What Do You Call Your Counseling?

What Do You Call Your Counseling? 

What do you call your counseling ministry? 

In the Biblical Counseling World 

Many terms are used by leaders of the modern biblical counseling movement. Such as:

• Nouthetic Counseling: From Romans 15:14 and made common by Jay Adams.
• Biblical Counseling
• Christian Counseling: CCEF—The Christian Counseling and Education Foundation. 
• Soul Care
• Spiritual Friendship
• Gospel Conversations
• Parakaletic Counseling: See below on the frequent biblical use of this term.
• The Personal Ministry of the Word 

In Church History 

I love the history of how God’s people have helped one-another with their suffering and with their battles against sin. I’ve written two books (here and here) and one dissertation on the history of Christian soul care. And I’ve taught a seminary course on it for two decades. Here are just a few of the terms (of course, in different languages over the past 2,000 years) used in church history for what we today call “counseling”: 

• Pastoral Care and/or Pastoral Counseling: Not just what the pastor does, but how the whole church cares for one another.
• Spiritual Friendship
• Spiritual Formation
• Soul Care
• Cure of Souls
• Spiritual Direction
• Soul Physician: The person who offers the care and counsel.
• Biblical Psychology: A very common term with the Reformers, Puritans, and Church Fathers.
• Christian Psychology
• Discipleship
• Mentoring 

In the Bible 

While the words “counsel” and “counseling” are used in the Old and New Testament, they primarily refer to God’s counsel to us. Here’s a sampling of terms used in God’s Word for what today we call “counseling”: 

• One-another Ministry: Various aspects of “one-anothering” are highlighted over 100 times in the New Testament
• Speaking the Truth in Love
• Paraklasis: This Greek term and related terms are used over 110 times in the New Testament for the ministry of “counsel through encouragement.”
• Noutheteo: This Greek term is used 1/10^th as often as paraklasis. In its 11 uses, it highlights mind renewal through heart change.
• Discipleship
• Comforting 

What’s in a Title? And, What Makes “Biblical” Counseling Biblical? 

For me, the title—what we call our counseling and how we label our counseling—is important, but secondary.

What’s primary is how we build our approach to counseling. Counseling is “biblical” if we build our understanding of and approach to counseling on a robust biblical view of people, problems, and solutions (people, sin, and redemption). Counseling is “biblical” if the Bible’s grand redemptive narrative is the foundation upon which we build every aspect of our personal ministry to one another. 

For a summary statement of what makes biblical counseling biblical, read the Biblical Counseling Coalition’s Confessional Statement.  

Join the Conversation 

What do you call your counseling? Why? 

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