form contained in this packet. This form(s) should be returned to the pastor/counselor prior to the first counseling session. Or, it may also be presented to the pastor at the initial session. Questions regarding the completion of either of these forms can be addressed by the pastor. 2

3 The Scope of Christian Counseling CHRISTIAN COUNSELING Purposes and Objectives Christian counseling blends together the foundations and teachings of Scripture with the writings of the giants of church history on spiritual formation and pastoral care. The very latest research theory and practice in Christian counseling, in the broader fields of counseling and psychotherapy, are very often utilized. The result is a Spirit-directed approach that is effective in facilitating change and geared to helping people mature in the ways of wisdom of Jesus Christ. Christian counseling deals with a extensive range of problems including marriages, parent child relationships, fear, depression, drug and alcohol abuse, anxiety, worry, motivation and other issues that result in mental and/or physical immobility. In short, Christian counseling is designed to deal with problems in dealing with the individual, their relationship to God and to others. 1 Peter 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead [ ] Three Persons in Christian Counseling Secular counseling is an intensely relational activity that involves a counselor and an individual, and if marriage, family or group therapy is undertaken, many other people as well. Christian counseling, on the other hand, involves three persons at the very least; the individual, the counselor and God, who wants to and will be invited to participate in every session. The true power and enabling to change lives comes from the Holy Spirit s active involvement in the process as He encourages, consoles, challenges, convicts and transforms the individual into the likeness of God. Matthew 18:20 For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them. Objectives of Christian Counseling in Relation to the Church 1. Remediation: The church as a spiritual formation. Many individuals coming into the contemporary church are serious casualties of a hostile world. They have severe and multiple wounds that require a process and energy to repair and heal. The church is called to save, restore and care for people of like precious faith, serving willingly and gladly as Christ s ambassadors in a lost and dying world. The cost of this kind of service is sacrificial and demanding. Romans 12:1-2 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God s will is his good, pleasing and perfect will. 2. Prevention: The church as a spiritual school. The church seeks to thwart life issues and problems before they become overwhelming. This is what prevention is all about. Education and discipleship should be seen as forms of primary prevention in the church. Hebrews 10:23-25 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the Day approaching. 3

4 3. Transformation: The church as a kingdom community. The eternal Kingdom of God is present and future, here now and heaven tomorrow. Nothing is impossible for the King and his Kingdom. The church living in and serving through a Kingdom community elevates helping to its highest power and bears powerful fruit. John 14:26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Objectives of Christian Counseling in Relation to the Individual 1. Facilitating Hope In Jesus Christ all people have a High Priest who has suffered and has been tempted in all things, yet He never sinned. Because of Christ, even though one may be facing every sin common to man, they do have victory. God has promised that He will not let anyone be tempted beyond their endurance and that He will provide a way for them to have victory in the midst of their temptation. I Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. 2. Facilitating Change In Christ people can learn to lay aside the old selfish ways of living and put on the new ways of living in a manner worthy of the Lord Jesus Christ. One can learn to please God in every area of their life. Learning to live a Godly life and to live in such a way will increase in the knowledge of God and the ability to relate to others. Christian counseling enables an individual to make practical changes. Ephesians 4:22-24 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. 3. Facilitating Practice All people need to prove to be doers of God s Word and not merely hearers of the Word. Only in the actual application and practice of the Scriptures shall one be blessed in what they do and only then will this please and glorify our Lord. James 1:22-25 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. Characteristics and Activities of the Christian Counselor 1. The Christian counselor, yielded to an active, holy, and merciful God, meets the individual at his or her point of need (diverging, becoming all things to all people) and connects with the individual to create a trustworthy and effective alliance. II Corinthians 1:3-4 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 4

5 2. Christian counseling includes actively comforting the brokenhearted, supporting the weak, encouraging the discouraged, exhorting those who are motivated, entreating and guiding the misdirected, and pastorally warning the rebel and sinner. Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, [ ] 3. The Christian counselor serves to refocus, facilitate, instruct, and reinforce goal-directed action toward growing up into maturity and living in more intimate relationship with the divine object of our faith, the Lord Jesus Christ. This involves de-centering one s self and converging or centering on the Author and Finisher of our faith. Ephesians 4:11-16 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Three Phases of Christian Counseling 1. Phase One: Building trust to help explore and define the problems. The primary goal of phase one is to help individuals tell their story-as clearly and accurately as possible in the context of a trustworthy, thus safe, relationship. Of crucial importance here, is the role of the helping relationship in creating a climate of spiritual and social influence. Problem issues as well as resources for resolution are identified. Transition from phase one to phase two is accomplished when there is a mutually developed focus on which key individual concerns call for initial action. 2. Phase Two: Developing a vision for transformed living. This phase helps the individual define and own what they want. By exploring with the individual the possibilities of putting on on new life in Christ, they are encouraged to commit to put off the old nature. However, care is taken not to impose personal values on the individual since respect must be given to the individual s receptivity and consent as well as to avoid fostering dependencies that hinder maturity. Goals are specified and resources are employed to achieve them. 3. Phase Three: Taking action for change and living abundantly. In this final phase, goals are affirmed and various strategies for achieving goals are brainstormed and assessed. The right strategies are linked into a working plan and individuals are encouraged to go do it. As people actually work their new plan, the counselor and the individual evaluate and revise the plan of action to conform to new realities. Three Levels of Goals in Christian Counseling 1. Immediate goals. Individuals often enter into counseling in the midst of crisis, demoralized and in pain. They often come with a distorted, tunnel-vision view of their problem and its solutions. Goals at this level are person-centered and short term: symptom reduction, strengths, and marshaling resources for change are usually the first, immediate goals defined by the individual and counselor alike. 5

