Our Counseling Is...
Biblically- Oriented: We believe that the Bible contains the truths you need to be set free from the spiritual and thought-based causes of anxiety, worry, intrusive thoughts, addictions, anger, depression, and disharmony in relationships. It also contains the truth you need to be set free from slavery to sinful habits and thoughts so that your redeemed spirit will rule your fleshly passions, and they will no longer control you.
Jesus said, “You shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
We will endeavor to share with you the scriptures and Biblical principles that apply to your situation – the truth that can set you free.
For all of these reasons, the counseling we provide is in accordance with Biblical doctrine. Biblical counseling involves giving scriptural teaching and making practical application of it to each individual.
Prayer-oriented: Your counselor will begin each counseling session with a short prayer. You counselor will also be relying upon the Holy Spirit for insight and wisdom during the counseling session as he or she considers how to best help you work through your difficulty.
Listening-Oriented: Your counselor will carefully listen and ask questions. We believe this is essential to understanding your problems and helping you to work through them. As James 1:19 says, “everyone should be quick to listen,” and “slow to speak.”
Compassionate: All that we do, including Christian counseling, must be motivated by love. Our very highest value is to love God and our fellow human beings.
“Of all the commandments,” a teacher of the law asked Jesus, “which is the most important?”
“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.’”
Non-judgmental and non-condemning: Only God fully understands the circumstances, motives and thoughts that lead people to sin. Because of this, only He is fit to judge or condemn others. Like all people, your counselor has also sinned and relied upon the mercy and grace of Christ to be forgiven for it, and the power of the Holy Spirit to be delivered from it. Because of this, our counselors are trained not to look down on you like a self-righteous Pharisee or consider themselves to be better than you, as you seek their help in overcoming a sin or a bad habit. You will encounter mercy, compassion and help to overcome that sin instead.
If your counselor perceives there is a harmful sin in your life that you are blind to or have not yet repented of, he or she will draw your attention to it, but will strive to do so in a very respectful, non-condemning way that will not make you feel humiliated. As Jesus said, "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”
Jesus modeled the attitude Christians should have towards destructive sin in the life of others when a woman was brought to him who had been caught in adultery.
“Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
“No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
Our Perspective in Regard to the Role of Medication: If you are on medication, your counselor will not recommend that you go off it without the advice and consent of your doctor. Even if the root cause is eliminated and your symptoms go away as a result of Biblical counseling, your doctor needs to be involved in any decision to go off medication. Some medications must be tapered off gradually.
If you are not on medication, your symptoms are tolerable, and there is likely a spiritual or thought-based cause of a problem rather than a medical one, it is usually best to discover and eliminate that if possible rather than treat the symptoms of it through medication, which can have unwanted side-effects. However, sometimes a counselee’s symptoms can be so severe that he or she may need the help of medication, at least until the root cause is resolved.
At other times a root cause, or even the root cause of a problem is medical. If you are not responding well enough to Biblical counseling and prayer, and your counselor suspects that a root of your problem may be medical, he or she will recommend that you also seek the diagnosis of a medical doctor.
Affordability and Convenience
By conducting Biblical counseling sessions via secure online video conference and permitting our clients to schedule sessions themselves online, we avoid office rental and reduce administrative staff expenses. We are able to pass these savings on to you. You can enjoy a counseling session from the convenience of your home, without having to burn gasoline or fight traffic.
Our Counseling Is Not...
Psychiatry: Psychiatry is a branch of medicine that treats mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders. Our Biblical counselors are not medical doctors.
Psychology: Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and it's behavior. The underlying presuppositions of some psychological hypotheses, especially those grounded in naturalism (atheism) are at odds with Biblical presuppositions. By contrast, we have observed that the psychological hypotheses that work best are often simply Bible teachings or principles clothed in scientific language! Our Biblical counselors are not psychologists.
State-Licensed Counseling: Unless we state otherwise in a counselor's biography, our counselors are licensed or ordained ministers with theological training, and/or certified by a Biblical Counseling certification organization instead. In keeping with our Constitution and our nation's historic religious traditions, Georgia 43-10A-7 (11) permits “persons engaged in the practice of a specialty in accordance with Biblical doctrine in public or nonprofit agencies or entities or in private practice” to provide counseling without state licensure. Most Christian ministers, in fact, provide Biblical counseling without state licensure in the course of their ministries.
Most devout Christians want the counseling that they or their loved ones receive to be in accord with their deeply-held religious beliefs, and they should have the right to receive this. At PeaceBrooke, you may rest assured that the counseling you receive will not be based on anti-Biblical secular presuppositions. Instead, it will be provided by mature, sensitive, faithful Christians who are called and gifted by God to serve, and who know and believe God's Word.