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God & Therapy

There’s this misconception that therapy and Christianity don’t go together. Some people think therapy is for those weak in faith – not strong enough to believe God can heal them totally without assistance. Some believe therapy is for those who struggle to hear from God. It’s NOT true. For years the Christian community, especially the African American believers, have believed the negative stigmas to seeking help for your mental health. I want to dismantle these lies. There is no condemnation to those that are in Christ (Romans 8:1), and that includes those who utilize the tool of therapy.


We are willing to seek a doctor when we need help with physical ailments. We run to our pastors when we need direction. We turn to Google for almost everything. Why is it hard to fathom seeking professional help for managing mental health? Therapy is an incredible tool that allows you to widen your perspective and provide you with tools to steward the work God is doing in you.

True or False – Dismantling the lie

  • Therapy is for the weak-minded False. The truth is that it takes an immense amount of strength to face your past, mistakes, bad habits, hurts, and hardships head-on. Therapy is in fact for the strong, those who are strong enough to admit they are weak and need help.

  • Therapy Is for people who don’t trust God to heal them False. God is our healer. & He has gifted us with Christian therapists as tools to bring healing and wholeness to His people.

  • Therapists just give you advice or try to solve your problems False. It’s inappropriate ad unethical for therapists to tell you what you need to do to fix your life. Their responsibility is to help you better understand what motivates you and your behavior. They provide a safe space to process, provide you with tools to use outside of therapy, and help to empower you to make your own informed decisions.

  • I can talk to my friends and family about my problems - ok this one is technically true (lol). We’ve talked before about the benefit of having a community but there are some things that a community may not be able to do for you. Your therapist is not your friend. They may need to tell you things you don’t want to hear. With friends and family, the relationship can sometimes hinder their ability to tell you the hard truth. I would rather be mad at my therapist than my friend.

  • As Christians shouldn’t we go to our pastor with our life’s issuesehh debatable. Pastors are absolutely a valid resource in time of need, however, they are not your therapist. Their schedules may not allow for consistent access to them. And unless your pastor is also a certified therapist, they are not always equipped with the wealth of knowledge therapists learn in their years of education. & for something you may not be comfortable revealing to your pastor – who you have to see every week. For some having someone who is somewhat of a stranger it’s easier to open up without worrying about their judgment.

Nothing can take the place of our heavenly Father. God has all knowledge and wisdom. Nothing is too hard for Him to fix. God does not need you to get therapy for Him to make you whole. Just one touch, one conversation, or one look from Him can change everything. But let’s be honest, how often do we delay listening to the voice of the Lord? How often does He have to say the same thing repeatedly for us to hear, understand, and put it into practice? God can use a therapist to speak the truth, echoing the very thing He’s been trying to get you to see all along. God doesn’t need a therapist, yet God saw a need to create therapists. If He made them there is a purpose for it.

The Bible tells us, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is extremely sick; Who can understand it fully and know its secret motives?” (Jeremiah 17:9). We are not able to see ourselves accurately. Our opinion of ourselves is most times biased and stewed. We don’t objectively see ourselves because we are the subject of our subjective view. Having a nonbiased outside perspective is at times necessary to see what you may have missed or explained away.

I’ve been seeing my therapist for about 6 months now and our sessions have partnered with the work God is doing in me in tremendous ways. Therapy & spiritual counseling (they are not the same) has allowed my ongoing conversation with God to be expanded beyond just me & Him. When in prayer I bring everything to God as best I know how, but the bible tells us we don’t know what we ought to pray (Romans 8:26). Therapy has helped me to pray more informed and self-aware prayers.

Therapy provides me the resource of a trained professional to navigate a thought-provoking conversation covering things that I most likely would not have explored. They are taught to pick up on patterns and observe nonverbal communication and bring these observations to my awareness. Often my therapist provides me with language for feelings I have buried deeply or mislabeled as something else. With this new information, I bring it right back to God and can pray more targeted prayers with more understanding.

Therapy has given me an opportunity to learn more about myself from an outside point of view. Let’s be clear, no therapist can take the credit for healing you - only God heals. But had it not been for the conversations I’ve had with my therapist it may have taken much longer to see what God had been trying to reveal to me for quite some time. My therapist is not “fixing me” or even giving me advice. She is simply engaging in a strategic conversation that shows me where I need God to fix me. Nothing my therapist says is Bible, it’s simply information. It is necessary to submit that information back to the Father and He will confirm or correct it.

The best part is that it all works together as a part of God’s master plan of teaching me how to contend for my healing. Some healing is immediate, other times you’re healed as you go, like the man at the pool of Siloam (John 9:7).

Pray with me Lord, You are the ultimate healer. We acknowledge that nothing is too difficult for You, and You can make us whole with just one touch. We ask that You break through the negative beliefs that hinder our pursuit of mental health and well-being. Thank You for the gift of the gift of therapist, who You created and gave wisdom to. Help us to boldly utilize the tool of therapy to steward the work You’re doing in us. Father soften our hearts to embrace this resource as an opportunity to see ourselves more clearly. May our conversations in therapy line up with Your truth and lead us closer to Your perfect will. May we find the courage to seek the help we need and the strength to embrace therapy as a tool for growth and restoration. In Jesus’ name, amen.

1 commentaire


Dell N.
Dell N.
01 juin 2023

In Jesus Name!

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