Tag: counseling

Christians, Pastors, and Mental Health Treatment

Desiring God, the ministry of John Piper, continues to receive negative reaction to a Twitter message about mental health posted on Tuesday (2/6/18).


Many readers, including me, felt the tweet implied that the cause of mental illness is a lack of faith. However, many believers experience emotional distress and many non-believers don’t. The tweet and later effort to put it in the context of a 2007 article fell flat. Adding insult to injury, Desiring God had nothing else to say, leaving the tweet in place and offering no apology. As Phoenix Preacher Michael Newnham wrote, “Being a Christian Celebrity Means Never Having to Say You’re Sorry…”

Being a Christian Celebrity Doesn’t Mean You Are an Expert at Everything

Some of them think they are. And their fans often put them in that role. I rather like what Newnham has to say about his approach as a pastor to mental health concerns.

As a pastor my “expertise” is limited and I’m as broken and fallible as you are.
In some ways, maybe more so.
I don’t know how to fix your sex life, raise your kids, manage your finances, or treat your ills.
I’m not even that good at what I’m trained to do.
My job is to help you grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus, just as I am growing as well.
My job is to be present when you need me, to the best of my ability.
My job is to pray with and for you, that God will give you wisdom about the problems that are beyond my scope of expertise…which are most of them.
Sometimes, my job is to give you a referral to someone I trust can help you.

This is really good. Keep all of the Desiring God ministries and give me men and women like this in community churches everywhere.

Therapy Helps

The Desiring God tweeter should meet some Christians who found help from psychotherapy. I am the first to acknowledge (and call out) the shoddy and quack therapists, but I also know that therapy can be a lifeline to people when everything else (including the church) has failed them. Read the response of this Christian blogger with who responded to a challenge about therapy.

Last night I read a disturbing sentiment on someone’s blog. In effect, she said she doesn’t support therapy because there is nothing therapy can provide that can’t be provided through a relationship with God. This disturbs me because so many Christians feel this way or similar, and it is essentially a way of saying that all mental illness or emotional issues are a result of a broken relationship with God or a failure of faith. I can’t tell you how hard it is to hear this; I lost many friends who made this conclusion out of ignorance or arrogance.

In response, she wrote:

The first thing to be said here is that yes, God can and does have the ability to heal anything. Read this blog if you doubt that. Yes, my hard work and new variations of meds and finding the right (and strange) combination of meds matters, along with many other things like vitamins and diet and sunshine, but that I’m in remission (partial or otherwise) is nothing less than a miracle.
However, I firmly believe that God uses tools to heal. For those with mental illness, one of those tools can be therapy. I don’t know a single therapist (even the really bad ones I’ve had and there were several of those) who have claimed to be a cure for anything just by themselves. Instead, therapy provides support while you do what needs done, just like a cast supports a fractured arm.
Bipolar illness damages my relationship with God. I am not good at connecting with anyone and I need help to do so. That’s one place therapy comes into play. I also need help with things that should be basic. Reading the Bible and understanding it is one of them. I can’t follow a “real” Bible. I use a children’s version when I can, but truthfully that’s not a lot. I just have a lot of emotions surrounding the inability to handle the real Bible that make it hard to stomach my watered down one. Maybe a better person wouldn’t struggle with the anger that I can’t be an adult in all things, but I do. It’s a side effect of an illness that took away so much of what I wanted in life.

This person didn’t get sick by staring in a mirror, nor was the remission due to looking away from it. The Desiring God-style advice yielded frustration and as she said, condemnation from Christians. I urge pastors to put aside fear and reach out to local experts in mental health for referrals when someone in your congregation needs help. Not all encounters will go well but begin seeking referral sources now as you would sources for other medical and health specialties.
A Christian organization which may provide assistance is Christian Association for Psychological Studies.

Are All Psychotherapies Equal?

Scientific American yesterday posted a nice summary of the research on effectiveness of psychotherapy.

From the article by Hal Arkowitz and Scott Lilienfeld:

In light of such findings, a search for a therapist should at least sometimes involve a consideration of the type of treatment he or she practices. It is true that ingredients, such as empathy, that cut across effective therapies are potent and that various established techniques are roughly equivalent for a broad range of difficulties. Yet under certain circumstances, the therapeutic method can matter. For example, if a clinician espouses an approach outside the scientific mainstream—one that does not fall under the broad categories we have listed here—you should not assume that this treatment will be as helpful as others.

One of the big puzzles of psychological treatment is why obviously unhelpful methods can lead clients to feel better. As noted in this article, some components of success cut across methods. A reparative therapist, for example, might explain a false set of facts to a client in an empathetic manner which might then provide a false sense of reassurance. Even though the therapy only minimally provides any effect on sexuality, the client may still feel better due to the working of the common factors.

Counselorlicense.com – Caveat emptor.

The public has a right to be confused about credentials in mental health. With several different mental health professions (psychiatry, psychology, professional counseling, social work, marriage and family therapy, and addictions counseling), it is hard to keep up with the various titles and credentials used by the professions as well as the differences from state to state. In some states (e.g., my former residence, Ohio), one must be credentialed in order to practice, but in others (my current residence, Pennsylvania) one does not need to be licensed to practice professional counseling, marriage and family therapy or social work.
The public can be easily fooled in this environment and even those with some mental health training might think certain credentials will help them gain competitive advantage. Hence, legitimate credentialing bodies have taken steps to alert the public about what appear to be business ventures. For instance, the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC) provides this information regarding the American Psychotherapy Association. Sounds official, right? However, these credentials have no legal standing or recognition with any regulatory body.
What prompts this post is the emergence of another such credential with the catchy slogan – Become a licensed counselor! at Counselorlicense.com. At first glance, I thought it might be a parody. Check out this testimonial:

From a job standpoint, I was like a fish out of water. I tried every profession known to man, from office work, to real estate, to nearly every infomercial in existence. I wanted to work for myself, but as a single parent, needed significant income, but could not do extensive travel, as required in sales positions. As a “people person” I loved helping struggling couples and Church members with everything from finances to relationships, and our Pastor suggested I check out PSU. I started in a spare bedroom, and made over $1,400 the first week, and felt happier helping people than I ever have in my life. I now have my own office, secretary and mini daycare room, and can’t wait to get up in the morning to start my day! Thank you hardly says it…

The phrase “started in a spare bedroom” pointed toward parody to me but I have learned that the American Counseling Association is not amused. David Kaplan, Chief Professional Officer, at the ACA said this in an email about the Phoenix State University “credential.”

