Christian Counseling, Spirituality, and Mental Health- Do They All Work Together?
Do you go to church or another religious institution and wonder if you can be religious/spiritual and also seek out therapy? This question comes up alot and know that you are not alone in thinking this. Spiritual views however can have important influences in therapy spaces. It may be thought by some that spiritual beliefs act as separate from beliefs in the mental health world. That they both are not able to coexist with one another. In some ways views about mental health might differ from some religious and spiritual views, but not always. This article will discuss these questions and concepts. If you are interested in learning more about therapy services you can reach out to us at Inward Counseling. We would be happy to help you get started with therapy services with us.
1.) Seeking out help from counseling can heal and it is recognized to not be the end all method to healing:
If you are familiar with stories from religious texts including the Bible it talks about how God uses medicine as a method to heal those that are sick. In other spiritual contexts people use herbs and medicinal methods to help heal as well. Medicine recognizes the importance of the mind and body connection. Therapy also recognizes the importance of the mind and body connection, including the importance of spirituality in one's life and the practice of it. Therapy also helps clients to identify how they are attuning to the spiritual aspects of themselves and if that is something that may need more growth. Therapists also don't promise clients that therapy alone would be enough to help heal from the struggles of being human. Therapists recognize that clients should be connected to faith based community resources to help aid in a client's healing journey if needed. Therapists may or may not be able to act as a spiritual advisor based on their education but they can help connect to faith resources. In Christianity it is recognized that humans should seek out many advisors and counsels in life, seeking out a therapist might be just one advisor out of the many that a person could seek out in their lifetime.
2.) Therapy could help in recognizing patterns and generational problems. Identifying may help someone who is feeling stuck and frustrated with life and circumstances:
In our own respects, we may have been through trials and tribulations starting from childhood throughout into adulthood. We might have complicated relationships with family members and friends. These complications could manifest into mental health problems. Mental health problems could impact how we are able to grow and show up as spiritual beings. If we carry defensiveness, anger, resentment, and frustrations from the experiences we have gone through it can be hard to grow as a person when left unresolved and unidentified. Our own mental health struggles then can leave us feeling stuck in our faith and question where we are spiritually. How can we grow in our relationship spiritually when we aren't taking accountability for our own mental health? Generational patterns that have negatively impacted our lives can continue for future generations involved if not looked at. In the Bible Galatians 5:1, the passage describes to not be entangled in the yokes of bondage. Bondage being described as things that keep us away from seeking guidance and help from our higher power and accepting Christ. Bondage could be the unresolved issues that we haven't examined and may need some guidance in examining. It's time that we take a look at ourselves and our life to see where we are getting stuck and where we are having difficulty in letting go. Therapy can potentially help with this and understand where these things are coming from. I encourage you to take the next step in your healing process and see if we might be a good fit for you in your healing journey.
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