Page 6 - Biblical Counseling II-Textbook

I taught grade 7 and 8 language arts after earning a degree in English, secondary education at university.
It became obvious to me fairly quickly in my teaching career that God created me to care about, help,
and nurture middle school students (12-14 year-olds). However, I wasn’t passionate about teaching
them! As a result, I went to graduate school to earn a master’s degree in education with a focus on
school counseling. I’ve spent the past 15 years as a school counselor for students between the ages of 4
and 14. Public schools [maybe government schools instead] in the United States are not allowed to
teach students about God. While students may receive an academic education that prepares them for
life, they do not develop their spiritual life in school. As a result, I work in a private, Christian school
where the focus surrounding education is to teach students from a Christian worldview. For example,
my school’s vision statement says, “to be a Christ-centered learning community intent on restoring
God’s world.” My job as a counselor in a school is to help students with social, emotional, family and
academic difficulties. This means my day is filled with many students with different needs.

On a typical day, I could meet with a student whose
parent has cancer. Then I could meet with two students
who are often fighting. I could meet next with siblings
whose parents are getting divorced. Then I could meet
with a student who has a hard time making friends. Next
I could go talk to an entire grade about a topic, like living
out the Fruits of the Spirit. I could end my day meeting
with a teacher or a parent to talk about how to help a
student who is having a difficult time in school. Each day
is different and there are many students I counsel!
When I have explained my job to students at IBCZ in the past, many students are surprised there is a
person like me in a school who focuses only on students’ social and emotional needs! (photo:
reachinghighernh.org)

Recently, I earned a second master’s degree in counseling psychology. This degree gave me more in-
depth knowledge about counseling people of different ages, as well as knowledge about different issues
that impact people like addiction, trauma and mental illness. During this master’s degree program, I was
required to fulfill 1,000 internship hours. I completed these hours at a counseling center for adults with
severe mental illnesses. Many of the adults I counseled were not able to live on their own or hold a job
because of the severity of their mental illness. I will share more about these adults in later chapters of
this course.

Throughout this course, I will use myself and my life experiences as examples. You will also spend time
reflecting on your life as we learn about Biblical counseling. We will look to answer questions about why
we believe, react, and respond in the ways we do. How have life events impacted us and how do they
now affect how we relate to others? What do we need to recognize about ourselves (our tendencies,
bias, thought patterns) in order to provide Biblical counseling to those around us? What do we need to
learn about people so that we are able to counsel? These are some questions we will explore during this
course.

Who Are You?
“For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise You because I am
fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Psalm 139:13-14

5