6 2. Intermediate goals. As crisis issues decrease in the present and stability develops once again, many individuals quit counseling. For those who continue, attention begins to widen and includes consideration of the behavioral and belief patterns and of dysfunctional beliefs, habitual behaviors, and recurring interpersonal styles is the work of long-term therapy. 3. Ultimate goals. For Christian counselors, the ultimate goal of helping is to bring individuals to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, to assist individuals to grow in maturity and in intimacy with Christ as an end in itself as well as a resource for future living and to help them learn to become dedicated servants to family, church and community. The art of mature Christian counseling is learning how to assess, advocate, and assist the achievement of these objectives at each stage of counseling. 6

7 CCGF CONSENT TO COUNSEL FORM If you are interested in receiving counseling at Christ Church at Grove Farm, we encourage you to read the following statement and sign at the designated place at the end of this document. A copy of our five-page Personal Assessment Form is included at the end of this packet. This form must be completed and mailed to the pastor/counselor with whom you are counseling prior to your first session. It may also be presented to the pastor/counselor at the initial session. The fundamental goal of Christian counseling at Christ Church at Grove Farm is to help you as the individual or couple, meet the challenges of life in a way that will please and honor the Lord Jesus Christ and allow you to enjoy fully His love for you and His plan for your life. The pastors/counselors at Christ Church at Grove Farm are available to take a limited number of counseling cases. Our counselors (by design) are not certified by the state of Pennsylvania, but have had training and experience in biblical counseling. We want you to know that all counseling will be conducted in accordance with the counselor's understanding of the Scriptures. Your counseling will be biblical, meaning that the Scriptures will be the authority in all cases. Please first read our Purposes and Objectives of Christian Counseling document as defined by our church and included in this packet. If you are unwilling to use the Bible as the final authority and are unwilling to do the homework assigned, sessions will be terminated. If you are attending a church other than Christ Church at Grove Farm, we encourage you to initially inquire about a pastor or someone in leadership from your own church, to assist you with your counseling. At the same time, if your situation seems dire, we will make exceptions on a caseby-case basis or refer you to a professional as we deem appropriate. If you are a regular Christ Church attendee, we will expect you to continue to attend our worship services on a weekly basis. Our experience has been that for changes in people to be lasting, people need more than the help they receive in formal counseling. They need the total ministry of a church in which the preaching, teaching and fellowship are providing similar help and support that is experienced in the counseling sessions. Confidentiality is an important aspect of the counseling process and we will carefully guard the information you entrust to us. In certain circumstances the Bible requires that facts be disclosed to select others (Matt. 18:15ff). These situations include but are not limited too: the evidence of harm to yourself or to anyone else the known information that someone else may be harming another the known facts of actions done illegally issues related to abuse of children or the elderly or when a counselor is uncertain in how to address a particular problem and needs to seek counsel from another CCGF pastor/counselor The pastors/counselors at Christ Church at Grove Farm may advise individuals in these types of scenarios to seek intervention(s) to insure appropriate safety and care for all concerned. If you anticipate experiencing difficulty with this process, please discuss your concerns and reasons for those concerns with the pastor/counselor at the onset of your first session. At any time during the counseling, for reasons sufficient to himself, the pastor/counselor as also the counselee -- shall have the option of terminating counseling. 7

