Cognitive Biblical
Therapy Coursework
Counseling Through God’s
Transformative Word
Course 1 , Chapter 1
Welcome to Course 1 Chapter 1.
Explaining CBT in the Initial Session
a. Introduction to CBT Courses
b. Setting the tone in the Initial Session
c. Methods for Christian Counseling
d. Explaining Cognitive Biblical Therapy
e. Connecting to the Client’s Issues
f. Observing the Client’s Body Language
g. Assessing the Client’s Spiritual Knowledge
h. Ending the Initial Session
i. Defining Doctrinal Concepts
Important Note: Answering the section questions is a great way to prepare for the end of the chapter quiz.
Quiz Requirement: A score of 75% is necessary to continue to the next chapter.
Account Access: You must be signed into the coursework page (which is separate from the main CBT website) to take the quiz and advance.
Course 1 Chapter 1
Explaining Cognitive Biblical Therapy
in the Initial Session
This is an introduction to Cognitive Biblical Therapy (CBT). This is the very first course. In this course the basic attempt is to help you go through an initial session. For some of you who take this course, this is going to be very elementary, because you are either in counseling or you are in some practicum (hands on, practical experience) through a university or college course. But the basic idea here is simply to start you from an initial counseling session: how do you seat them, how do you greet people, what kind of things do you talk about, how do you make them comfortable in understanding the basics of Cognitive Biblical Therapy. I’ll discuss with you the questionnaire, how it’s scored, what the Word Studies of the Biblical Norms are about, how you present this basic thought or idea to the client, so that he or she can understand your counseling process and have peace with that. Also, how to present yourself in such a way, both as a person and spiritually, that you provide a sense of credibility, compassion, tenderness, and empathy. So, it will be a broad brush at this point.
Now a quick overview of the other courses: the second course will go more deeply into the methodology itself; the third course will be an analysis and an application of the actual methodology both in understanding the questions and the Biblical concepts behind them. I want you to think about the fourth course as a library: a catalog of “How to Use It” for various presenting issues such as marital counseling, sexual or physical abuse, anorexia or bulimia. It’s going to be just a listing of the types of cases that you would deal with normally, and ways to analyze the results of the questionnaire. Also included are the application of the method to the presenting issue, types of things to look for, ways people typically react, and how to work with them in treatment. That’s the fourth course.
The fifth course will describe and direct setting up a counseling practice in a church, private practice or in a clinic. So, this fifth course will explain practical basic things like working with church leadership, elected officials, or clinic managers. Details such as setting up a contract, deciding about buying furniture or decorating my space, access to phone use, secretarial support, making copies, hours for using the space, privacy for clients, all the basics. These are the types of things that you need to know in order to negotiate with an organization, a church, or clinic to establish a private practice.
The last course, the sixth course, will be a practicum. That’s going to vary by your individual circumstance. The idea of the practicum is to make sure that you get supervised actual client experience. When possible, someone will actually observe counseling, you will be observed, Yet some of you are dealing with state licensure so that will be part of the two-year supervision by a license provided. But that sixth course is the attempt to give you that hands-on experience.
So this chapter, is your very first course as the Introduction to Cognitive Biblical Therapy. This material is be presented through these written text and audio files (where possible). Each Course provides questions in each chapter sections, along with my answers as a response to help you review and prepare for the end of the chapter quiz. The quiz requires you to obtain a 75% passing score in order to move on to the next chapter. A Cognitive Biblical Therapy Certificate will be provided for all who complete their level of training, as a a licensed counselor, pastor, graduate level student or lay counselor/ministry leader.
Initial Session
I have outlined the course and written a question for each major section of discussion. I’ll give you the question that I am discussing so that you can take notes to use for your answer. For example, the first question is, “What ingredients should constitute the initial introduction between the counselor and the client?” As I discuss this topic, you should be able to learn the answer to the question. If you are listening to the audio, you could be typing the answers. Your answer to the question will inform me what you understand. I will work through the courses this way with you. This first course is not excessively long; each one gets progressively longer.
