#1 Myth about Mental Health Coaching – Mental Health Coaching #5 – Purity 1347
Purity 1347 05/09/2024 Purity 1347 Podcast
Purity 1347 on YouTube: Coming Soon!
Good morning,
Today’s photo of autumn splendor and the single-lane tree-lined expanse of Reynolds Rd in Pattersonville NY comes to us from yours truly as I decided to stop in my tracks to capture the beauty set before me while at work back on September 30th, 2020. At this point in my story the Lord had out me on the solid ground of a new home and delivered me from my second job at Walmart but was still beckoning me forward to finish my master’s thesis in Christian Counseling and to see what else would lie down that undetermined path. I’m so glad I answered the call because it has been a truly amazing journey ever since. I can’t imagine, or maybe I don’t want to because I can imagine, what my life would have been like if I decided just to sit on the couch content with my house down by the River and stopped pursuing what God wanted for my life. I guess I would have just been spiritual all by myself reading books, watching tv or movies, and eating junk food – praising the Lord for it all and just smiling. But the Lord doesn’t call us to kick our feet up and relax. He calls us to go into all the world and to make disciples and if we truly experience His love, grace, mercy and know our freedom in Christ, our heart’s desire will be to answer that call in whatever way we can.
Well, It’s Thursday, and I share today’s “pathway photo” as is my habit on Thursdays as a visual reminder, encouragement, or invitation to the pathway of Christian Discipleship. When we seek God we will find Him and He will reveal His purpose for our lives. For me after much searching, pondering, and questioning, I seem to have been called to be a Christian Life Coach. The Lord has shown me the way to freedom and now, instead of just encouraging others to find it for themselves, I am making myself available as a guide and companion to those who wish to experience the freedom, joy, and peace that comes from being responsible for your recovery, spiritual formation, or mental health.
And that brings us to our current series on Mental Health Coaching, which is one of the certified specialties that I offer my clients. Yesterday, we presented a portion of Matthew Boone’s 2023 blog post (https://www.lyrahealth.com/blog/what-is-mental-health-coaching/) to address the differences between therapists and mental health coaching and today we will begin to share Boone’s insights on common myths about mental health coaching. He writes:
“Common Myths about Mental Health Coaches
As a relatively new and rapidly growing area of coaching, there are many misconceptions about mental health coaching.
Myth #1: A mental health coach can’t help with “real” mental health issues.
While mental health coaches aren’t therapists, they can still draw on principles and practices from evidence-based therapies such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT).
Extensive research backs the use of these interventions in a clinical setting to treat conditions like depression and anxiety. And mental health coaches’ use of these techniques for common problems like stress is promising…
Many people choose a mental health coach vs. a therapist if they want professional support, but don’t have a complex mental health condition such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), bipolar disorder, or suicidal thoughts. Emotional wellness coaches can help clients manage emotions, change their way of approaching problems, improve relationship skills, and reduce stress and anxiety—all of which bolster mental health.”
Okay, that’s good news! Mental Health Coaches can offer therapies that can help people treat their depression, anxiety, or stress. And please don’t let Boone’s technical jargon concern you.
Essentially cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) are methods that raise self-awareness, encourage the acceptance of reality, and the redirection of one’s thought life, which could be summed up as “renewing your mind” as the Bible states, and although I am familiar with these theories and their terms I would cut through the psychobabble, and the somewhat humanistic or Buddhist mindsets inherent in their vernacular, and encourage clients to follow God’s word’s advice in:
Romans 12:2 (NKJV)
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
AND
Philippians 4:8-9 (NKJV)
8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy–meditate on these things.
9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.
God’s truth existed before these psychological theories and whatever truth they may contain finds its source from our Creator. The danger of such theories lies in their subtle insistence that we can heal ourselves – that we can have peace without God- and that idea is as old as Eden, where Satan originally encouraged Adam and Eve to “be all they could be” by rebelling against God’s commands in a futile attempt to become gods themselves.
So while some of the principles contained in CBT, ACT, and DBT can be sound, their non-spiritual humanistic, atheistic, or Buddhist underpinnings could make you more self-aware in one sense while leaving you peacefully deceived and lost in another if you should believe the lie that you can live independently of God.