8 Christ Church at Grove Farm does not charge a specific fee for counseling. However, since there are costs involved in maintaining this ministry, counselees may want to express their appreciation and assist in maintaining the ministry in a tangible way. Donations should be made to Christ Church at Grove Farm, not to the counselor. Also, part of any weekly homework assignments may require purchasing materials that relate to the counseling being done. Counselees may be required to pay for this material, i.e. cost of marriage assessment processing, etc. It should be understood that biblical counseling will involve providing scriptural teaching and making practical application of the same to each individual. The counselee is held fully responsible for how he implements that counsel. We are confident that the Bible has all of the information necessary for life and godliness (2 Peter1:3). There are no problems between persons or in persons that the Bible fails to address either in general or specific principles. Our counselors are not infallible, nor do they pretend to know all there is to know about counseling, biblical teaching and its applications to life, but they are wellequipped, gifted and competent to assist people to change. They will make a point to differentiate between God's commands and their own suggestions. Our pastors/counselors will also honestly tell you if they are stymied and will seek counsel, as stated above. (Please note that we do not give medical or legal advice). If a conflict should arise between the counselee and the counselor, both parties must agree to resolve the dispute outside the secular court system. Conciliation will be sought under submission to and direction of the pastoral staff and the parish council of Christ Church at Grove Farm. If you are willing to enter into counseling as described above, please sign below as indicated and bring this signed form with you to your first counseling session. I have read the conditions for counseling set forth in this form and agree to enter into counseling in accordance with them. Print Full Name: Signed: Date: / / Please mail signed form to: (Pastor s name) c/o Christ Church at Grove Farm 249 Duff Road Sewickley, PA

9 Personal Assessment Form (To be completed by counselee(s) and mailed to pastor prior to first counseling session) Please print neatly. Thank you. (CONFIDENTIAL) Biographical Information: Full Name: Address: Address: (Street) (City) (State) (Zip) Sex: Age: Date of Birth: / / Phone H: C: Occupation: Education/Training: Business Address: Phone: If referred for counseling, by whom?: Personal History: Parents: Name Age (if living) Occupation Marital Status Father: Mother: Guardian Name (if applicable): Relation to you: Reason for Guardianship: Date: From / / To: / / Siblings: Name Age Relationship Marital Status Indicate which might have applied during your childhood and/or adolescence: School problems: Family problems: Medical problems: Drug/Alcohol abuse problems: Social problems: Legal problems: Please explain: 9

10 Occupational History: What jobs have you held in the past? Does your present work situation satisfy you? If not, please explain. Marital History: Marital Status: Single Engaged Married Remarried Separated Divorced Widowed Your Present Marriage: (if applicable) Spouse's name: Age: Occupation: Spouse's religious background: Education: Date of marriage: / / Have you ever been separated from your present spouse?: If yes, please specify when: Children: Name Relationship Living at Home Age Marital Status Occupation (son, step-daughter, etc.) 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) Your Previous Marriages or Relationships? (if applicable) Date (of the marriage/relationship): Names of Children From this Marriage or Relationship Your Spouses Previous Marriages/Relationships? (if applicable) Date (of the marriage/relationship) : Names of Children From this Marriage or Relationship 10

11 Religious Background: Denominational Background/History Do you attend Christ Church at Grove Farm? How many times per month? If no, do you attend another church? What CCGF service(s) do you usually attend? (circle any that are applicable) 9:00 Traditional 11:15 Traditional 9:00 3 rd Service 11:15 3 rd Service Do you believe in God? Yes No Uncertain Do you consider yourself Saved? Yes No I m not sure what you mean If you were to die today and stand before God and He asked you why He should permit you to enter Heaven, how might you respond? How often do you read your Bible? Are you involved in any type of Bible Study/small group? If yes, please describe: Personality Information: Have you ever had psychotherapy or counseling before? Yes No If yes, what was the date and how long did it last: What was the outcome? Medical History: Rate your health: (circle one) Very Good Average Declining Are you on any medication? Yes No Have you ever used drugs for anything other than medical reasons? Yes No If yes, please explain: Do you drink alcohol? Yes No If yes, approximately how many alcoholic beverages do you drink in a given week? Do you smoke? Yes No If yes, how many cigarettes do you smoke in a given day? 11

12 What is your average daily caffeine consumption? Include coffee, tea, chocolate, stimulants, and caffeinated soft drinks. How many hours of sleep do you average each night? Have there been any recent changes in your sleep? Problem Check List: (please circle all that you struggle with) Anger Depression Loneliness Anxiety Drinking or Drugs Lust Apathy Envy Moodiness Appetite Fear Motivation Bitterness Finances Perfectionism Body Image Gluttony Rebellion Children Guilt Religion Communication Health Sexual Issues Conflict Homosexuality Spousal Abuse Deception In-laws Worry/Anxiety Pornography Low Self-esteem Gambling Online/Phone Gaming Texting Cyber Relationships As you see yourself, what kind of person are you? (Describe yourself) State, in your own words, the nature of the main problem(s) that bring you for counseling: When did your problems begin? Please specify a date if possible. Please describe any significant events occurring at that time. 12

13 What have you done in the past, if anything, to try to resolve your problems(s)? What would you like us to do for you? What kind of help do you want from us? Is there any other information we should know? Please mail completed form to: (Pastor s name) c/o Christ Church at Grove Farm 249 Duff Road Sewickley, PA