Question 1: “What ingredients should constitute the initial introduction between the counselor and the client?” When I say ingredients, I mean the initial contact you have with the client will be one where you are relatively relaxed, but the client will have a number of things on his or her mind. He may have just fought with someone or may been forced to show up by someone. You have to be calm, friendly, and caring. Be human rather than power-exuding, but balance that with confidence that you can help them.
You also need the proper setting for your office; your degrees and license should be on the wall appropriately displayed. Your attire should be business casual to look professional. You establish authority through your office and by your presence. Clients will be assessing your capabilities quickly by your appearance (hair combed and clothes clean). You also want to create a relaxed, comfortable setting such as pointing out the restroom, coat rack, refreshments, etc. The seating should be comfortable, and the wall colors should be soft, muted tones rather than bright or dark.
Question 2 asks, “What long range counseling purpose will the proper introductions accomplish?” The proper introductions will establish your credibility and that you are representing God. There needs to be within your own personal life the presence of Jesus so that there is something real and valid that you will show them in your counsel. From reading survey studies on Christian habits, the majority of Christians read their Bible twice a month and pray maybe two or three times a month. They are not sure what this “born again” thing means. They don’t know what a Bible concordance is. Their background of faith is shallow. So, when you introduce yourself, share how you came to know and trust Christ, talk about your schooling, your degrees, how long you have been in practice, and the various presenting problems you have dealt with.
The third question: “Is there a set formula by which this counseling tone is met or is this strictly a recognizable quality?” What do you as a counselor want to be like, how do you want to present yourself, how open you want to be, how vulnerable do you want to be? If some of you have taken courses in secular settings, they talk a lot about setting a boundary between you and your client, such as you don’t socialize or become friends. In some cases, clients may know you outside of your practice by belonging to your church. You may share similar interests or hobbies. You have to decide how much you share about yourself, because those types of things make you real, human and approachable.
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What ingredients should constitute the initial introduction between the counselor and the client?
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Dr. Dan's Answer:
When I say ingredients, I mean the initial contact you have with the client will be one where you are relatively relaxed, but the client will have a number of things on his or her mind. He may have just fought with someone or may been forced to show up by someone. You have to be calm, friendly, and caring. Be human rather than power-exuding, but balance that with confidence that you can help them. You also need the proper setting for your office; your degrees and license should be on the wall appropriately displayed. Your attire should be business casual to look professional. You establish authority through your office and by your presence. Clients will be assessing your capabilities quickly by your appearance (hair combed and clothes clean). You also want to create a relaxed, comfortable setting such as pointing out the restroom, coat rack, refreshments, etc. The seating should be comfortable, and the wall colors should be soft, muted tones rather than bright or dark.
Fully answer the following question from the content you just read and submit your answer to find your score and Dr. Dan's answer to the question.
What long range counseling purpose will the proper introductions accomplish?
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Dr. Dan's Answer:
The proper introductions will establish your credibility and that you are representing God. There needs to be within your own personal life the presence of Jesus so that there is something real and valid that you will show them in your counsel. From reading survey studies on Christian habits, the majority of Christians read their Bible twice a month and pray maybe two or three times a month. They are not sure what this "born again" thing means. They don't know what a Bible concordance is. Their background of faith is shallow. So, when you introduce yourself, share how you came to know and trust Christ, talk about your schooling, your degrees, how long you have been in practice, and the various presenting problems you have dealt with.
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Is there a set formula by which this counseling tone is met or is this strictly a recognizable quality?
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Dr. Dan's Answer:
What do you as a counselor want to be like, how do you want to present yourself, how open you want to be, how vulnerable do you want to be? If some of you have taken courses in secular settings, they talk a lot about setting a boundary between you and your client, such as you don't socialize or become friends. In some cases, clients may know you outside of your practice by belonging to your church. You may share similar interests or hobbies. You have to decide how much you share about yourself, because those types of things make you real, human and approachable.
