Principles and Practices of Biblical Counseling I

Logos Ministerial Academy
Principles and Practices of Biblical Counseling I
Professor: Eduardo Saladín Z.

• Course Purpose:
Study the fundamentals of Biblical Counseling to develop in students the capabilities

to be able to counsel biblically, as well as develop their ability to synthesize said
information and be able to develop biblical models of counseling.
II. Course Objectives:

1. Provide the student with the tools to analyze counseling models or theories using
the knowledge acquired.
2. Provide the opportunity for students to formulate their own modifications to the
counseling models presented.
III. Course requirements

1. Attendance at 90% of the classes, which will be taught on Thursdays from 8:00-
10pm starting on January 12, 2006.
2. Discussion of cases and presentation of work in classes.

IV. Recommended Texts
An Introduction to Biblical Counseling, J. MacArthur & W. Mack
Christian Counselor's Manual, Jay Adams
The Practice of Counseling, Jay Adams
The Journal of Biblical Counseling CD Rom
Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands, Paul David Tripp

A Theology of Christian Counseling, Jay Adams
Strengthening Our Marriages, Wayne Mack
The Christian Counselor's Manual, Jay Adams
A Homework Manual for Biblical Living, Vol. 1, II, Wayne Mack

V. Biblical Counseling Course Index
YO. The Biblical Basis for Counseling
TO. Definition
1. What it is not
2. What is it
b. Responsible
1. Shepherd
2. Members
3. Resources we have to advise
1. The Holy Spirit
2. The Word of God
3. Brothers with gifts of exhortation
 II. The functions of the biblical counselor

 TO. Confront or reprimand
 b. Educate (teacher)
 c. Encourage (comfort, exhort)
 d. Prevent
 AND. Evangelize
Principles and Practices of Biblical Counseling

III. Biblical Counseling vs. secular counseling
TO. Biblical
b. Psychodynamics
c. Behaviorist
d. Humanist
IV. Requirements to be an effective counselor

TO. Take care of yourself
1. Your faith
2. Keep a clear conscience
3. Your prayer life
4. Your qualifications
V. How problems occur

TO. Biblical Model
b. Integrationist Model
SAW. A Biblical Approach to Problem Solving

TO. Getting involved with people
b. Investigate: collect information (inventory)
1. Physical
2. Emotional
3. Mental (How problems occur)
4. Actions
5. Historical (habits, patterns)
c. Interpret
d. Instruct/Commitment
AND. Implement commitment

VII. An integrative approach to how to solve problems
VII. Cases
VIII. Counseling Models

TO. Premarital
b. Matrimonial
c. Rising children
d. Teenagers
AND. Third Age
F. Crisis Counseling
Reasons to study the topic: Introduction
Counseling is an integral part of church life.
The local church is the instrument Christ has designated to help believers grow into
His image and likeness. CB, along with preaching, teaching, evangelization and
discipleship, is an essential part of the ministry of the local church, as it helps
instruct and helps form the image of Christ in believers.
Paul had this goal in mind when he says in Col. 1:28: whom we proclaim,
admonishing every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present
every man perfect in Christ Jesus ; 29 for which I also work, striving according to his
power, which works mightily in me.
Present perfect or mature to every man in Christ.
b. CB is the responsibility of every believer and the only suitable ground is the
church.
1) Responsibility of Pastors: Ephesians 4:12-13: Pastors must equip the saints for the
work of the ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ until we all reach the
measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ .
2) Members:
Pastors equip the saints so that (as v. 16), they use their gifts, talents and abilities to
help the needs of others. 16 from whom the whole body, well coordinated and united to
each other by all the joints that mutually help each other, according to the proper activity
of each member, receives its growth to build itself up in love.
c. Help us understand people and their problems (including ourselves) from a

scriptural point of view, providing them with biblical principles to deal with their
problems.
d. Motivate believers to participate in the ministry of counseling and equip them to

be more competent in the task.
AND. Expand and reinforce the confidence of God's people in the truth that the
Scriptures are sufficient, superior and practical to face all the situations that arise in
this life. Convince believers that the resources we have in Christ and in His Word
are not only sufficient to carry out and solve all the personal and interpersonal
problems of life, but also superior to those we find in the world.
F. See how secular psychology has infiltrated and influenced the church of the 20th
century.
II. The biblical foundations for counseling.
TO. Counseling: Definition .

