Dr. Jay Adams in the introduction to his book, Competent to Counsel tells us how after disappointing experiences with referring people with problems to professionals he tried as a pastor to help them with the teaching of God’s Word. In this and following Outlooks Rev. John Kruis of Sussex, New Jersey, introduces this Christian method of counseling.
[Note: Nouthetic C0unseling is the method of biblical counseling developed chiefly by Dr. Jay E. Adams while he was a professor at Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The word nouthetic (pronounced new-thetical is derived from the Greek word noutheteo. which means to confront, to put in m ind, to admonish.]
Nouthetic counseling is being enthusiastically accepted as a very effective, biblical method of counseling among evangelical Christians in our country and many foreign countries. This is true, not only among the clergy, but also among Christians found in all walks of life. At seminars on counseling and at the annual meeting of the National Association of Nouthetic Counselors (NANC) I have met—besides ministers—medical doctors, lawyers, college professors, teachers, guidance counselors, military and institutional chaplains, social workers, etc. Many of them had been involved in counseling for years. But now they have discovered that nouthetic counseling is far superior to that which they had been using. They are intent upon becoming skilled in and promoting it.
Dr. Broger’s Experience
One of them, for example, is Dr. Job~ Broger, the former Director of the Office of Information for the Armed Forces, Washington, D.C., one of the speakers at the first annual meeting of NANC. As a Christian layman Dr. Broger for some time had been helping people who were hurting because of unsolved problems in their lives.
“As much as anyone, John Broger came in contact with the myriad problems Washington’s burgeoning and bright middle class faces, problems often more complicated than those facing people lower down the economic and social scale.
It might be a colonel, deeply depressed because his wife was threatening to take the children and leave him. She just didn‘t like Washington.
Or it might be another officer at the Pentagon, who for one or a dozen reasons, has resorted to heavy drinking, showing the tell-tale marks of alcoholism.
Even at church, it could be a seemingly unflappable, even model–like Christian, who quietly confided, while no one else was around to hear, that she was having problems deep down that were affecting her attitudes and her joy for living, her usefulness.”1
Dr. Broger was being used of the Lord to bring much needed. help to many such people. However, he became a much more effective counselor after he read and assimilated Competent to Counsel Jay Adams’ first book on counseling. He became so excited about this that he, along with some colleagues, invited Adams to hold a two-day counseling seminar for chaplains at Ft. Belvoir, near the Pentagon. This further equipped them to become effective counselors. In addition it led to greater things. He, along with his colleagues, Army Lt. Colonels Bob Schneider and Carl Smith, cooperated with Dr. Adams in developing an effective laymen‘s counseling program, now published by the National Association of Evangelicals.2 By October 1976, Dr. Broger, with the assistance of several others, had trained over 200 laymen in the Washington, D.C. area in nouthetic counseling. Bubbling over with enthusiasm, our good brother informed us at the meeting of NANC that nine of these laymen were already busy one night a week in his home church, helping people to resolve problems in their lives.
Personal Experience
This kind of enthusiasm for nouthetic counseling is common among those who have really worked their way into it and have given it a fair trial. I have yet to meet one person who, having tried it, has been disappointed.
I share this enthusiasm for nouthetic counseling. It has transformed my counseling ministry. This began over five years ago after I read, studied, digested and assimilated Competent to Counsel3 and The Christian Counselor’s Manual4 by Adams. Later I was privileged to take the Pastor’s Training Course under Dr. Adams at the Christian Counseling Center in Hatboro, Pa. Since that time my counseling experience has broadened far beyond expectation. In spite of personal weaknesses and limitations, I have been able to effectively counsel people—including those outside of the church with complex problems (personal, marital, family) that I would not have dared to touch six years ago. I have learned by experience that the claims as to t he effectiveness of nouthetic counseling have not been exaggerated. Not at all! Again and again I have been just amazed as long-standing, heart–rending problems have been solved, often in a comparatively short time.
Now it is my hope that more of my colleagues in the ministry, professional counselors and laymen will adopt this method of counseling. I am certain that then many more people who are hurting, who are experiencing the miseries of unsolved problems, will get the kind.of help they need and which ought to be made available to them. That‘s why I write about nouthetic counseling.
Distinctive Features
My intention is not to write either a thorough explanation or an exhaustive analysis of nouthetic counseling. One should, of course, turn especially to the works of Jay Adams for that. I only intend to explain some of its distinctive, salient features, touching especially on those aspects which seem to be most misunderstood and misrepresented. .
What is nouthetic counseling? It is counseling in which the means of sanctification are applied in a very practical way, by bot h the counselor and counselees, so that the Holy Spirit powerfully changes people, solving personal (often called emotional or mental), marital and/or family problems, bringing peace, joy, love, harmony and unity –and above all glory to God. It is counseling in which the counselor: (1) proceeds on the principle that there is a biblical, God-glorifying solution to every problem;
(2) helps to identify the problems correctly; (3) directs the counselees to the biblical solutions and works intensively with them in making the necessary changes in order to solve the problems, through the power of the Holy Spirit.