Methods of Counseling
Question 4 says, “Briefly describe and list three basic divisions that exist within Christian counseling.” (See Types of Counseling Chart) You have to decide in this introductory course if you want to counsel from Scripture or other therapies. Many Christian counselors don’t use Scripture but secular or humanistic therapies such as: internal family systems therapy, client-centered therapy, existentialism, rational emotive or primal scream. Those are all therapies that not only don’t include God, but blatantly ignore Him. The premise underneath these therapies is that power or the ability to heal or change, comes not from an external source but from within yourself. They believe that humans have the power to control life, heal themselves, and make choices that resolve the presenting problems. The second type of Christian counseling is using both therapies and the scriptures, blending them together.
The third type of Christian counseling that exists is pure Biblical counseling. One of the leaders in this field of Biblical counseling is Jay Adams. He calls his type of counseling Nouthetic Counseling and asserts that the presenting problem results from sin. Therefore, the remedy is the confrontation of the person with the problem (sin), so that they can repent to the Lord, find scripture for understanding, and pray for forgiveness and healing. Often people have tried this on their own and have not been successful, because healing requires a timely process rather than an instantaneous change. CBT provides a five-step process that provides guided change over time (sanctification). Through CBT more facets of the problem are investigated beyond just the sin, such as one’s belief system, concepts of God, coping mechanisms, and personality type. So those are the three types of counseling: totally secular, the combination or blended, and purely Biblical.
Explaining Cognitive Biblical Therapy
Question 5. List four of the basic elements of Cognitive Biblical Therapy. CBT provides a process for Biblical Counseling. There are four basic elements of CBT. One element of CBT is that it is based on scripture from Proverbs, Timothy, James, John, and Thessalonians. The elements do not come from any secular therapy. I developed CBT during my doctoral studies in Christian Counseling and have applied it in my counseling practice over the last five years before developing these courses.
There are times when I have made referrals to other health professionals for such things as physical illness. In one case, a client had Alzheimer’s Disease and Lou Gehrig’s Disease rather than a spiritual or relational issue. In some cases, there will be psychiatric referrals for chemical imbalances. If there is a medical problem, the client needs medication so that their ability to think and reason is either restored or enhanced. Sometimes clients have been under an extremely stressful situation for numbers of years, and they have lost the ability to reason or understand. Once that is corrected, people may need relationship counseling.
Question 6. What is the purpose of this explanation within this initial phase of the counseling process? The CBT method begins with a questionnaire that measures their understanding of God’s love based on the attributes listed in I Corinthians 13:4-8. Their answers to the 75 questions are analyzed through a specific scoring pattern. That analysis provides information that guides your counseling path. The goal is that the person will have a deepened relationship with God so that they can function practically, and solve emotional issues with God’s help and the skills they learn. Some have no relationship with God and will need to learn and understand the plan of salvation which is part of the counseling. But the key element you should remember is that CBT is God’s plan from the Scripture by which people come into a practical, functional, rational, thinking relationship with God through the Holy Spirit.
For example, in John 14 Jesus said he wouldn’t leave us alone as orphans, because the Father would send another. What this means is that through the Holy Spirit each person can have a personal, ongoing, viable, daily, relationship that enables you to function, think, find answers, face problems, deal with your boss, raise your kids, and have a good marriage. That’s the major difference here. I know of no other therapies that are focused on a process and scripture in this practically applied way.
When you have an initial session, you will explain CBT in a brief time frame so that the client understands how this differs from other types of counseling. You want to assure them that they don’t need to learn it all at once, but will develop understanding over time. Share how others have been helped through problems in the past. Some people have been to a lot of counselors, and others have never experienced counseling. Assessing the client’s background will help understand their current relationship with God. Don’t be afraid, or hesitant. You’ll be amazed at how open people are to share about God. Some people think that a CBT won’t work with non-Christians. That’s the furthest thing from the truth. It will work with anybody, because everybody you see has an eternal soul, has a spiritual sensitivity to God, and can be reached by God.
In Question 7. “Briefly describe your own conclusions about the three different types of Christian counseling: the humanistic, the mixture, and the Biblical. Explain your thoughts about CBT. How do your ideas of Christian counseling fit into the mixture and CBT?” I want to understand what your thoughts are about CBT and what direction you want to take.
