Biblical counseling is church based, Christ centered, Scripture driven, and prayer dependent counseling. You can think of it as discipleship for crisis and chronic situations. Biblical counseling uses God’s Word to identify the problems and show you God’s hope and help for them in the Bible. Biblical counseling shows you how the gospel applies to each day of your life and how to live out daily life God’s way.

Biblical counseling is not talk therapy or venting. God desires for each of us to be growing in our sanctification (Ephesians 4:22-24) and that involves not just hearing encouragement, but looking into the mirror of Scripture (James 1:25) and applying it to our lives. Scripture is clear that the Lord cares about his people and wants them to pour out their hearts to him (Psalm 57:1-3). A biblical counselor will seek to live out God’s Word by asking lots of questions and sharing the hope and help found in Scripture (Proverbs 18:13).

Biblical counseling is not about understanding yourself better because our human hearts are deceptive (Jeremiah 17:9). It is about understanding who The Creator is and how we can live as image-bearers of the King of kings (Genesis 1:26-28).

Biblical counseling is not about just finding relief from the hurt or pressures of life. Psalm 34:18 tells us that God is near the brokenhearted, but he also explains in other passages how he uses all things in our life to draw us to him in repentance and in greater faith and obedience (James 1:2-4, Romans 8). The goal of biblical counseling is for the counselee’s heart to be oriented towards God and live in light of the gospel in all circumstances.

Biblical counseling is not supposed to be separate from the church body. Proverbs 18:1 informs us that isolating ourselves goes against sound judgment and in Galatians 6:1-10 we are taught the many benefits of caring for one another in the context of a church community.

A counseling session will typically be 60 to 90 minutes long. The first session is usually longer as we get to know you, so please plan accordingly. Each session includes reviewing your growth work done in between sessions, a time of talking through a specific Bible passage that applies to your life, and closing in a time of prayer. All of this is done through conversation and questions woven throughout your time together.

Counseling on average can last anywhere from 6 months to a year. However, it’s all very dependent on your situation and the growth occurring. The goal is to see you “graduate” by applying what you are taught and living it out in community with your local church family. The length of counseling will also vary depending on the scheduling - some meet weekly, some bi-weekly, and as counseling progresses, sessions spread out with longer times in-between meeting.

First of all, your counselor will pray for you! He/she will be setting aside hours each week to study and prepare for your time together. You can expect them to listen to you, ask questions, encourage you, and at times challenge you. Even in the harder moments of counseling, your counselor/advocate are for you! Our desire is to point you to Christ and cheer you on as you run towards Christ in every aspect of life.

An advocate is someone who walks besides you through the counseling process. When possible, we like for your advocate to be someone from your home church who already knows you. In cases when this many not be possible, an advocate from Grove’s counseling ministry may be asked to help serve in this way. This person will attend counseling sessions with you and support you in between the counseling sessions in various ways like, (but not limited to), prayer, growth work assistance, accountability, and discipleship.

1. A teachable heart and desire to learn and grow in the grace of God.

2. A willingness to communicate and be honest with what you are sharing. Help us help you!

3. To be on time. If you are going to be late for any reason, please text your counselor as soon as possible so he/she can be aware and possibly make changes, or reschedule if need be.

4. To complete weekly assignments that we call “growth work”.

5. To silence your phone. We have an hour together and the goal is to make it well worth your time. Please keep your phone silenced to minimize as many distractions as possible.

6. Unmarried couples are expected to live separately and abstain from pre-marital sex.

7. To be committed. If there is any reason you wish to discontinue counseling, please speak to your counselor as soon as possible about the matter. There is usually a waiting list for counseling and we want to give the available sessions to those who truly desire biblical help and change.

8. To faithfully be attending Grove Community Church, or a local “sister" church.

Please bring your Bible (the ESV translation if possible), a pen, and the growth work that you were given in prior sessions. It can be helpful to bring along a water bottle, too.

The purpose is to help you apply to your daily life what you have learned in the counseling room. Change only happens when you actively practice what you are learning. Ephesians 4:22-24 tells us to put off the “old self”, renew our minds, and put on the “new self”. This means that through the power of the Holy Spirit, we use Scripture to help us see what we need to stop doing, allow Scripture to inform and change our thinking, and then practice what Scripture says is pleasing to God.

Growth work is tailored to each individual in order to help you grow and live out what you are learning.

There are several categories of growth work that we may use on a weekly basis. It can be Bible reading, meditating on a specific passage, reading a booklet, or listening to a podcast or sermon. We also ask that you attend church faithfully during your time of counseling as we believe that counseling is a function of the church and a fulfillment of the “one another” passages in Scripture. Rest assured that we are quick to work with you and create a growth plan that is attainable along side the rest of your life.