The Benefits of Integrating Faith into Therapy

By integrating faith in counseling, new hope is discovered, meaning and purpose to life can be found, and unconditional love and unending support are recognized.  Counseling is about supporting and helping individuals develop greater insight and understanding into their lives. It is about fostering an individual's strengths and developing resilience. Spirituality is widely recognized as a core character strength that when developed positively impacts growth (Peterson et al., 2004; King et al., 2015; in Kor et al., 2019). Therefore, addressing spirituality by integrating faith in counseling only enhances personal growth in counseling.

The Bible contains 7,487 promises to us, some bring hope, some give comfort, some provide direction, and others reminds us that we are loved. Jeremiah 29:11 shares hope and direction, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (New International Version). This promise was first made to a people who had experience with suffering and who needed encouragement to endure. Matthew 11:28, 29, shares hope, but also promises comfort and speaks love. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (New International Version). 

Scripture informs faith integrated counseling by offering truth and wisdom beyond worldly knowledge and experience. Consider an individual who comes to counseling, experiencing loneliness. They may feel unseen, unloved or without hope. Scripture tells us that we are loved. We are loved with a love so deep, so wide, and so long that it surpasses all knowledge (Ephesians 3:18-19). This idea, this love goes beyond what humans may have experienced or what seems available to them, but is what God’s word promises, and by choosing to trust and believe, to have faith, hope, healing and restoration will come. 

Reference 

Kor, A., Pirutinsky, S., Mikulincer, M., Shoshani, A., & Miller, L. (2019). A Longitudinal Study of Spirituality, Character Strengths, Subjective Well-Being, and Prosociality in Middle School Adolescents. Frontiers in psychology, 10, 377. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00377