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List and briefly describe the three basic divisions that exist within Christian counseling.
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Dr. Dan's Answer:
Christians utilizing secular (humanistic) therapies, Christians that integrate secular (humanistic) therapies and Scripture or Biblical principles, purely Biblical Christian counselors.
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List four of the basic elements of Cognitive Biblical Therapy.
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Dr. Dan's Answer:
It is a pure Biblical methodology, it was developed and applied to the counseling setting by Dr. Daniel Wilkinson; it incorporates no secular (humanistic) therapies; it involves referral when necessary for physical, psychological, or psychiatric evaluation. Results evaluated, shared with client to return to effective spiritual, Biblical counseling in order to resolve presenting problem of client.
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What is the purpose of this explanation within this initial phase of the counseling process?
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Dr. Dan's Answer:
Acclimate the client to an actual Biblical process by which a spiritual tool is obtained which leads to consistent, lifelong, Christ directed consistency, balance, stability, etc.
This question asks for your own reflections — there is no single correct answer. Fully answer the following question from the content you just read and submit your response to record it.
Briefly describe your own conclusions about the three different types of Christian counseling: the humanistic, the mixture, and the Biblical. Explain your thoughts about CBT. How do your ideas of Christian counseling fit into the mixture and CBT?
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Connecting to the Client’s Issue
Question 8. “What elements constitute the personal testimony of the counselor?” What that means is basically, you have to give some sort of brief statement of your relationship to God. I caution you here: there have been times when I said too much. What I mean is, the people were gracious to me, they listened to me talk about my background, about my involvement in drugs and alcohol and all these kinds of things, but they had more on their minds! What they really wanted to tell me was why they were there. Learn from me and talk about your salvation, a major turning point, your commitment to God, and your submission of your will. Share examples of how God has been faithful to you, restored you, protected you. Be sensitive to watch their faces and look for their emotional state. Regulate your talk using the feedback from them. They may think you’re insane because you’re talking about this God stuff. Be careful not to take advantage of them, be insensitive, or say too much. Encourage them to ask you questions. They may want to share their own faith walk. Establish that you are a Christian, and also that you are real. That counseling is an important, critical part of your life that you are committed to fully.
Question 9 asks, “What element of credibility does this information establish within the minds of the client in regard to the counselor and the method of CBT?” Explain how long you have counseled, how you have helped people before counseling. What types of presenting problems you have worked with. That background experience gives them a sense of confidence in you, and enables them to relax and be more comfortable. You may learn who recommended you.
Question 10 asks, “List some examples of the types of issues that you as the counselor would seek clarification for from the client.” The best way to find the issues is just say, “I need to understand you so would one or both of you begin and tell me what your concerns are.” Don’t use words like problems, difficulties, or trouble, because you are trying to be as soft, gentle, tender as possible. They are already traumatized. In other words, things are already difficult, so laying a label on their difficulty at the front end can create more emotion than they need.
Question 11. “Briefly explain how the act of listening to the presenting problem(s) of the client provides a place of focus and then focus shift for the counselor and client within the initial session.” Explain that you break into their comments, at times for clarity and insight. Ask them if you can take notes so that you don’t miss anything. Some of the things you’ll need clarity about will be things like how many times you have been married, or what they mean by fighting. Be straight forward: do you mean that you hit each other, do you throw objects at each other, do you curse each other, do you do this in front of the children? If they say, we don’t get along, ask them what not getting along means to them: does it mean you fight every day, does it mean you sleep on the couch all the time, does it mean you haven’t been sexual for six months? People use vague generalities and that won’t help you a bit. As the counselor, you have to get definite, concrete actions and attitudes and situations and problems or else you’ll be lost. Make sure that you get into the clarity and depths of this.
