Information For Church Leaders
As a church leader, you encounter counseling needs as a natural part of your work with the people of God. The Center for Christian Counseling has multiple resources to help you in your ministry. We believe that healing comes in community with the Body of Christ. Therefore, we integrate into our therapy the resources provided by the client’s home church. Resources for healing include connecting with others in small groups, attending worship consistently, being involved in a regular study of God’s Word through Sunday School and study groups, and looking for places to serve in ministry within your church’s outreach ministries.
How can the Center for Christian Counseling assist you in your ministry?
As A Support for Pastoral Counseling
The Center for Christian Counseling can support your pastoral counseling by being available as a referral for longer term counseling needs. Some counseling issues just need more time than you are able to provide. You may also find that there are counseling situations that you believe warrant specialized clinical training in addition to the Biblical counseling needs. While providing Biblically based therapy, the counselors at the Center for Christian Counseling are licensed therapists and have years of clinical training and experience that are a resource you can use.
With a signed release from the client, we can discuss the progress of therapy with you so that you can be in a better position to minister to your church member. In addition, we encourage continuity of care. Having an opportunity to consult with you, as the client’s counseling pastor, allows us to continue the good work that you began with your church member.
As a Pre-Marital Counseling Resource
Statistics show that counseling before marriage improves the probability of a couple staying together in the years ahead. In preparing a couple for marriage, we recognize that pastors have to meet requirements not only from the Lord, but also from their governing body.
The Center for Christian Counseling works with you to provide appropriate pre-marital counseling to meet the requirements for marriage. Our current pre-marital counseling program provides 6 – 10 hours of relationship counseling using the PREPARE-ENRICH assessment from Life Innovations. This relational counseling, coupled with the spiritual counseling from you, their pastor, usually meets requirements for marriage. We obtain a signed release from the couple in order to share assessment results and the progress made in pre-marital counseling so that you have all the information you need to assess a couple’s readiness for marriage.
As a Group Counseling Resource
Specific groups within your congregation can experience issues affecting their lives that cause disruption to the whole Body as well as to them personally. The Center for Christian Counseling offers a remedy by providing on-site group counseling and educational services for issues such as Dealing with Grief, Divorce Recovery, Overcoming Addictions, Peacemaking in the Home, Understanding Substance Abuse, Depression, and other issues that cause disruption in individuals and families.
When an issue is identified, we meet with you to assess the specific needs and your concerns in order to custom-design a group process to address the issue from both a clinical perspective and a spiritual perspective. While we provide the clinical tools for understanding and coping with these issues, our desire is to also assist group members in seeking the comfort of Christ and then learning how to comfort one another with His comfort.
As a Conflict Resolution Resource
Conflict is a natural occurrence in relationships, but most people are unprepared to deal with it in a God-glorifying manner. The Center for Christian Counseling has a trained Christian mediator on staff who is willing to assist you in dealing with the conflicts in your congregation. We provide education, conflict coaching, mediation, and conflict counseling.
As Christian Counselors, we are committed to using our gifts and experience in supporting the Church and working with you as you lead your congregation. Please call us at 517-5815 so that we can talk together about how we can assist you in your ministry.
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