You can be assured that ACA, through its Council of Presidents and Region Chairs (COPARC), is working on this issue and taking this credential seriously.

A Whois domain search of the counselorlicense.com reveals the following:

Registrant:
Halstead, Tom
ETI
7760 e SR 69
suite c5-390
Prescott Valley, AZ 86314
US
Domain Name: COUNSELORLICENSE.COM
Administrative Contact, Technical Contact:
Halstead, Tom
ETI
7760 e SR 69
suite c5-390
Prescott Valley, AZ 86314, US
928-830-8467 fax: 866-857-2594
Record expires on 04-Apr-2009.
Record created on 04-Apr-2008.

Not surprisingly, Mr. Halstead is the owner of the various proofs of legitimacy he advances to support the pastoral counseling certificate. For instance, the websites of the Pastoral Church of America, the Phoenix State University, and even the accrediting body he says accredits the PSU, the Association of American Trade and Vocational Schools are all owned by Mr. Halstead. Of course, they all point to each other as evidence for their prestige. The AATVS website says it is “the oldest and largest accrediting organization for trade and vocational universities, colleges and schools, and has been accrediting university schools and labs since 1897.” Google it in quotes, however, and only two listings pop up, the website and Phoenix State University.
A call to the number given yields a recording asking the caller to contact PSU via email. So I did and received an automated reply. No answers as yet to my questions about how many students PSU enrolls or how I can contact one of those counselors who started in the spare bedroom. If you go to tomhalstead.com, you will find a web design business. From the looks of all the domains and websites he has, no wonder no one is answering the phone; he probably is very busy.
UPDATE: 6/3/08 – I spoke with James Rough, Executive Director of the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker & Marriage and Family Therapist Board who informed me that he has asked the Ohio Attorney General’s office to investigate potential consumer fraud by counselorlicense.com. If this office doesn’t have jurisdiction or ability to intervene, then he will write the Arizona and Colorado consumer fraud offices to ask for an investigation. I suspect other state boards will follow suit.

I think ACA violated its policies so I complained

On Wednesday, I sent a letter of complaint to the American Counseling Association along with over 400 of my closest colleagues (getting close to 500 by now, in part thanks to the American Association of Christian Counselors). In brief, I believe the ACA violated Policy 301.7 when the ACA Ethics Committee said

There are treatments endorsed by the Association for Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Issues in Counseling (see http://www.aglbic.org/resources/competencies.html), a division of the American Counseling Association and the American Psychological Association (see http://www.apa.org/pi/lgbc/guidelines.html) that have been successful in helping clients with their sexual orientation. These treatments are gay affirmative and help a client reconcile his/her same-sex attractions with religious beliefs.

Policy 301.7 states:

Policy 301.7

Policy and Role on Non-Consensus Social Issues of Conscience

Having respect for the individual’s values and integrity in no way restricts us as individuals from finding legitimate avenues to express and support our views to others, who decide and make policy around these issues.  To this end, it will be ACA Governing Council policy to encourage its members to find and use every legitimate means to examine, discuss, and share their views on such matters within the Association.  We also endorse the member’s right to support social, political, religious, and professional actions groups whose values and positions on such issues are congruent with their own.  Through such affiliations, every member has an opportunity to participate in shaping of government policies which guide public action.

To truly celebrate our diversity, we must be united in our respect for the differences in our membership.  To this end, the role of the Association in such matters is to support the rights of members to hold contrary points of views, to provide forums for developing understanding and consensus building, and to maintain equal status and respect for all members and groups within the organization. Following this philosophy, the Governing Council considers it inappropriate for this body to officially take sides on issues which transcend professional identity and membership affiliation, and which substantially divide our membership, at least until such time that there can be a visible consensus produced among the membership.

Approved: 7/15/90

Now read this full Ethics Committee opinion and see if you think 301.7 is violated. I suspect my readers will break along ideological lines but, in my mind, this is just one of several issues where ACA has taken positions in absence of consensus.

The Alliance Defense Fund is also supporting my view of the situation with this letter. President Brian Canfield contacted me to say that the issue will be brought before the ACA Governing Council at the March meeting. Just to be clear, I am not taking issue with the responsibility of the ACA to identify questionable treatments but I am disturbed by their assertion that one religious view should be preferred over another by counselors.

The ADF just put out a press release on this matter.

NOTE TO READERS REFERRED FROM OTHER BLOGS: The insinuation that this complaint has any relevance to the Winnepeg “counselor” who used “holding therapy” to initiate sexual assault is false. In fact, I wish the ACA would explicitly prohibit holding therapy and have written frequently on that subject here. However, the ACA should not favor one religious resolution over another on matters where research consensus does not exist. We asked the ACA back in July for some discussion and clarification on this and we had no official response. I will have more to say about that in a future post. However, to suggest that what my complaint asks for is freedom to do “holding therapy” is absolutely false and misleading and should be corrected.