Question 12. “Why is it necessary for the client to understand and accept the spiritual principle of the "rock and the ripple"? Help them to understand that there’s a domino effect, sort of a rock and ripple situation. If they have a basic problem, there is a pretty sure thing that it will be affecting others: numbers of things are happening that are causing the problems. Since these are all tied together, and if there is a spiritual problem in your life, things you’ve described are actually symptoms or ripples, like those that result from a rock thrown in a pond. Through the counseling process, we will work together to find out what the “rock” is that causes the ripples.
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What elements constitute the personal testimony of the counselor?
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Dr. Dan's Answer:
Initial salvation, experience of total commitment to Christ, track record of change over time, examples of God's faithfulness to provide all things, etc.
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What element of credibility does this information establish within the mind(s) of the client in regard to the counselor and the counseling methodology of Cognitive Biblical Therapy?
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Dr. Dan's Answer:
Track record of success, humanness, workability, willingness to admit error and change, etc.
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List some examples of the types of issues that you as the counselor would seek clarification for from the client.
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Dr. Dan's Answer:
How many times married? "By fighting do you mean that you struck him/her?" Explain to me what types of problems that you're having are indicative of, "Not getting along".
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Briefly explain how the act of listening to the presenting problem(s) of the client provides a place of focus and then focus shift for the counselor and client within the initial session.
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Dr. Dan's Answer:
Sets the stage for the rock and ripple, shift from present symptom to spiritual core of problem.
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Why is it necessary for the client to understand and accept the spiritual principle of the "rock and the ripple"?
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Dr. Dan's Answer:
This shifts the client's focus from the immediate problem to the acquisition of the spiritual answer which leads to long term stability and peace.
Observing the Client’s Body Language
Questions 13 and 14 focus on the five basic elements within the concept of observation of client body language. You can learn a lot about the person just by watching his face, how he sits in the chair, listening to his tone of voice, and looking at the condition of his clothing. Five basic elements that are involved within observing the client's body language are facial expression, body posture, condition of the clothing, the tone of the voice, and his body language used toward you or toward the person with him. And by body language I mean things like turning a shoulder away from the person, or being very rigid, straight and upright in his chair or being very relaxed and perhaps laid back, maybe sloppy in posture. Things about facial expression will be simple things like are they crying, a lot of people cry as they talk about troubles. There are also phony criers. You hear the sobs but you don’t see the tears. You can pretty much spot things that are genuine or false. You can learn a lot from watching their eyes: shooting daggers, fear, anger, hopelessness, avoidance, shame, guilt, hate. Sometimes it’s a manipulative tactic. Sometimes cowering demonstrates submission to another person.
Sometimes you will notice skin tone, either that a person will appear to be very healthy, or illness that affects pallor- drained or washed out. That will help you determine if medical help is needed. There may be substance abuse, and need to see if they wear long sleeve shirts in the heat of the summer, that may be covering up needle tracks. Or you may need to look at his eyes to see if they are always dilated. Sometimes you’ll see bruises and it’s not uncommon if a woman is being abused to see places where her husband has grabbed her, perhaps shook her or restrained her or pushed her into a wall. If the person is being beaten, you may see bruises about the face, around the shoulders or the back. It’s not always men that abuse women either. I had one case, where a man would be chased to the couch where he would curl up to be beaten by his wife for at least one-half hour on his back, arms, and face, often with knuckle sized bruise marks on his arms. I’ve had people come in with black eyes. As you observe people, make notes in your initial session, because all this is used to form a diagnosis at some point. Your treatment plan will address these issues.
A second element of observational client body language is body posture. You will see women dressed seductively or walk, talk, act or sit in a seductive manner. And, this might sound odd, it can be men or women. A woman will tend to do things that will let you see parts of her body like dropping and picking up things to expose skin to you. Sometimes men may keep his shirt open more than usual. Men and women may make seductive comments or look inappropriately at the counselor. Other seductive actions can be hand motions, tone of voice, and eye movements. Sometimes people go the opposite way. They will be overly off-putting such as wear austere clothing, sloppy clothing, or dirty clothing or have body odor. Clothing provides information about background, financial condition, self-image, social status, personal hygiene and self-care, clothing they may wear may be mismatched, out of date, or worn. So, you want to observe that.