A Biblical, God–Glorifying Solution To Every Problem
Nouthetic counselors, then, proceed on the principle that there is a biblical, God–glorifying solution to every problem. My experience has been that this is one of t he factors that contributes greatly to the success of nouthetic counseling. It is so utterly important because it immediately gives the basic direction to and sets the tone for every counseling case. At the very outset the counselor arouses hope in the counselees by making it clear to them that God has a way out for them and that it need.not take long for their problems to be solved. He motivates them to work toward biblical solutions. It often happens that people are directed to a nouthetic counselor after failing to receive help from psychiatrists, social workers, pastors and other counselors. They come with seemingly hopeless personal, marital and/or family problems, often of long duration. But no matter how severe or deep–seated, and apparently hopeless, the problems may be, the counselor has good news for them: There is a solution! There is a way out! No one has to continue living with depression, functioning poorly on tranquilizers or mood–lifting pills. No one has to be “down and out” because of unsolved financial or other personal troubles. No one has to go on living in bondage to sin of any kind. (Cf. Romans 6; I Cor. 6:9–11). No married couple has to either continue having marital war or take the unbiblical route of divorce in a vain effort to solve problems, or to escape a bad situation. No family needs to continue living with conflicts or broken relationships. The Lord says, “No temptation (trial) 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.” (I Cor. 10:13 NIV)
Hope for the Hopeless
Proceeding on the principle that there is a biblical solution, the counselor is not like a ship lost at sea without a rudder or a compass. He knows the course to follow and shows it to the counselees. As he takes this approach, people are almost always ready to go to work on their problems –even t hough they had seemed hopeless. Let me give some examples: (To avoid any possibility of embarrassment to persons I have counseled, most of the cases referred to are outside of my own congregation; also, I have used pseudonyms.) First, there is Jane, who was depressed and had attempted suicide with an overdose of sleeping pills. While she was in the hospital she was counseled by a psychiatrist (and charged $75.00 for each short visit). But after returning home she still felt hopeless. Her problems seemed insurmountable. In our first counseling session she, a professing Christian, was assured, “There is hope; there is a way out for you. God never gives us more than we can bear. By God’s grace you can work your way through this . . . You can yet have a good life. And it need not take long for this to happen.” As we took a close look together at God’s promises Jane at first hardly dared to hope because of her past failures and disappointing experiences with non-directive counseling. I said to her, “But we are going to work in a different way . . . I want to help you find God’s solution to your problems. If you take God’s way out you will soon change. But you will have to work at it. And I will work with you.” Her response was, “That looks good to me. No one has ever put it like that before . . . I need direction.” Before s he left my study her countenance had changed. Spurred on by the assurances from God’s Word, she went to work on her problems in a biblical way. Within four weeks her depression was gone. A dramatic change!
Another example is that of Bob and Susan, who had been married for fifteen years. It had been almost fifteen years of marital war. They too had seen several counselors, apparently all non-directive. There were so many problems in their marriage (the second for both of them) that it was a wonder they managed to stay together that long. I said to them, “I can see why it looks hopeless to you. You have an awful lot of problems that have been building up for years. The situation is bad. I don’t minimize that. From what you have told me, I can see that many changes have to be made. But you can and must make these changes. I will help you . . . You can yet have a good marriage. There is a way out. You can rebuild your marriage relationship.” This game them hope and encouragement to work on their problems. What happened? They came twenty–five miles weekly for counseling and made rapid progress in clearing up their difficulties. In fact , after six weeks Susan, with tear filled eyes, said, “I can hardly believe it’s happening. Our relationship is better than it has ever been in all of our married life.” Again it was the assurance that God has a way out of every situation that motivated the counselees to work for biblical change in order to solve their problems.
A Biblical Solution
Nouthetic counselors also keep on insisting that there is always a biblical solution to every problem . . . In fact, they insist that the biblical way is the only way, never advocating another. In this they differ sharply with those counselors (some of whom are professing Christians) who say that problems can be solved by learning to accept your bondage to some sin, by learning to live with a sinful situation, or taking action which God clearly forbids. Instead, hope is aroused by demonstrating that God’s way, and only God’s way, will work. The case of Davie and Betty is a good example of this. They had been married for almost twenty–five years. Theirs too had been a very rocky marriage for many years. They had sought help from various pastors and counselors, but the situation in their home continued to deteriorate. Before coming for counseling they had been advised, by both their former pastor (CRC) and a Christian psychiatrist, to get a divorce. Betty had decided too that this was the only way out of their misery. It was only to satisfy a relative that she consented to come for counseling (over five years ago). But she had no intention of staying with her husband. In the first counseling session Betty very vehemently insisted that there was absolutely no hope of saving their marriage. Dave, of course, would “never change.” They had been told that their marriage was “dead.” Betty insisted, “I could never love Dave again . . . I’m getting a divorce.” I kept on insisting just as vehemently, “Divorce is not an option. It is not God’s way out. But there is a way out. You can yet have a happy marriage. You can both change.”
I spent several hours with Dave and Betty that Saturday evening, explaining that we would be taking a distinctively different approach than their previous counselors had taken. When they left my study that evening Dave wanted to work at saving their marriage but Betty wanted to have time to think it over. The next day she called to let me know that she would give it a try.
They went to work on biblical change (and both had a lot of changing to do). The road was rough exceedingly rough at times. On two or three occasions Betty again said that she was getting a divorce. But I kept on insisting, “God doesn’t allow that (except in the case of adultery).” Today Dave and Betty have a happy marriage. Again, the demonstration of and the continual insistence on the fact that God has a way out, that His way will work, was of crucial importance.
(to be continued)
1. Bill Willoughby, Religious News Editor of the Washington Star, “Peace and Life in Washington: Training Laypeople for Biblical Counseling,” Action, Summer 1976, p. 20. 2. The title of this course is “Competent To Counsel: A Training Course to Equip Christians for Counseling.” It consists of eight cassette tapes, chiefly lectures on counseling, and printed detailed instructions on how to conduct the course. It can be obtained by writing to: The National Association of Evangelicals, Box 28, Wheaton, Illinois 60187.3. Jay E. Adams. Competent to Counsel, (Grand Rapids, Michigan, Baker Book House, 1972).
4. Jay E. Adams, The Christian Counselor’s Manual: The Sequel and Companion Volume to Competent To Counsel, (Grand Rapids, Michigan. Baker Book House, 19791.