Counselling Length, Duration, and Frequency

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A counselling relationship is expected to run for an average of 6 sessions.
Each session is normally spaced in one-week intervals to give the client time and opportunity to apply what they have learned from the previous lesson.

As meeting once a week may not be enough to facilitate real change (and meeting more than once a week may be costly); here in Grace Counselling Centre, we provide an inter-session E-mail support.
The contact between counsellor and the client doesn’t end with the physical sessions.
Counsellors in GCC keep in contact with the client between sessions through E-mail exchanges, support, and updates.

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The Manger: A Christmas Reflection

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Welcome and a Merry Christmas to all!

In this video, I tried to unwrap a small insight on the symbolism of the Biblical manger where The Lord Jesus Christ hanged out as a baby. Many of you will suspect that this video was inspired from the Christmas sermons of Charles H. Spurgeon; you are not wrong on that. I’ve been reading his Christmas sermons lately and found tons of great insights by Charlie himself.

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Guard Your Heart! Christian Counselling Journal Reflections

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One would be surprised that even in the humble profession of a Christian Counsellor or even as a Christian Psychologist, I still find myself entwined not just with political events but even with worldwide historical events. With all the hurricanes, the wars, rumors of wars, financial collapses and recessions, I remember a verse that can be useful for my meditations. Well, until I recently discovered how wrong I was with my prior interpretation of it. I am speaking of the famous phrase in The Bible: “Guard your hearts!”

Mind you, this article has nothing to do with fears and anxieties.

Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.
Proverbs 4:23 (NKJV)

Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard,
for out of it flow the springs of life.
Proverbs 4:23 (AMP)

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Why Counsellors Don’t Give Advice

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Do have a go at this video which I believe answers the question clearer. Cheers!

We are mental health professionals but counsellors (whether Christian Counsellors or Secular Counsellors) are not consultants. Generally, counselling goals aim to facilitate long term changes on the person; whereas consultants aim to provide solutions for particular projects. Like if the client is troubled by anxiety, counselling and therapy will aim to deal with the source of this anxiety rather than just finding ways to eliminate it.

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The Brutality of Life

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Life is Brutal
Call this a sampling error but as a Christian Counsellor, I often feel that I have a front row seat to the things that I’m going to share. I cannot just spill things out impromptu because of privacy issues in counselling ethics but i can safely share that throughout 2024 alone, I’ve encountered divorces, miscarriages, litigations and incarcerations, broken relationships, suicides, bankruptcies, people in extreme depression, you name it!

On the personal front, I’ve a friend who was just sent to prison and my best buddy is still trying to wake up from an already 2-month long streak of unconsciousness from a brain injury. I have much to share but this is not about me, just me illustrating that everyone goes through tough times in life.

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Worshipping God Amidst Trials and Suffering

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In Christian Counselling, it is not uncommon to encounter people, Christians, who are going through extremely tough times in their life. As such, counsellors and psychologists dealing with faith based issues are all too familiar with philosophical and existential queries that deal with human suffering.  Such questions are thrown to us on a daily basis: “Why is there suffering?” “Why did God allow this?” “During the peak of suffering, what are we supposed to do?” I cannot tackle the first two questions for now but I am here to address the third question. For a direct answer (mind you, this is in the context of Christian Counselling), I always point to God’s word. What did The Bible show for us to do in the midst of suffering? Or to rephrase the question, what are we to do while waiting on The Lord?  The most straight forward answer is to worship Him.

king David praying to The Lord for deliverance while in the midst of trouble and distress.

This practice has been documented all throughout The Bible.

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Why we don’t practice Hypnotherapy anymore

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These are my additional notes for the video entitled:
Hypnosis Meditations and Altered States
Hypnosis Meditations part 2

Both of these videos found below will address the issues of whether the practices of Hypnosis or Hypnotherapy are accepted/used in Christian Counselling. As usual, things are never black and white. We will deal with the nuances as much as possible.

And here is the second video if you’re not too confused yet:
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On Pornography Addiction: Video #6

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The overall aim of this video is to bring greater respect for ones body and others. I believe that this revelation of the true worth of each person will contribute to dealing with the temptations that lead to pornography use.
The human body is meant for the union of marriage and not to be abused for another’s pleasure. The Biblical truth supporting the sanctity of the body is the doctrine of our bodies being the temple of The Holy Spirit.

Anxiety: Focusing on the Self and Forgetting The Lord

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Anxieties spring up when we forget about The Lord. This is when we start interpreting life through the lenses of aloneness. It’s the feeling that you are going to war alone, without any back up or support; everyone is seen as a potential enemy. Everyone becomes seemingly against me. With these lenses, both the body and the mind will react to the base thoughts and then the vigilance will star to rise. These energies accumulate and what we have is an anxiety attack.

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The Lord’s Kindness to Jonah

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Your estimation of God is what matters!
The Bible shows that God will treat you in the way you regard Him.

We all know who Jonah is and what he did. And the question that we are dealing with today is: Why was Jonah dealt lightly by God?

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