The next characteristic to observe is the voice: is it sarcastic, cutting, demeaning to another, or measured and precise, almost clipped in his speech? Does their speech portray a mood, or change moods often from one type, like changing from complaining to anger or sarcasm?
The last area is the body language towards another person, spouse or yourself. Observe how they interact with another person, eye contact, how they touch, posture, nervous body movement like tapping, foot bouncing, etc.
In Question 15 “Summarize the important observations you should make at the initial session about body language.” Those are the five areas to observe: 1) facial expression that involves crying, eye contact, 2) skin tone and body posture; 3) condition of the person’s clothing; 4) voice; and 5) body language towards his spouse or towards yourself. My thought is that the body language provides information about the internal, spiritual condition of the client. Body language most often changes over the course of the counseling process. Explain if you agree with the body language importance or you don’t agree with its importance and support your reasons on either side.
Question 16 is a follow-up question: “Do you believe that it is realistic to expect body language to change over the course of the counseling process?” Please briefly state and support your thoughts in this area.
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There are five basic elements within the concept of observational client body language. Please list these five different elements as they relate to the counseling setting.
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Dr. Dan's Answer:
Facial expressions, body posture, condition of clothing, voice tones, body language towards spouse or others.
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List one facet from each of the elements of observational client body language: A. Facial expressions, B. Body posture, C. Condition of clothing, D. Voice, E. Body language towards spouse/other.
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Dr. Dan's Answer:
A. Facial expressions: 1. Crying. 2. Eye content (a. Anger, b. Fear, c. Avoidance, d. Hatred). 3. Skin tone (a. Healthy, b. Ill, c. Bruised/scratched, d. Substance abuse). B. Body posture: 1. Seductive (female), 2. Sloppy/unkempt, 3. Overly severe. C. Condition of clothing: 1. Unkempt/dirty/odor, 2. Overly neat. D. Voice: 1. Sarcastic/cutting, 2. Meek/passive/victim, 3. Controlled/controlling. E. Body language towards spouse/other: 1. Inappropriate touching (a. Hand holding, b. Other body parts/knee, arm, shoulder).
This question asks for your own reflections — there is no single correct answer. Fully answer the following question from the content you just read and submit your response to record it.
Body language makes an external statement about the internal spiritual condition of the client. Do you agree with this statement, and if so, briefly support your reasons for your opinion.
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This question asks for your own reflections — there is no single correct answer. Fully answer the following question from the content you just read and submit your response to record it.
Body language changes over the course of the counseling process. Do you believe it is a realistic statement that to some degree, a lack of change would indicate a lack of ongoing spiritual maturity within the client? Briefly state and support your beliefs in this area.
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Ending the Initial Session
In review, you will have listened to their presenting problems, given them a brief overview of yourself, explained Biblical Counseling is about, observing and noting several observations. To end the session, you will do four major things, 1) summarize your understanding of the presenting problem, 2) gather their personal information on the client intake form (ISI), 3) provide simple explanations of salvation, Christian maturity, the work of the Holy Spirit and the value of the bible in that maturity, and 4) explain how to complete the questionnaire.
Reassure them that you understand what they have explained and are sure that you can help them resolve the issues. You provide information about the process they will go through as you work with them using the bible as your guide. In summarizing their presenting problem with empathy, include your confidence that they can get help and resolve the issue. Perhaps briefly give some thoughts about how you will address the issues you want them to feel safe with you: show them the five step process you will use.
The Client Intake form (ISI) will gather their personal information. Explaining the questionnaire and how it will provide insights into how you will work with them is necessary to be completed and returned at the next session. Ending a session is a skill and an art, which you have to learn through experience.
Defining Doctrinal Concepts
Question 19. “Briefly, clearly, and simply define justification, a full commitment to God or initial cleansing, progressive spiritual maturity or repentance of sin and growth in Christ, and glorification.” This next step is to briefly and clearly define justification or salvation, then becoming more like Jesus through a process of maturity as we understand and learn through the bible. If they have no knowledge of how to become a Christian, you may need to spend more time explaining salvation. Our main goal is to serve God and make heaven crowded.
