Suggesting counseling sometimes sounds like a cop-out

[dulcissima]

Counseling is not at all the same thing as talking to even a wise friend or getting good advice from posters here. Counseling can really take you to the core of your problems so that you don’t keep making the same mistakes repeatedly and so that you actually deal with issues that you might rather avoid.

There is a reason that people recommend counseling…it is very effective. I used to not think much of it myself and thought that anyone who was willing to just use a little common sense could figure things out on their own. This might be true for every day sort of things, but there are larger scale problems that are not too uncommon that are really best dealt with through counseling.

Because of their training counselor have a different perspective that we have, than our friends and our family might have. This is because they can see the big picture and can see how things that we might think are unrealted are really connected.

I’ve been through an abusive marriage. I’ve left it and don’t want to keep repeating the same mistakes in my life. I can see how things that happened in my childhood influenced the decisions I made as a teen and as a young adult. I want to address those issues so I can live a fuller healthier life and make the right decisions for my children. I am glad to have had the chance to go to counseling…I’ve found my voice and I think I am headed in the right direction. I’m not ashamed to admit that I have been in therapy, and I would definitely recommend it to people who are in dysfunctional situations.

 

[jmcrae]

Well, it seems to me that society in general is steeped in the “culture of therapy”. The Ten Commandments have been replaced by the 12 steps.

While I don’t advocate replacing the 10 Commandments with the 12 Steps, if someone needs the 12 Steps, who am I to get in their way?

What should we do - just leave people in the snare of their addictions, and let them die? The 10 Commandments aren’t going to help people figure out how to get out of their negative lifestyles - the 10 Commandments let people know that they’ve gone wrong, but not how to get right, again. Having a process of recovery that people can go through, to reform their lives, is a good thing.

 

[ElizabethAnne]

I went in search of a spiritual director several years ago. I asked for recommendations from some Catholics I trusted, prayed about finding someone and had absolutely no success. Everywhere I went I found a dead end.

Then, when I finally made an appointment with a priest, I discovered that the priest I had thought I was making an appointment was transferred, and I was actually meeting with the priest who inherited his phone number – a priest who just happened to be a trained counselor. So, even though I thought I was searching for spiritual guidance, God had other plans.

I had absolutely no idea I would benefit from counseling! Meeting with this priest for the past few years has changed me in so many ways. I thank God for sending this man my way and hope others will benefit from a similar experience.

 

[surfinpure]

While I don’t advocate replacing the 10 Commandments with the 12 Steps, if someone needs the 12 Steps, who am I to get in their way?

What should we do - just leave people in the snare of their addictions, and let them die? The 10 Commandments aren’t going to help people figure out how to get out of their negative lifestyles - the 10 Commandments let people know that they’ve gone wrong, but not how to get right, again. Having a process of recovery that people can go through, to reform their lives, is a good thing.

Agreed. We must not forget that we are three-part beings. Just as the soul and body must be healthy, so must the mind. Good counseling does not replace confession, it supplements it. We must have guidance and instruction in order to live an upright life, and when we are caught in sin, we must learn how to get out of it. Hasn’t the Church always had this intention in mind when encouraging the faithful to obtain spiritual directors? St. Faustina’s Diary is strong evidence of the need for good counsel.

I also recommend the book Peace of Soul, by Fulton Sheen. He discusses, among many other things, how a “sin” became a “crime,” and is now a “complex.” Fascinating insights.