Through a Biblical lens – the Biblical Counseling view 

In an attempt to better understand the various Christian approaches to psychology, I read, “Psychology and Christianity: Five Views.” In this blog series, I am attempting to summarize the various approaches in six blog posts. The primary purpose is not to gain a deep understanding of each approach. Instead I want to create a framework for interacting with each view. I want to guard against building or accepting straw man arguments when reviewing, discussing or even thinking about each position. In this post, I will look at the fifth approach, the “Biblical Counseling” view.

Representative of the view

In the book, “Psychology and Christianity”, David Powlison presents the “Biblical Counseling” view. Before his death, Powlison was an author, a counselor at the Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation, and taught at Westminster Theological Seminary. In addition to his counseling and teaching, he was also the editor of the Journal of Biblical Counseling (JBC) for a time. 

A unique understanding of psychology 

Powlison presents “Biblical Counseling” as having clear Christian assumptions and a unique understanding of psychology. These assumptions are listed below. He presents his unique understanding of psychology as a “deconstruction” of the word psychology. This deconstruction is really another assumption that is more nuanced than the others. The deconstruction consists of six interrelated meanings of the concept psychology. He calls them: Psych-1, Psych-2, etc. These “Psychs” then form a grid for analyzing and diagnosing the issue or issues with which a person is struggling and helps to construct a path toward healing (p. 246). 

I could not find a clear definition of biblical counseling in the book. However, after reading Powlison’s chapter several times, I understand that from his point of view, Biblical counseling approaches psychology as a natural extension of the Christian life. For example, he starts his chapter with the phrase, “Christian faith is psychology.” (p. 245). Of course, there are various definitions of psychology and Powlison does unpack some of them. He follows up with the phrase, “Christian ministry is a psychotherapy.” (p. 245). By this, I understood him to mean that the goals of the secular psychologist and the Christian are almost the same. They both want to see healthy, thriving, growing people.

The difference comes in the assumptions, approaches and what is meant by healthy, thriving, growing people. This is where I learned a lot from Powlison. He clearly defined the assumptions of the Biblical Counseling point of view, and I found these very helpful. This definition requires a lot of nuances and many caveats.  

Assumptions 

The first assumption is a negative one. He makes it clear that Biblical counseling is not “anti-psychology.”

A persistent misunderstanding of the “Biblical Counseling” view asserts, ‘You don’t believe Christians can learn anything from secular psychology.’ On the contrary, we can learn, should learn, and do learn from anyone and everyone. But we do seek to be aware of the blinkering and distorting effects of faulty assumptions and explanations (including our own failures to apprehend the Christian gaze and to express wise love).

Powlison, Psychology and Christianity: Five Views, p. 255

Other assumptions which the “Biblical Counseling” view holds are as follows.

• Belief is required for understanding. Furthermore, belief in God is required to understand humans and humanness (246). 
• People are made in the image of God and therefore, by their nature, they seek God, be it passively or actively (246). 
• Humans are accountable to God, turn away from God and are renewable by God (246).  
• God is the maker of all things. (247)
• Jesus will judge the living and the dead. (247) 
• Christ came for our salvation. (248) 

Implications

Powlison states this implication of his assumptions:

Christian faith understands psychology and psychotherapy as implications and outworkings of this God-centered point of view.

p. 247

Some of the other implications Powlison identifies are: 

• “To be fully human is to know and love this Maker by name.” (247) 
• We are known and evaluated. (247) 
• We are not left to ourselves. (248) 
• God pursues us. (248) 
• He will make all things right. (248) 
• Restoration of humanity requires restoring our primary relationship. (248). 

He contrasts this point of view with other psychologies. Powlison concludes that other psychologies do not sufficiently understand the person and so, by implication fall short in their paths to healing (247). However, Powlison doesn’t explain who he means by “other psychologies.” I got the impression that by “other psychologies”, he meant all non-“Biblical counseling” psychologies.  

Approach to Healing 

To demonstrate the approach to healing, Powlison does what he calls a deconstruction of the word “psychology”. I understood it more as a play on the word psychology to identify six categories that will assist in understanding a person’s need and providing appropriate help. He names these six categories and calls them psych-1, psych-2, etc. Briefly, they are as follows:  

• Psych-1 is you in interaction with your entire life situation. (249) 
• Psych-2 refers to organized knowledge, to close observations and systematic descriptions of human functioning. (253). 
• Psych-3 refers to our worldview or theology. It is an interpretative and explanatory model that organizes and weighs the torrent of Psych-1 experience and Psych-2 information. (256) 
• Psych-4 refers to various psychotherapeutic models and skills aiming to redress problems in living. (257) 
• Psych-5 refers to institutional and professional arrangements. (259) 
• Psych-6 refers to an ethos pervading popular culture, a zeitgeist. (261) 

Though interrelated, these six meanings of psychology highlight different aspects – a person’s dynamics, detailed information, explanatory theories, interventive practices, social institutions, and enculturated values and beliefs.”

p. 262

After some expansion and commentary, Powlison presents the “psychs” again in the form of diagnostic questions. The answers to these questions lead him to a proposed path to healing. 