For Question 19 write out your understanding or definitions for salvation, sanctification, and glorification. You can talk to others, review your own understanding, and search the Scripture to support your explanation.
When I first started counseling it was common for my sessions to go for an hour and a half, sometimes two hours. That’s not effective for several reasons. It is a misuse of your time, attention spans don’t last that long, you belabor a point by getting too detailed and too deep into their emotions. You have to move them through your understanding of their presenting problem (client’s identified concerns), and then into introducing the methodology because that’s where the answer is. They don’t necessarily know that, but you know that.
In Question 20 explain how the initial session serves to compare and contrast two distinct areas of knowledge within the client. The first area will be the summation of the knowledge that the client has brought to this initial session. In other words, the client is a composite of all the experiences they have had, their family background, their social setting, peer pressure, movies, magazines, TVs, and everything that you can think of that’s been sort of poured into them –a walking summation of these things. He has been exposed to societal norms, life experiences, and to sin. He was born into sin or selfishness. He has been exposed to concepts about God. In my experience many people have memories of church, church buses or aunts or uncles that were Christians. Some have disliked their experiences in church or with Christians. Many have some folk theology which are not necessarily true. The client will be drawing off these things and trying to figure out what all it means.
As you ask them questions about concepts, problems, thoughts about God, and about their situation, their understanding and concepts will become known. For example, one lady I worked with had a mother who always screamed and cursed her father. So, her understanding of love meant that it was acceptable and normal to curse and scream at your husband. Some people grow up in a home where they are overtly told they are not good enough, are intimidated or harassed. Comparison to a sibling may have caused feelings of inferiority through subtle things like how could you get a B on this when a sibling has all A’s on a report card. That child learned love is letting the other person define success for him. Another may learn that perfection is required to be loved, or making a large salary. There are a lot of distortions here. The truth is that people bring this to you, from their background, growing up, emotions, personality type, societal norm, sin, and concepts of God that aren’t true.
There has to be a new knowledge base developed that supports the truth. Learning about God’s character includes how Christ wants us to live and how to solve problems using the Holy Spirit as our teacher. Learning about their background and understanding will enable you to guide them in the process of maturity. So there has to be a practical application of truths and realities which can startle a person, showing the contrast between what they are doing and what God wants for them. They must learn that God will restore them and draw them to Himself and the scripture through Biblical Counseling. My goal here is to enable you to have a practical relationship to God and this method, CBT, is a practical counseling method by which you will learn how to confront problems, and gain new skills. Through your relationship to God, He will empower you to live the kind of life you want, to be restored, to be healed.
Now this is going to be difficult for some people to believe, especially if they have been in a tough situation, a bad marriage, for a long time. So, you don’t want to try to over-sell here. Explain that relationships are not supposed to be negative, destructive, and harmful. Admit that you are not like that anymore, because it hurts you and God helped you change. I have a new life, and a good marriage because I changed with God’s help.
Drawing the Client into Counseling
Question 21. “Why does the practical application of God's Biblical plan for man's life have the power to draw into counseling?” The scriptural premise for the Cognitive Biblical Therapy (CBT) methodology is 1 John 4:18: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The man who fears is not perfect in love.” This explains the plan to turn clients towards process, answers, order, rationality, the love of God, and the compassion and tenderness of God. You will show them there are scriptures that provide a relationship to God that gives a brand-new life, new understanding, and a sense of peace and strength that you don’t have now. Let me show you the first step.
