I’ve heard a lot of horror stories from people connected to the “Biblical Counseling” movement, and I just read another in a Biblical Counseling group on Facebook.

The counselor posted that she was counseling a 16-year-old girl whose father was unfaithful to her mother and destroyed her family. The counselor was complaining that the 16 year old was resisting forgiving her father, and wondering if she should discontinue counseling until the 16-year-old was willing to repent of her unforgiveness.

Fortunately, other members of the group pushed back and suggested giving the girl time, listening to her instead of pushing an agenda, and offering more emotional support. Maybe their speaking up will spare this poor girl the hurt she surely would have felt from being rejected by her “Biblical” counselor.

The Biblical counseling movement is full of these kinds of anxious counselors, eager to make sure they’ve achieved what they’ve been told is the necessary pre-set outcome. Clients become projects to steer rather than human beings to nurture. Effective Christian counseling begins with the human heart wherever it is, joins the client in his journey and helps him to discern for himself the shape of his path within a Christian perspective.

Still, I would never tell someone NOT to see a Biblical counselor, but to be aware that Christian counseling comes in many forms and to, at least, consider which form works best for their individual needs and concerns.