Had my first class last night. Biblical counseling. Actually pretty good. The counseling professors here at SEBTS definitely don’t agree with the psychological approach to issues. The professor spent most of the class going over how most of the psychological approach (such as Dr. Phil uses) is based off of observable data and conjecture – not science. It is more akin to art than science, actually.
An eye-opener for me was when he showed the results of a study done in 2002 wherein the efficacy of drugs for helping with depression (such as Zoloft, which was one of the drugs included in the study) was explored. The irony is that while the drugs helped almost 25% of the participants given drugs made a recovery, while over 30% of those given a placebo (a pill of only sugar, no drug) made a full recovery. On the other hand, when they were told they hadn’t actually been given a drug at all, many of them had their moods dip back down again.
The point to highlighting this and other things as arguments against the psychological approach was to emphasize that a pastor or Biblical counselor can confidently approach any issue an individual may bring before him or her with the understanding that he or she will be able to effictively address and help the individual deal with whatever situation he or she might be in. The key is that the counseling be based on the Bible – not pop psychology.
That’s been my opinion for years. Also, if we started looking at things like diet and modifying those, along with using biblically based counseling, we could do away with a lot of drugs that are being used (especially for things like depression and ADD.)
Hi, one of Terra’s BZ mommy friends popping in to snoop, LOL!
I’m a psychology major and have to say that I agree with psychology, as far as treatment with medication goes, is a bunch of poo. I guess I’d be more of a “humanistic” psychologist ‘cos I’m all for talking through stuff and getting to what the real issue is. Afterall, as we just talked about in my counseling class, talk therapy works just as well, if not better, than medication. (Gotta love a government who says “If you don’t use this medication, the insurance doesn’t have to pay you.”)
LOL, learn to type. I meant to say that I agree with your people as far as the medication side goes. Duh, tired mommy.