There is no word in Spanish or English that gives us the exact meaning. The translations
use the words: admonish, teach, exhort, advise.
There is a Greek word for advise (there is not just one) that tells us a lot about advising. It
is the word NOUTESIA, which comes from NOUTESIS (name) and NOUTETEO
(verb) which means to put in mind, warn, admonish.
Greek word definition in its nominal and verbal form (Vine's Dictionary): 1)
NOUTESIA: Nouthesia, Nominal Form (Name): To put in mind (nous: mind;
tithemi: to put)
Texts
2) Nouthetheo, Verb
Texts
c) Expanded definition:
Dr. J. Adams calls counseling a "nouthetic confrontation."
This nouthetic confrontation or concept of noutesia has 3 basic elements:
1) CHANGE" through
2) CONFRONTATION (COMMUNICATION) due to a
3) INTEREST
III. Counseling Responsible:

• Shepherd
Functions of the pastor, What does the pastor do?
b. Members
III. Resources we have to advise.

Christians have resources that are unique:
TO. The Holy Spirit
b. The Word of God.
c. Brothers with the gift of exhortation (gifts of Christ to his church)

Resources we have to advise
• The Holy Spirit
• He is our Helper, John 14:16

It sanctifies us. It is our agent of change, not psychotherapy
2) Guides us into all truth, John 16:13-14
Outside of Him, sinners cannot understand or know spiritual truths.
It reminds us of the teachings of Christ. John 14:25-26
3) Dwell in us. John 14:17, 1 Corinthians 6:19
His dwelling in us is the proof of our salvation. Romans 8:9
The Holy Spirit

4) Work Sovereignly
5) Convince us of sin, justice and judgment
6) It illuminates us
7) It regenerates us
8) Guides us to holiness
9) It transforms us
10) It makes us aware of what we are in Him
11) Trains us for ministry
All of God's work in us, touching our heart, personality, and behavior, is done by
the Spirit, although aspects of it are sometimes attributed to the Father and the Son,
whose executive is the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit works using means, such as:
• The Ministry of the Word of God
He works in the lives of believers through: The ministry of the Word, which is the
instrument par excellence used by God to sanctify us.
2 ) Prayer
Epaphras: A Model of Intercessory Prayer
Colossians 4:12-13
He prayed:
• Constantly
• Fervently
• Definitely (Specific People)
• With Specific Requests
• Sacrificially
It is our duty to pray for others, as we see illustrated in the life of Paul:
Romans 1:8-10, 10:1, 12:12, 15:5-6, 15:13, 30-33; 1 Corinthians 1:4-9, 16:23; 2
Corinthians 16:23, 1:3-7, 2:14-16, 9:12-15, 12:7-9a, 13:7-9; Galatians 6:8; Ephesians
1:3ff; 1:15-22, 3:14-21, 6:19-20; Philippians 1:3-6, 9-11, 4:6-7, 23; Colossians 1:3-14,
4:2-4, 1 Thess. 1:2-3, 2:13-16, 3:9-13, 5:23-24, 28; 2 Thess. 1:3ff, 1:11-12, 2:16-17, 3:2-
5, 3:16; 1 Timothy 1:12, 2:1ff, 2 Timothy 4:22, Philemon 4-7
3) Communion with the people of God
4) The public and private means of grace
In conclusion, only the ES can change a person's heart, making it the indispensable agent
in all CB.
The counselor can present the counselee with biblical truth to induce change, but only the
ES guides to the truth, opens the understanding, transforms the heart.
The ES applies the truth of Christ for salvation and sanctification.
Resources we have to advise