• What’s happening? Psych-1 and Psych-2. 
• How do we make sense of this? Psych-3. 
• What approach to healing will be most effecting? Psych-4 and Psych-5. 
• What habits and adjustments to worldview and beliefs will bring the most healing and well-being? Psych-6. 

Finally, after explaining the six psychologies, Powlison presents a case study. In it, he shows how he listens to the life situation of a person and ponders what he hears from the standpoint of the stated assumptions. Then through the lens of the six “Psychs”, he forms a healing approach for the person seeking help. 

The “Biblical Counseling” view applied

As we have been doing in the other posts in this series, consider the following hypothetical trauma case. At the beginning of the full-scale war in Ukraine, a young pastor was driving a van back from western Ukraine to help deliver humanitarian aid supplies. On the way back, he was in a terrible car accident that took his life. He left a young wife and two-year-old son. How might a counselor from the “Biblical Counseling” view approach helping this young widow?

The Biblical counselor would evaluate the situation through the six “psychs,” and based on these observations suggest a path to healing through Biblical pondering. Psych 1 and 2 ask what is happening and how do you understand it? This widow has suffered a great trauma not only because of the loss of her husband and the father to her son, but the loss of all the hopes and dreams she had for them in expecting a long life together. There are many traumas and pains in this one observation alone and these need to be unpacked.

Mapping to the Bible

The unpacking and exploring happens in Psych 3, which addresses worldview. How is the widow processing the losses, her emotions, the community around her, etc.? Psych 4, 5, and 6 ask questions about what approach or approaches to healing would be most effective. If the counselor follows Powlison’s approach in his case study, the counselor would “map” onto the situation a series of Bible passages. That means the widow would be asked to read, study and ponder these passages and apply them to her current life situation. Then this pondering and applying would provide the adjustment in worldview (psych 3) that would lead to other practices of healing (Psych 4). These practices would lead to finding support in community or institutions (psych 5) and to new practices that will bring more healing (psych 6).   

Summary of attributes

View and Representative	Sources of psychological knowledge	Attitude toward contemporary psychology	Goal of Psychology	Primary Allegiance	Primary Task
Levels of Explanation, David G. Myers	Social and hard sciences, philosophy and Christian theology	A source of general revelation on the level of the Bible.	To bring healing to the whole person.	Broader community of scholars	Acquisition of knowledge
An Integration View, Stanton L. Jones	Scripture, theology, and psychological Research.	A source of general revelation to be discerned through the lens of personal growth and biblical wisdom	To do psychological research and work as a growing, discerning Christian	Broader community of scholars	Acquisition of knowledge
A Christian Psychology View, Robert C. Roberts and P.J. Watson. Roberts	Scripture, theology, and psychological Research.	A source of general revelation that has distinctly different assumptions from the Christian	To bring healing and thriving through distinctly Christian practices	The church	Bring healing from a distinctly Christian perspective
A Transformational Psychology View, John H Coe and Todd W. Hall	Scripture, personal introspection, spiritual disciplines, psychological research.	A source of general revelation discerned through the wisdom and personal maturity of the Christian researcher	To bring healing and thriving in the Spirit for the counselee and counselor	The church	Bring transformational human healing in the Spirit
A Biblical Counseling View, David Powlison	Scripture with a cautious approach to secular psychological research.	Open but skeptical	Bring healing through the application of Biblical truth	The church	Bring healing through Biblical interaction that adjusts the worldview

Concluding reflections 

Again, my goal in reading this book and writing these posts is to provide clarity and avoid the “straw man” fallacy. Therefore, I am not analyzing these views. However, I can provide some reflections on each one. I appreciate the level of nuance and humility expressed by the representatives of all five views. I also assume that each presenter is an authoritative representative of the view.

Regarding the “Biblical Counselling” view, I appreciate the clarity with which Powlison explains the view. Although, the “psychs” may seem confusing at first, when reading through them in the case study, it became clear how they can act as a practical lens to help understand and diagnose challenges. I also appreciate that Powlison gave a case study. This helped me understand the theory of his approach in a real-world situation.  

Curiosity that promotes learning

This is the last blog post of this series. As stated in the first blog post, my hope is that this series will encourage healthy, respectful discussion of the topic and help minsters of the Gospel make good decision not just about training options, but also about approaches to bring healing in the name of Jesus. I hope they bring the kind of healing that is real, authentic, God-honoring, Christ-centered, and available to both believer and unbeliever.

The main path to that hope is a clarity that avoids straw-man arguments and a curiosity that promotes learning rather than debate that promotes advocacy. To that end, I offer some of my personal diagnostic questions that help me to be more curious than defensive. This isn’t from the book. It is just from me and at no charge. As I approach a conversation or book when I suspect that I do not agree, on my best days, I ask myself these questions: 

• Do I have a good understanding of the view under discussion? 
• Does the person I am talking to understand the view under discussion? 
• Where do we agree? 
• Where do we disagree? 
• How can I be curious about how the person I am talking with or reading understands the world? 
• How is this discussion impacting my understanding of reality?

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