Our Approach

Defining Our Position & Detailing Our Distinctives

Introduction

In our increasingly complex and broken world, people long for deeper meaning, true healing, and wholeness. Well Christian Care represents an approach to care that stands on the foundation of Scripture, while also considering observations from psychology and homeopathy when they prove both biblically faithful and practically helpful. We aim to offer care that guides individuals toward wellness and wholeness. We believe this is ultimately found in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

The following content thoroughly outlines our approach to caring for people.

Our Name

The name "Well Christian Care" is chosen with great intention. The word Well symbolizes both the source of spiritual nourishment found in Christ and the holistic wellness that this approach seeks to promote. The word Care underscores our approach to counseling— not just as a practice but as a relational, empathetic journey extending beyond traditional counseling, one where we walk alongside those we care for. This name encapsulates our vision of providing care that nurtures every aspect of an individual's life, always rooted in the Gospel and informed by compassionate, competent care.

Understanding Christian Counseling

The term “Christian Counseling” is broad in scope. A quick Google search of the term yields various results and practitioners, seemingly each with their own definition and approach.

Historically, the practice of Christians providing care can be traced back to the first-century church in the New Testament. Christian Counseling as we know it today emerged in the mid-20th century as a response to the growing secular psychotherapy movement. In recent history, four models of Christian Counseling have been identified:

  • Levels of Explanation. This model essentially separates theology and psychology, viewing them as distinct disciplines that should be understood independently of one another. Affiliations include the Christian Association for Psychological Studies (CAPS) and Fuller Seminary’s School of Psychology.

  • Integration. The integration model combines psychological principles with Christian theology, aiming to harmonize them as disciplines that can equally inform one another. Affiliations include the American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC), Light University, and Reformed Theological Seminary (RTS).

  • Christian Psychology. This model develops a uniquely Christian psychology that is deeply rooted in theological understanding and thinking, employing its findings typically within a professional counseling context. Affiliations include The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology (SSTP) and Covenant Theological Seminary.

  • Biblical Counseling. This model emphasizes theological truth as the foundation for understanding and helping people, considering observations from other sources while remaining committed to biblical interpretations, principles, and practices. Affiliations are listed in the next section. Affiliations include The Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC), the Association of Biblical Counselors (ABC), the Biblical Counseling Coalition (BCC), the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation (CCEF), the Institute for Biblical Counseling and Discipleship (IBCD), and a growing list of others.

These are general summaries of each approach. For a more detailed analysis of each approach, we recommend this article and this series of posts. When it comes to utilizing insights from psychology and psychotherapy, these models exist on a spectrum:

History and Nuances of Biblical Counseling

To clearly define Well Christian Care’s position on this spectrum of approaches, further insight into the approach of Biblical Counseling is required.

History of Biblical Counseling

The roots of Biblical Counseling trace to the late 1960s and Dr. Jay Adams. Largely considered the “father of the biblical counseling movement,” Dr. Adams not only recognized the growing influence of modern psychologies in the mainstream replacing historic biblical theology and its understanding of people and problems, but also how Christian churches and care organizations were becoming more influenced by psychology and less by theology. He developed biblical counseling to emphasize that Scripture provides a framework for understanding people and problems. In 1968, he and a local pastor in the suburbs of Philadelphia founded the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation (CCEF) to continue the development of biblical counseling and spread its message to other churches and organizations.

Nuances of Biblical Counseling

As the movement grew, second-generation leaders expanded on Adam’s original themes and ideas. The second generation of biblical counselors is largely credited with recognizing the need for a more nuanced approach to biblical counseling and beginning its development, while the third generation of biblical counselors now is practicing and refining the nuances.

Biblical Counseling Today

Today, distinctions exist within biblical counseling as different affiliations and organizations emphasize different aspects of the overall approach. The below is not absolute in its assessment, but is our attempt to represent nuances in biblical counseling accurately.

  • Nouthetic Counseling. The name comes from the biblical Greek word “noutheteo” which means “to confront or admonish.” The term was originally coined by Jay Adams, who used “nouthetic” and “biblical” interchangeably to describe the approach to counseling. In Nouthetic Counseling, most issues are understood as strictly spiritual and/or sin issues. The approach typically emphasizes the significance of sin and personal responsibility, often places emphasis on confrontation in the counseling relationship, and utilizes Scripture nearly exclusively. Assignments and homework are also prominent features and tend to be extensive. First-generation biblical counselors practiced this approach universally. Nouthetic Counseling historically engages other theories and approaches dismissively and defensively.

  • Modern Biblical Counseling. Modern Biblical Counseling shares foundational beliefs with Nouthetic Counseling but is broader in scope. It relies heavily on Scripture to guide counseling but recognizes the importance of compassion, listening, and understanding human experience. While recognizing sin as a problem and the necessity of personal responsibility, Biblical Counseling also recognizes suffering as a contributor to problems. Modern Biblical Counselors tend to emphasize gentle confrontation and a compassionate response to suffering. Modern Biblical Counseling recognizes the reality that people are embodied souls, and considers how the body can contribute to issues without being causative of them. Modern Biblical Counseling typically engages other theories and approaches with caution, yet charity.

