Christianity is based on the belief that God loves people so much he made a way to rescue us from the trouble of humanity’s bad choices and restore us to a positive relationship with him. Christian counseling is using this Christian lens to see more clearly how to help someone facing challenges. Christian counseling can help any person of any age, and apply to any issue, whether your presenting problem is individual, familial, or relational. Christian counseling supports mental health, allows for spiritual inclusion, appreciates choices, and is concerned about people who are hurting. It is about finding purpose and meaning in a difficult world. In Christian counseling there may be some discussion of God, helpful tools and rituals, and identifying rules of life as vehicles toward living well.

Rules are important and they’re recognized, but they are not the point in Christian counseling. We understand this already in other areas. There are rules that apply to all types of relationships, whether it’s to another person, place, or thing. You learn these rules when you’re young. You first follow these rules to avoid consequences because they seem to be unreasonable killjoys, and you don’t understand or agree with their purpose. As you mature you begin to recognize more about why the rules of relationship to others and things matter. You begin to pursue the reason for the rule, the purpose of it, instead of the rule itself or avoidance of trouble. And you become free from the burden of even worrying about the consequence of the rule. You’re aware you can break the rule, you didn’t forget, but that doesn’t matter to you or tempt you as much anymore. You appreciate the rules in pursuit of valuing positive relationships and having a meaningful life. Appreciating God’s principles of life to live well is Christian counseling in practice and can help you access the power and strength to overcome anything.

The world is full of ideas, theories, evidence-based practices, and other incredible human discoveries and transformative philosophies that continue to serve countless people very well. Unfortunately, we are all limited by so much, including our time, history, desires, capacity for knowledge, biases, and senses. The Christian counseling approach takes the proven practical elements of human discovery further by using a sort of “cheat sheet” from where these things all came from. This invites God to change and restore us to where we are supposed to be but couldn’t completely be without him. We believe God provides powerful assistance, beyond our limitations, to help people follow the rules to function well and have healthy relationships.

At Bright Care Christian Counseling we are all providers who personally identify as Christian. Any religious hurt, stress, doubt, question, or curiosity can be nonjudgmentally and safely explored. We appreciate spiritual and holistic care with cultural competence in understanding how life can still be very difficult, even if you are a believer in God. Many people desire to learn how to use their beliefs to help with their mental health journey, and many people do not have the desire or belief to do that at all. Here, we value choices so the role of spirituality is solely based on what you want to do. You set your own goals and we will work accordingly.