How do we know that our advice is in accordance with the truth?
What is the truth?
How do we know that what we think is true?
Where should we go to help those who are suffering?
The Word of God

John 17:17: Your Word is truth
Christians have the Word of the Living God
• PS is Enough. Psalm 19:7-11

• PD has Power (transforms)
• It was by His Word that the world was made
• It is effective
• It is sent to produce the end designed by God
• It's powerful. Work in people's lives
The Word of God
NOTE: The Bible is not just another book, it is the Word of God that speaks of its
power to change people.
In the Scriptures we have all the resources to deal with people with problems.
In 2 Tim.3:15-17 we are suggested 5 reasons why people have problems :
1) They are not saved (they do not know God).
2) They don't understand what is right (they haven't been taught).

The Word of God
3) They do not understand that what they do is wrong (they have not been
reprimanded).
4) They don't know how to do the right thing (they haven't been corrected).
5) They have not been trained correctly (reprogrammed). Educated in justice.
We have the Scriptures that tell us how to do it correctly.
b) What the Scriptures do specifically:

They change people in two ways: One instantaneous and the other gradual.
The Scriptures make us wise for salvation (justification) and the Holy Spirit also
uses them as a source of all change in the believer (sanctification).
The Word of God

• Justification: It is the legal act of God by which he declares the sinner righteous
based on the perfect justice of Jesus Christ.
2) Sanctification: A gradual process (not an act) by which the Holy Spirit enables the
believer to shed sinful patterns of life and replace them with holy patterns.
So we see that Scripture has the power to transform our standing before God
(justification) and our state (sanctification).
That is why we see how Satan has tried to destroy them.

The Word of God
c) We said that PD changes people in two ways: one instantaneous and the other
gradual. Let's look at the biblical evidence of that instantaneous change.
• Regenerates: produces salvation.
2 Timothy 3:15: ...makes us wise unto salvation.
It is instrumental in the new birth.
Note: The theologian Berkoff, speaking of the clarity of the Scriptures, tells us:
“That knowledge necessary for salvation, although it is not equally clear on each
page of the Scriptures, is communicated to man through the Bible in such a simple
and complete way. that a person who is sincerely seeking salvation can easily obtain
this knowledge for himself.”
Testimony of Christ
The Word of God
d) PD changes people gradually, conforms them to the image of God, sanctifies
them. 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
1) It is useful for teaching (doctrine).

Teach the body of truths by which we must think and act. People can't do what they don't
know. Scriptures teach us to set the standard of faith and life (what we are to believe and
do).
It teaches us through precept (example: the commandments) and example (example: the
Life of Jesus) how man must live in order to please God.
2) Reprimand, reprimand: Rebuke bad behavior or teaching.
When we compare our lives to the biblical standard, we recognize that we fall far short of
the love of God and neighbor, and we are reproached for our sin. Every authentic change
in the sinful life takes place at a deeper level through conviction. Where there is no
conviction of sin there is no biblically acceptable change.
The Word of God
We go from content to behavior.
3) Correct: Lift, strengthen. It exposes false beliefs, false teachings, and restores us
to our position.
They correct: Confession (admission) of sin and seeking God's fatherly forgiveness is
the next step in biblical change. This repentance, or change of attitude in the mind, leads
to a change in behavior.
4) Instruct in justice.
Train a child, strengthen him, lift him up, grow him, bring him to maturity.
It is not enough to get out of the sin and misery into which we have fallen; We must
know how to avoid these sins and be free from them in the future. We must be
rehabituated according to biblical guidelines.
The Word of God
e) PD is only effective when it is applied sovereignly by the work of the ES.
PD produces everything we saw above when ES applies it to people's lives.
f) PD is effective in people to the extent that they receive it in faith (believing) and
obey it in its teachings.
We believe and obey because of God's work in us. God does this in the context of
receiving it with faith.
Application:
We must hope for positive changes.
Don't think that you can't change because you are old, you have this or that sin, etc.
PD can restore us, quicken us, change us to be useful for the kingdom of God.
The Word of God
Final thoughts:
 Scripture is enough in our lives and we do not need any other book or any other
help.
 When God says that He inspired His word, He is telling us that what is written is
as valid as if He had spoken to us audibly. If the reader of the Scriptures were to hear
God speak they would find that God would say nothing more, nothing less, or anything
different than what is written.
 The ministry of the Word in counseling is unique and different from any other
system because of its basis of authority. Because the Bible is the inerrant Word of God it
has AUTHORITY. Example: When a person asks: Should I pay taxes? How should I
treat my wife? How should I educate my children? We have God's answer in the
Scriptures.
 No other counseling system is authoritative (Skinner, Rogers, Moslaw, etc.)

