This article is an extract from a minor assignment written by Justin Tamlin for the Youth Counselling course at the Baptist Theological College in South Africa. Justin was one of the first to think through the relationship between counselling and the commitment level model.
As I've sought to think through the whole subject of counselling, I have been trying to see if my model of counselling can fit the Commitment Level Model of Ministry. As we've considered evangelism, discipleship and other areas we have sought to relate them to levels of differing commitment. Surely, we can do the same for our counselling of teens.
This I believe would go a long way to addressing some of the questions I raised earlier in my thinking, especially the whole issue of evangelism and counselling. I really believe counselling needs to be evangelistic in its process. And just as discipleship is at the heart of the Commitment Level of Ministry at every level, even those of the pre-Christian, so too counselling should be applied to each level. This will enable us to take a slightly different approach not only on the basis of the counsellee's problem, but also on the basis of the counsellee's commitment level. We can be "stronger" in what we prescribe for our leader who comes for counselling than we should be for a person we hardly know who is at the Come Level. Perhaps this is what the writer to the Hebrews was referring to, "We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil." (Hebrews 5:11-14)
A Counselling Process Within the Commitment Levels
An important method that I have found in Ron Hutchcraft's approach to sharing Christ with post-modern teens is that of: Symptom - Disease - Cure. (S-D-C). I have taken the same simple approach for counselling as a rough guideline for guiding my discussions and listenings. We need to start with the needs and symptoms of our counsellee and NOT our preconceived ideas. Also we as counsellors are hasty to jump in with the cure, before we have fully examined the actual disease. On a physical level young people may feel lonely, hurt, etc. That is the symptom. The disease is sin (separated from the relationship they were created for). The cure is they need Christ. Often in gospel presentations we start with the disease or the cure. We need to start with their need. Ron Hutchcraft says that a doctor doesn't just point at a patient and shout, "Cancer". He first examines the symptoms and moves from there to the disease and on to the cure. The person will not be interested in the cure if we haven't examined the symptoms and told them the disease. What applies in our sharing of Christ should also apply in counselling.
Seeker
By nature of counselling those who come for counselling would already be at the Come Level. For whatever reason they have sought the youth pastor for an issue they are struggling with. We need to apply the S-D-C process to their problem and not jump right in with the gospel. Our purpose in counselling is to guide the person to the point of dealing with their problem. A Come Level person has little knowledge about Christ and we need to be sensitive in our sharing and slowly begin to share Christ's ultimate healing. So with the Come Level there are two levels of S-D-C. The surface level looks at the problems that a teen is facing and seeking to deal with that. And then there is the deeper S-D-C of their need of a Saviour, but they need to be sensitively guided to see how Christ can make a difference in their lives. Building a relationship needs to be particularly high, as these teens are seeking for something outside of themselves to fill the void. Their problem is a door for Christ to be shared, and apart from their problem they would never perhaps have been at the Come Level at all. At this level a teen may need to be "linked" up with a more mature Christian who has been through a similar situation, so that the counselling that takes place develops into true discipleship and friendship.
New Believer
The new believer must be counselled with the emphasis on how their newly found relationship with Christ relates to their problem. Here the counselling would be aimed at dealing with the problem, but also sensitively encouraging ongoing discipleship through spiritual disciplines, as well as the necessary homework. A teen at this level will have to be given practical homework that links Christ and the Holy Spirit's enabling with their problem.
Growing Christian
At this level counselling homework can be much more in depth, and if the person has been a Christian for some time one needs to encourage the homework to be done. I have counselled some teens at this level and have had to be harsh with them, when they have failed to implement basic homework. Such Christians need solid food not milk and we should admonish them to bear real fruit. In cases of trauma, ongoing habits or disorders, we need to give them solid advice and get them reading God's Word, theology, as part of their homework.
Worker
At this level involve these young people in drawing alongside others. They may have at one time been counselled in a similar area as someone else and could support and befriend them. Christian support groups are a wonderful help in ongoing counselling as their are many shared experiences that people have.
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