The world’s idea of love is an emotional thing that’s been talked about, written about, movies made about. Often this kind of love is reduced to a sexual connotation. But God is speaking of something that is entirely different. God’s type of love (Agape Love) is unconditional towards all mankind, His standard of grace, righteousness/justice and is foundational to our existence. Even though God gives mankind a freewill to seek and believe in Him, God’s love is available to liberate us from our rebellion against Him, to be our best, true self. God’s love frees the mind from its bondage. 1 John 4:18 is a very powerful Scripture, declaring fear has no part of love. People are kept in bondage through fear, intimidation, and manipulation. This passage says that those do not exist in love. Love is never controlling or harmful. God’s love is fair, open, unconditional, respectful and drives out fear. Fear is the mechanism for being shackled like chains connecting wristbands to a body belt, and shackles around the ankles that are attached to chains so that the prisoner has to shuffle rather than run. Man’s definition of love can be conditional, based upon our state of being human and carnal, like fear which results from punishment. Fear can come from the threat of punishment, or condemnation. No one is perfect, but maturity is possible through a right relationship to God. In maturity we become more like Jesus Christ. It means being less sarcastic, less angry, less fearful, more able, satisfied, content and kind.
In our world most people are carrying some level of fear and interacting with others through that fear: afraid in their marriage, in their job, with their kids, some even fear their own salvation. So, there shouldn’t be any abnormal, overly powerful, ongoing, never stopping fear in our lives. Occasionally, we have fears when we face challenges, those are temporary. Feeling powerless brings on fear. Encourage your clients to believe that removal of their fear through Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit is possible. God will drive out fear because God doesn’t want to punish you because you have problems; He wants to heal you.
Copyright 1987, 1990, 1993 by Daniel D. Wilkinson. All rights reserved. For more information concerning this material, write to:
The Biblical Christian Counseling Ministries, Inc., 2730 Radcliffe Dr., Florissant, MO 63031.
Any reproduction of this material without the express written consent of the author is prohibited. Printed in the U.S.A..
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The following is a list of the general knowledge base for the initial session (Salvation, Sanctification, God the Holy Spirit, Carnal nature, Human nature, Agape love, Confrontational style). Why is it important for the counselor to gain a general understanding of the client's knowledge in these spiritual areas?
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Dr. Dan's Answer:
The knowledge or lack of it in these areas will be the root of the presenting problem. The acquisition of the knowledge will serve to set the stage for the next section as the material is discussed. It will also serve to help the counselor understand the basic presenting problems and the methods that are being used to cope with these difficulties by the client(s).
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Two events must occur in order to lead the client into the process of Cognitive Biblical Therapy. What are these two events?
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Dr. Dan's Answer:
One, the initial discussion of the presenting problem must be brought to a close. Two, the information gleaned concerning 6A must be discussed by the counselor in order to demonstrate the spiritual problems that are causing the presenting problems.
This question asks you to draw on your own knowledge base and Scripture — there is no single correct answer. Fully answer the following question from the content you just read and submit your response to record it.
Briefly, clearly, and simply define justification, a full commitment to God or initial cleansing, progressive spiritual maturity or repentance of sin and growth in Christ, and glorification.
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This segment of the initial counseling process serves to compare and contrast two distinct areas of knowledge within the client. What do these two areas consist of?
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Dr. Dan's Answer:
The client's knowledge derived from parenting experiences, societal norms, sin, life experiences, etc. and the Scriptural basis for these concepts.
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This new knowledge base within the client serves as a springboard for the client's potential decision to counsel further. Why does the practical application of God's Biblical plan for man's life have the power to draw into counseling?
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Dr. Dan's Answer:
The contrast is startling and the first inkling of real answers that will restore the individual and will draw the soul toward the Holy Spirit and the Word through effective Biblical counseling. If the knowledge exists, this process will also present a practical method by which confrontation skills and other needed tools can be obtained and applied in order to see restoration and change.
You have almost completed Course 1. By now, you have read an overview of the Cognitive Biblical Therapy methodology, the phases and processes. Courses 2, 3 and 4 will provide you with a much deeper knowledge and skill to use the CBT method to help people. If for some reason you are not able to start or take Course 2, 3 and 4, please keep in mind, all of the CBT materials are copyrighted and you will need permission by the Biblical Christian Counseling Ministries, Inc. to use any of the materials. Further, note the description levels of certification to use the copyrighted materials. See the copyright under this chapter’s text for the copyright description. For further information, feel free to reach out to: cbtcoursework@gmail.com.
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