because they do not have the same authoritative basis. No counselee can trust his or her
life in the hands of a sinner who is fallible and unprepared by God.
 Christians' authority for biblical counseling comes not from them, but from the
Word of God. The authority with which we advise is divine .
Biblical Counseling versus Secular Counseling.
 Currently there is a strong movement within churches that tries to replace CB

with “Christian psychology”, that is, techniques and procedures extracted from secular
therapies, and which is carried out by paid professionals, not pastors.
 The defenders of this movement mix some biblical principles with the teachings
of secular psychiatrists, such as Freud, Rogers, Jung or any of the existing psychological
schools. It is evident that this movement itself does not take the church in a biblical
direction.
 It has led many believers to think that counseling should be left in the hands of
trained experts. This has allowed a whole line of extra-biblical theories and therapies to
enter the church.
Biblical Counseling vs. Secular Counseling
 In reality, this has left many feeling that PD is incomplete, insufficient, and
unable to help people who have emotional and spiritual problems. This has led millions
of Christians to seek spiritual help, not in the church, but in psychology clinics. It has left
many with the impression that adapting secular methods of recovery (such as the 12 Steps
of Alcoholics Anonymous), can be more helpful than spiritual means in dealing with
people's souls.
 In short, the church's confidence in the resources that God has given us to
deal with souls has diminished: the PD, the ES, prayer, preaching, communion, the
gifts given by Christ to His church. That is, the means that God uses to transform
lives and make them grow in holiness.
 If the assumptions of this movement were sound, we should expect Christians of

this generation to be holier and better adjusted, but this is not so. A large number of
Christians are seeking advice from experts, in clinics and professional counselors, who
are earning millions of pesos from this business.
What is Psychology? It is the science that studies the psychic activity and behavior
of organisms.
What's wrong with psychology? Psychology means study of the soul, but a true
study of the soul cannot be done by an unbeliever, someone who is dead, blind and a
slave to sin. Only Christians have the resources to understand the nature of the soul
and how it can be transformed.
Psychology is based on assumptions and evolutionary foundations and can only deal with
people superficially and temporarily. Sigmund Freud, the father of modern psychology,
was a disbelieving humanist who presented modern psychology as a substitute for
religion.
 Before Freud, the study of the soul was considered a spiritual discipline, that is, it
was associated with religion. Freud's great contribution was defining the soul and the
study of human behavior in secular terms. He separated the study of human beings
(anthropology) from the spiritual realm, and with this opened the way to atheistic,
humanistic, and rationalist theories of human behavior.
These unbiblical theories became the basis of modern psychology.

The bases of modern Psychology can be synthesized in some ideas that have their
roots in Freud's humanism:
1) Human nature is basically good
2) People have the answers to their problems within themselves
3) The key to understanding and correcting a person's attitudes and actions lies
somewhere in their past
4) Individuals' problems are the result of what someone has done to them.
5) Human problems can be purely psychological in nature, unrelated to any

spiritual or physical condition.
6) Deep-rooted problems can only be resolved by a professional through the use of

therapy.
7) The Scriptures, prayer and the Holy Spirit are inadequate and simplistic
resources to solve certain problems.
Grades:
1) Psychological techniques can be used in vocation tests, tests for jobs.
2) The term Christian psychology is ironic, because we cannot link a series of

humanistic therapies and theories with Christian truth. The Christian counselor
works in the realm of the soul through PD and ES, and not by digressing into the
superficiality of behavior modification.
3) Psychology is a pseudo-science, the most recent of human inventions aimed at

explaining, diagnosing and treating behavioral problems without analyzing moral
and spiritual aspects.
What does God think of these “Christian” counselors who want to represent him,
but who rely on human wisdom? ,
Job 12:17-20
TO. All Counselors are Believers.
They have their convictions, beliefs, values, presuppositions, patterns.

