Or, Counselling Centred on Christ, it is counselling that aims to return to the Person of Jesus Christ as a guide, standard and model in biblical counselling - in the light of the Word, that is:  

It is a true encounter with Christ, a transformation centred on Our Lord Jesus — as a divine model — in the life of the person being counselled, with the help of the Holy Spirit as a guide...

In the light of Scripture, the Christ-centred counsellor helps the person being counselled to find:

• Understanding yourself, problem situations, pain and suffering (1);

  • “What does God/Christ say about me, and about all this…?”

• Repentance for your old way of thinking, behaving (acting and reacting), and old habits (2); 

  • “How do I see/feel myself in relation to all this…?”

• Taking responsibility or accepting the journey in a process of transformation and restoration with God (3); 

  • “What is my part in this process…?”

• Conversion, change of course and reparation, placing Jesus Christ as a model for new thoughts, behaviours and habits (4). 

  • “Seeking to obey Christ: what should I do with myself and others in relation to all this, now…?”

And for Christ-Centred Counselling, there is no distinction between people, whether they are Christians or not, mature or not, because it is based on the biblical apostolic assumption that: 

‘All people have sinned [made mistakes at some point in their daily lives], and [continue to sin/make mistakes, often on a daily basis], and therefore are in desperate need of God's grace to survive.’(5)

Because it is the way God has chosen to treat His children in their difficult situations, pains, and sufferings (6) in their souls. As the psalmist says, 

“I will bless the Lord, who has given me counsel!” (16:7a)

1. It is the way in which God presents His Son, Jesus, the Messiah (Christ), Our Lord and Saviour, first and foremost as our “Wonderful Counsellor” (Isaiah 9:6). 

2. The use of the word therapy, from the Greek ‘therapeia’: as ‘the act of providing care’, (7) does not develop the full potential that Christian counselling would significantly involve, because it is conceived and reduced to our limited and limiting humanity, and to ‘psychology’, for the same reason (8):

‘We live in a world of psychodiagnostics and not of effective treatment of the soul’(9).

In this sense, calling it ‘Christian therapy’ or ‘Christian psychology’ would be a misunderstanding of the real meaning of the transformation that God has for His children (10).

3. Furthermore, the word ‘counsel’ in Hebrew has a broad spectrum, infinitely greater and more transcendent, going far beyond what we understand today as therapy. (11)

God's counsel transcends human psychology, revealing a divine and eternal way of understanding, thinking, acting, and reacting, seeking to follow the model of Jesus Christ, our only ‘Way, Truth, and Life’. (John 14:6)

4. Christocentric counselling involves a ‘Divine pedagogy’: learning, in the light of the Word of God, to understand what was preordained for us in eternity, in contrast to our current situation as sinful, errant, faltering beings... 

This Revelation transcends all human psyche, culture, and doctrine, in order to render us (transform us) into a ‘New Creature’ in Christ Jesus, for the Glory of God. (12)

5. Therefore, Christ-centred counselling, as a behavioural standard to be achieved, faithful and biblical, transcends any therapy or ‘psychologies’ because it involves Christian moral and ethical pursuits: (13)

To the guidance, by the Grace of God in the Person of the Holy Spirit, of the processes of transformation of the reality of life of those being counselled, in the face of their pain and struggles.

6. Seeking counsel from Christ goes far beyond traditional and alternative therapies. It is an act centred on faith, or on the belief that God and Our Lord Jesus can act as counsellors: to “help”, “guide”, “accompany”, “reflect” (14), in order to obtain answers: a new vision of who one is — in fact [the old creature] — and who one should be [the new creature in Christ] (15). 

7. This is the true transformational miracle of counselling: 

The God of Love who rescues and transforms beings crushed by their own mistakes into Sons and Daughters of the Most High on this earth!(16).

Because ‘Christification’ is an arduous process of personal, internal and external tensions, the result of the world in which we live. 

‘We are simultaneously righteous and sinners...’

A kind of paradox that highlights the tension between human flesh and the Holy Spirit that dwells in us. (24)

The flesh is weak and susceptible to sin, failures, mistakes, misunderstandings, falls, etc. But in salvation, God declares Christians righteous through the work of Christ on the Cross, and grants the Holy Spirit to lift us up, rescue us, and progressively transform us into the image and likeness of Christ. (25)

All human transformation is progressive, full of ups and downs, and requires accompaniment, assistance, supervision: counselling.

  Just as a father and mother accompany the challenging transformations of their child: from a dependent child to a mature adult, so too does Jesus exhort us to have relationships with other people who are better equipped to support, accompany, counsel, exhort, and disciple us on the difficult Christian journey. (26)