  • Redemptive Counseling. Redemptive Counseling is a developing approach building on the convictions of biblical counseling but aiming to bridge the gap that has long existed between Biblical Counseling and Christian Psychology and Integration. Redemptive Counseling ultimately rejects erroneous, often godless, views of people and problems proposed by secular psychologies, yet affirms that certain strategies developed from these ways of thinking can be effective means of providing care. Like Modern Biblical Counseling, Redemptive Counseling recognizes the reality of embodied souls, yet often takes the implications and applications further when it comes to considering the extent the body contributes to counseling issues. In its infancy, Redemptive Counseling has shown a willingness to not only engage other theories and approaches but also learn from them, especially as it relates to understanding trauma and psychiatric conditions. That is why Redemptive Counseling is becoming known as Clinically-Informed Biblical Counseling. The development of this approach is largely owed to the Christian Marital, Family, and Individual Counseling department at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS).

The figure below illustrates and highlights these nuances on a spectrum:

Jay Adam's Biblical Counseling

Dr. Jay Adams

The CCEF building in Pennsylvania.

The campus of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

Defining Our Position

We view proponents and practitioners of each model as fellow Christians, and we further believe that each of the above approaches has something positive to offer the field of Christian Counseling. However, we also believe that all of the above approaches have weaknesses, some of which are more concerning and detrimental to the goal of Christian Counseling than others. Because of this, Well Christian Care occupies a space on the spectrum that is 1) decidedly removed from Nouthetic Counseling, Integration, and Levels of Explanation 2) definitively grounded in modern Biblical Counseling, 3) favorably disposed to the development of Redemptive Counseling, 4) and carefully engaging Christian Psychology while not wholly embracing every aspect of the approach. We identify this space, and hybrid of the approaches within it, loosely as Holistic Biblical Counseling, though we do not claim this term as our own or even believe it necessarily is the best descriptor.

Detailing Our Distinctives

At Well Christian Care, we embrace four Distinctives that summarize our commitments to the Holistic Biblical Counseling approach. We believe these Distinctives assert the crucial convictions and amplify the valuable strengths of the models we embrace and engage while simultaneously countering weaknesses within each with strengths of the others. We also believe they safeguard Well Christian Care from more concerning shortcomings of the approaches existing in the space on the spectrum we do not occupy, whether they be theological, psychological, or methodological in nature.

  • Well Christian Care is committed to being distinctly Christian. Pulling from the strengths of Modern Biblical Counseling, all of our care is offered with a distinctly Christian worldview developed chiefly by the insights of traditional Christian theology. These insights are sometimes reinforced and expanded by findings in psychology and homepathy. Yet, we avoid the weakness of Integration that places theology and psychology as equally significant, and the weakness of Levels of Explanation that separates them entirely. In short, we place emphasis and foundation firstly on theology, and secondly on psychology and homeopathy.

    Our caregivers are all sincere Christians committed to their faith and a local church in our community.

  • Well Christian Care is committed to Christ’s compassion. Harsh counsel can cause harm to those hurting, and one of the weaknessess of Nouthetic Counseling is its sometimes careless approach to confrontation. Yet, we believe that the kind of compassion without direction that is prominent in secular approaches and common in Christian Integration or Levels of Explanation is equally unhelpful.

    We understand true compassion to include empathy but also movement toward either an active addressing of sin and/or an engaged comfort for struggles. This recognition and implementation is something Modern Biblical Counseling has positively contributed to Christian Counseling.

  • When someone reaches out for help, they expect and hope for someone capable of helping. We see the committment to a robust, diverse, yet overall Biblically based education as a strength of the developing Redemptive Counseling approach within Biblical Counseling. Caregivers at Well Christian Care are well-trained and are committed to continuing education. While not state-licensed, all of our counselors are certified Biblical or Christian Counselors, and many have received Master’s-Level education and counseling training.

  • Christian Counseling has a reputation for being reductionistic.

    The nouthetic approach, while positively emphasizing Scripture, tends to dismiss modern psychological or even, in extreme cases, medicinal findings, even when these conclusions they are supportable, and the use of them is justifiable, by Scripture. On the other end of the spectrum, Integration and Levels of Explanation tend to commit the error of reducing people to what can be determined by the behavior of their body, whether that is a psychatric diagnosis, symptoms of illness, or even the physical challenges accompanyin presenting problems. The failure to account for the complexity the soul in these cases is reductionistic.

    A strength of the Redemptive Counseling and Christian Psychology approaches are their commitment to being Clinically Informed, enabling the flexibility to consider counseling issues from physical, mental, emotional, and relational aspects, while not abandoning or dismissing the reality of the complexity of people on a spiritual level.

    Simply, we aim to consider the whole person in our approach.

Conclusion: Back to the Beginning

Well Christian Care identifies our approach to care as Holistic Biblical Counseling. This represents an approach to care that stands on the foundation of Scripture, while also considering observations from psychology and homeopathy when they prove both biblically faithful and practically helpful. Our commitment to being Christian, Compassionate, Competent, and Comprehensive reflects our dedication to providing care that embodies the heart of God, guiding people toward wellness and wholeness as was originally intended for them (Genesis 1:31). We believe this is ultimately found in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

While we are decidedly convinced of our approach, we, too, are on a journey of continual refinement and growth. We have not “arrived,” and we know we have more to learn. As we move forward, we seek to understand more deeply how the timeless truths of Scripture intersect with the complexities of modern life. It is through the work of God that we find true hope and a vision for transformation. May He grant us the grace to listen with attentive ears, see with discerning eyes, embrace others with compassionate and humble hearts, and cultivate a shared desire for growth and renewal.

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him”

— James 1:5