All counseling is religious, even if the counselors are not Christians.
Psychology is a religion. Psychologists and psychiatrists have replaced the Pastor.
Value Magazine said: There are more people than ever seeking help from psychologists
and psychiatrists, who have supplanted the pastor and priest.
But what happens? Counselors, psychotherapists, psychologists and psychiatrists have no
reference points for treating what they call mental problems. They do not agree on what
constitutes paranoia, schizophrenia, etc.
Counselors analyze and treat problems according to the school to which they belong:
Freud, Skinner, Rogers. In counseling and psychotherapy there is no philosophy that
unifies all models.
b. All Councilors have Convictions

1. About man.
2. About truth: Absolute, relative
3. About the origin of man's problems: schizophrenia, psychosis, impotence, etc.
4. About man's responsibility: is he responsible or not? Who is responsible?
5. About solving problems.

6. About what we try to achieve (objectives) in the advising process.
7. About the role of the counselor: counselor-advisee interaction. This is based on what
the counselor believes.
8. About techniques and methods of counseling. They have their presuppositions or

convictions.
No advisor is neutral. We all have convictions or presuppositions that influence our

counseling. Based on this we are going to study what the main psychological and
psychiatric schools say, and what Scripture says.
YO. PSYCHODYNAMICS
TO. Key Figures: Sigmund Freud, Alfred Adler, Coral Young, Sullivan, Erickson,
France Alexander.
I have a great capacity to forget about things I don't want to do. If I have a responsibility
that I don't like, it is very easy to plan other things, without remembering the appointment
I had.
Therefore, I have to keep a book of appointments I make and invitations I accept so that I
don't accept other commitments that would conflict with the things I'm already
committed to doing.
Some people develop a headache when they have to do something unpleasant. Others
develop other kinds of illnesses, which are a form of rebellion against what one has to do.
These “forgetfulness”, pains and illnesses are the work of the unconscious in each of us.
It is evidence of a force that operates within and exerts its power in our behavior in such a
way that it protests the things we have to do without wanting to do them.
These cases illustrate the power of the unconscious in each person. Siegmund Freud
is the person who made a distinctive contribution to humanity through his studies of
the unconscious and its power over man.
(Psychology and Christian Ministry, An Introduction, James Giles)
b. Basic Philosophy
1. The internal forces over which man has little control are at the center of human
personality.
2. To understand man we must understand him psychodynamically. We must understand

what motivates their behavior. Understand their motivations. Go inside him his psyche.
(Beneath the surface).
3. All conduct or behavior is caused. It is determined by irrational and unconscious

forces. From past experiences. Due to instinctive psychological needs.
4. Man, in most cases, is aware of the causes that generate his actions. He doesn't know
why he does what he does.
5. The two basic instincts of man are the pursuit of pleasure (Eros) and power or
destruction (Thanatos).
c. Basic Assumptions About Sex
1. Sex is beneath everything (it extends beneath everything).

People's problem: paranoia, psychosis, etc., is connected with sex.
2. All dreams are fundamentally sexual.
3. All psychological difficulties are manifestations of repressed sexuality (libido

complex).
4. All children want to have sexual relations with their mothers (Oedipus complex).
[Everyone wants to kill their parents]. It can be conscious or unconscious.
5. The life of the child is fundamentally sexual.