As I have stated, I am a Christian Life Coach, and this coach is going to give you the truth without pulling any punches from a Christian Biblical worldview. Unlike other “Christian” therapists or coaches who add that term to their practice but utilize these atheistic therapies as if they were “gospel” without presenting the actual gospel, I have been set free in Christ and know the subtleties of spiritual warfare and although I can see the merits of truth a psychological theory presents, I back away from their technical language and anti-Christian failings and will make the same points with the truth of God’s word instead of trying to appear wise in my own or the world’s eyes. Paul touched on this in:
2 Corinthians 4:2 (NIV2011)
2 Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.
We don’t distort the word of God. We set forth the truth plainly. The NLT puts it this way:
2 Corinthians 4:2 (NLT2)
2 We reject all shameful deeds and underhanded methods. We don’t try to trick anyone or distort the word of God. We tell the truth before God, and all who are honest know this.
We don’t need underhanded methods to try to trick people that we are wise in ourselves. We tell the truth before God and all who are honest know this.
But although I must object to Boone lifting up those therapies as if they were AMAZING – the point is that Mental Health Coaches can help their clients essentially by addressing the truth of reality and being responsible for what they think in do. As he states, mental health coaches “can help clients manage emotions, change their way of approaching problems, improve relationship skills, and reduce stress and anxiety—all of which bolster mental health.”
So this adequately debunks the myth that “A mental health coach can’t help with “real” mental health issues.” We can! And if we do so with the truth of God’s word and encourage faith in Jesus Christ, we might help our clients to save even more than just their peace of mind.
When we speak the truth plainly, they could experience a peace that goes beyond all understanding, when they put their faith in Jesus as LORD and Savior of their lives and discover the new eternal life He has for them.
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For those who want more evidence for Christianity than my simple encouragements provide, I offer apologist, Frank Turek’s website, https://crossexamined.org/ .
Today’s Bible verses come to us from “The Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling” By John G. Kruis.
( While Bible verses on various topics of Counseling can be found with a quick Google search, we encourage you to purchase this resource to support the late author’s work. (https://www.amazon.com/Quick-Scripture-Reference-Counseling-Kruis-ebook/dp/B00CIUJZT2?ref_=ast_author_dp )
This morning’s meditation verses come from the section on Death and Eternal Life
Philippians 3:20-21 (NIV2011)
20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,
21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
Today’s verses fall under the twenty-sixth point of our counseling reference guide resource’s section on Death and Eternal Life.
26. Our citizenship is in heaven. There our bodies will be like the glorious body of Jesus Christ.
Today’s verses tell us the good news that those who put their faith in Jesus are already citizens in heaven and will one day receive new glorious bodies when Jesus comes to bring everything under his control – when He comes back to reclaim the earth and reigns for a thousand years before bringing a new heaven and a new earth into being.
Christians should not question their salvation. IF we put our faith in Jesus, our citizenship changes from that of earth and the kingdom of darkness to heaven and the kingdom of the Lord’s light. It’s a done deal and when we believe and follow the Lord with the way we live we can confidence that what God’s word says is true because we will experience the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. I’m living it now. So walk in the Spirit and follow where the Lord leads you and one day you will rejoice all the more when He takes control and gives you a glorious body to match the glorious life He puts in your heart and mind.
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As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.com where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.
Today we continue sharing from “According to Your Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament” By Stephen F. Olford – A Collection of Devotional Journals: 1940-1941.
As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage you all to purchase Olford’s books for your own private study and to support his work. This resource is available online for less than $10 at many sites.
MORNING READING: ACTS 18
“Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent;
for I am with you.” – Acts 18:9-10
Is it any wonder Paul could say, “Woe is me if I do not preach the Gospel” (1 Cor. 9:16)?
This was the message that God gave to Moses. Moses, however, refused on the grounds of his incompetence. Though the Lord had promised to be with his mouth, Moses refused. The result was that the Lord gave the honor to his brother Aaron.
The contrast is seen in John the Baptist. He obeyed the Word of the Lord and fulfilled His mission to the praise of his Lord. John could say, “I am the voice” (John 1:23). He posed as nothing more than a voice.
The greatest example is seen in my blessed Lord, who never held His peace when it came to teaching and preaching the Word of God. He kept at His Father’s business.
Lord, give me the grace to obey the message
You have given me. Amen.[1]
—————————more tomorrow————————
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“The views, opinions, and commentary of this publication are those of the author, M.T. Clark, only, and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of any of the photographers, artists, ministries, or other authors of the other works that may be included in this publication, and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities the author may represent.”
Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship
[1] Stephen Olford and Heather Olford, According to Your Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament, A Collection of Devotional Journals 1940-1941 (Nashville, TN: B&H Books, 2008).
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