Ex.: Going to the bathroom related to sex (excretions, etc.)
6. Human beings struggle their entire lives between heterosexual and homosexual desires.
(Desires for normal and homosexual sex: Bisexualism)
7. First (5) years in a person's life are of critical importance.
8. Problems arise because man's basic instincts or desires (impulses) are impeded
(frustrated) or have not been fulfilled. Neurotic symptoms and behaviors represent
unconscious conflicts.
9. Problems are resolved when people become aware of their unconscious conflicts and
relive their past experiences.
d. Key concepts
1. Unconscious Forces:
Man's behavior is influenced or caused by conflicts, motivations, frustrations, fears,
inhibitions of which he is not consciously aware.
They are below the surface ll ll lll /\ lllllll. He is not responsible.
 ID (It): Contains everything we have inherited from parents, grandparents

and great-grandparents. It is the most intimate and primitive part of the
personality. It is deep, unconscious and powerful. It encompasses the combination of
genes that contribute to our predominant mood. It contains instinctive sexual
impulses and seeks only momentary pleasures.
 Another component of ID encompasses basic instincts. It is discussed what
the instincts or vital needs are. Freud mentions two fundamental instincts, and
suggests that all others spring from those two. They are the search for pleasure
(eros) and destruction, that is, death (thanatos).
The ID is made up of the deposit of all the impulses that result from our nature and
at the same time serve as a memory bank for all the experiences that come as a
result of all the stimuli from the outside world.
They store the negative and painful experiences that we have and that we do not
understand through the process of repression. We have not forgotten the
experiences, but they have left their traces in the memory bank and can affect our
current behavior.
The activities of the ID (It) are amoral, that is, they are neither good nor bad. It is
the expression of impulses in response to stimuli that create good or bad behavior.
Unconscious force that operates according to the pleasure principle. Seek pleasure,
satisfaction.
EGO (I): We must recognize another part of the human mind and the process of
thinking and functioning. Freud called this part the Ego or the SELF. The Ego is the
part that acts as a gatekeeper between the influences of the outside world and the
ID.
Intermediate force between the ID and the super ego. Regulates and controls the ID.
It works according to the reality principle. Find a way to satisfy the ID without
violating the super ego. Ex: Having sex with your mother is not acceptable.
SUPER/EGO (Super Ego): Functions according to the moral principle. Sense of right
and wrong.
It is driven partly by society and partly by the parents' scale of values, also by the
influences of family, teachers, religious leaders of people of importance in their culture
and social environment, and the value system that comes from all that set. of influences.
Ex.: Having sex with your mother is BAD.
When parents are very strict and prohibit the child from doing many things, and punish
him severely, they can create a child with a weak Ego, afraid to exercise authority. It will
always be in submission to the prohibitions of authority, whether political, religious, or
other systems.
 But the same child can rebel against these prohibitions, and express his discontent
through disobedience or rebellion. This is seen in men who have never solved the
problem of their relationship with authority and hardly adapt to an organization where
there is a hierarchy of authority.
 Note: in a certain sense we can say that the Id and the Super Ego represent the
influences that come from the past. Those of the Id are predominantly the influences of
heredity, those of the Ego are those of the environment, and the Ego represents what the
person does with these influences.
3. Stages of Growth: Psychosexual Development.

Sex is underneath everything.
a) Oral Stage
Erotic sensation from sucking his finger. Child less than 1 year old. Learn to trust or
distrust.
b) Anal Stage: >1-<3 years.

Child begins to feel sensations in the anal area (secretions).
c) Phallic Stage: 3-6 years.

He finds pleasure in touching his genitals.
4. Anxiety
Repression of ID and super ego conflicts produces anxiety.
Ex.: Repressing wanting to kill your father produces anxiety.
5. Ego Defense Mechanisms: To relieve anxiety and tension, the person loses contact
with reality, rationalizes (tries to excuse behavior), denial (refuses to recognize painful
thoughts, feelings: denies them).
AND. Counseling Techniques

1) Free Association: Psychoanalysis
2) Hypnosis: to reach the unconscious of the patient with emotional disorders
3) Dream Interpretation: in dreams was the path to the unconscious-
F. The Role of the Counselor, the Counselor-Advise Interaction
The Counselor: He is an expert. He seeks to remain distant or anonymous.
The Counselee: Depends on the counselor for interpretation and analysis.

Relive past experiences.
II. BEHAVIORISM (BEHAVIORISM)
TO. Key Figures: John Watson, Skinner, Albert Ellis.
b. Basic Philosophy.
1. All human conduct (behavior) is determined or caused. (They are deterministic). The
causes of the behavior can be discovered.
2. Human beings have the potential to develop positively or negatively.
They are born neutral, they are not influenced by internal forces. [It is different
psychodynamics).
3. Man's behavior is basically determined or caused by conditioning or learning. All

behavior is learned. Conditioning result.
4. Counseling should focus specifically on behavior, not motivations or psychodynamics .

Counseling is: Changing behaviors . If what the patient is doing is correct, encourage
him; If it is incorrect, help him change his behavior.
5. Human problems are caused by faulty learning and conditioning. Man is conditioned to
behave in a particular way due to the influence on his life of adults and environmental
influences.
6. Problems are solved by learning more appropriate, functional and adaptive behavior
patterns.
7. Counseling should be based and verified by the scientific method and experimental
results.
c. Key Concepts of Behaviorism or Learning Process.
1. Conditioning: people react in a specific way because they have been conditioned to do
so. There is classical and instrumental conditioning.
2. Extinction: Behavior is changed by removing factors that stimulate it.
3. Generalization
4. Counter-Conditioning. Change an unpleasant feeling about an event for a pleasant

feeling.
5. Reinforcement of a habit or pattern in a positive or negative way.
6. Focus on present behavior not on the past. They deal with the person's present
behavior.
d. Treatment
1. Help the client eliminate maladaptive behavior and learn more effective behavior
patterns.
2. Approach based on actions that emphasize behavior change.
3. Change in behavior would lead to a change in thoughts.

AND. The Role of the Counselor, Counselee/Counselor Interactions
The Counselor : Does not emphasize the personal relationship. He is an active and direct
teacher or coach.
The Advised:
Decide treatment goals.
Use the techniques.
Does assignments at home (homework).
Practice the new behavior.
F. Techniques and Methods the Counselor
1. Systematic desensitization.
2. Affirmative (assertive) training.
3. Overflow.
4. Therapy and aversion (to the old?).
5. Operant conditioning.
III. HUMANISM (existential humanism)
Customer focused. Therapy, third force psychology.
TO. Key Figures: Rogers, Maslow, R. May, F. Pearls.
b. Basic Philosophy
1. Every human being is inherently good.
2. Man is basically rational and constructive in his orientation.
Rational: Man knows where he is going, he moves towards a goal or objective.
3. Man moves towards growth, health, adjustments, self-realization, independence and

autonomy. The actualizing tendency is the basic motivational force within human beings.
Man has, within him, all the potential to use resources in a positive way. He always
chooses what is best for him and the people around him.
4. A person's emotions give us the most accurate image of that individual.

Your emotional response: Trust your feelings.
5. Each person should have the right to have their own beliefs and thoughts without
outside influences. I am my own authority, my own standard.
Total self determination. Do not depend on anyone. You are self-sufficient, self-
determined*.
6. Most of man's functioning is determined by subjective perceptions and feelings. All

knowledge is subjective. (Trust your feelings, don't listen to anyone, not even God.
Decide for yourself).
7. Experience is the highest authority.
8. Problems develop due to inhibited and defective socialization.
9. Problems are solved to the extent that people are taught to trust themselves.
c. Key concepts
1. Man has the resources, the potential to solve his own problems.
2. Man has an inherent tendency toward self-actualization or self-realization.
3. People have a need to feel unconditionally and positively esteemed by others and by
themselves.
4. When he experiences this unconditional and positive appreciation, he automatically

becomes a fully functional person, he trusts in his own organic faculties, he lives with
other people in the greatest possible harmony; He takes full responsibility for his choices
and his life.
5. The feeling of guilt is the result of not becoming fully what one is capable of
becoming.
d. Treatment
1. Help the counselee become aware of his inhibitions and lack of self-confidence.
2. Help the counselee trust himself to realize and develop his own potential.
3. Help the counselee be willing to be in process and live by internal rather than external
standards.
4. Help the counselee become what he or she can become, a self-actualized person; and
fully functioning.
AND. The Role of the Counselor, /Advised/ Counselor Interactions

The Counselor
Provides the climate in which the counselee feels free to express themselves and explore
their feelings in depth without fear or shame.
It must be genuine, warm, exactly emphatic, respectful, unconditionally accepting,

permissive, careful.
It is a catalyst in initiating (personal) changes in the client's personality through the

relationship, their own attitudes, personality and truthfulness.
The Advised
You learn through your relationship with the therapist.
Transfer what you learn to your relationship with the counselor, and with other people
and situations.
He begins to trust himself and accepts responsibility for his own life.
F. Techniques
The techniques are not important. In fact, they can be harmful; They can dehumanize the
person and prevent them from developing their total humanity.
The relationship is the fundamental part of the therapeutic process. Humanists emphasize
the importance of listening and active listening, showing your feelings, and clarification.
Sometimes some may use techniques that are borrowed from psychoanalysis, Gestalt and
TA Approaches.
Generalities Previous Systems:

Atheists: They deny the existence of God in a practical way. God is not an important part
of their system. It is not an important part of the solution.
Evolutionists: Man is an animal.
Humanists: Truth: There is no need for revelation.
Explanation of man's problem: They do not talk about sin, depravity, guilt.
Man's response to his problems: man is not responsible.

Generalities Previous Systems:
Atheists: They deny the existence of God in a practical way. God is not an important part
of their system. It is not an important part of the solution.
Evolutionists: Man is an animal.
Humanists: Truth: There is no need for revelation.
Explanation of man's problem: They do not talk about sin, depravity, guilt.
Man's response to his problems: man is not responsible.

Created for a purpose: Glory of God . Ap. 4:11 and enjoy Him forever and not to
satisfy your own desires or needs.
Vice-Regent to God. Gen. 1:28: Rule over the earth.

2. About Values
a) We have conviction: good and bad things. We know what is good and what is bad.
Ex.: INCEST is a universal taboo.

Value system: it must be the biblical one.
b) Man has rebelled against God, he is dead in his crimes and sins, he is an enemy of
God, he does not seek Him.
1) Man is depraved: he uses his mental process to interpret life for himself. Choose what
you shouldn't. He does not use his abilities to glorify God. Cabbage. 1
2) Man needs redemption: Man is redeemable. Through justification and sanctification,

man's fallen effects begin to be reversed.
Cabbage. 3:10:
Eph. 4:24: Dress new man
3. About Man's Behavioral Problem, Emotional, Relational Problem
a) Origin or cause of man's problem: Why do we have problems? By:
1) Sin of Adam or personal sin.

Adam rebelled against God. We live in a world in sin that hates Christ, that does not live
according to the will of God.
2) People problems are: due to physical or spiritual disorders or poor functioning.

Organic or spiritual basis.
b) Responsibility of man
1) God does not take away man's responsibility for his problems.
Gen. 3. Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the serpent.
Man is responsible before God, it is not that he was socialized incorrectly or that he was
born with instincts that he does not control.
Ez. 18:20 Individual responsibility.

1 Cor. 6:9-11, Gal. 5:19-21 List work flesh.
2) Man changes by the power of God

If anyone is in Christ a new creature he is.........
EL ES transforms attitudes, habits, behaviors.
Rom. 12:2:
Cabbage. 3:5-7:
1 P. 4:3-4:
2 Cor. 5:17: Titus 3:3:
1 Cor. 6:11......and these were some of you.
c. Advising phases
1) Biblical involvement between the counselor and the counselee
2) Research (data collection)
3) Interpretation
4) Instruction: repentance or commitment
5) Implement

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