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Can I be a Christian and go to therapy?

Updated: May 1, 2020

Shouldn’t praying and reading the Bible be enough?

Aren’t my challenges just a product of not being faithful enough?

The questions above are all common ones in Christian circles. From my opinion, I do think you can be both. Of course, I’m biased since I am both a therapist and also a Christian.

To help you answer this question, here are some some other questions to ask yourself are:

  • What can inform the other?

  • How does this psychotherapy idea relate to Christian ideas?

  • How does this Christian idea relate to psychotherapy ideas?

There might be things in psychotherapy that you reject because they don’t match with your Christian beliefs. There might be things in your Christian beliefs that you want to reshape in light of a psychotherapy idea.

And, as with every question that someone who is a Christian asks, there are many ways to answer it.

Questions I’m curious to ask you:

  • Do you think that psychotherapy and Christianity are opposed to one another?

  • How do you make decisions?

  • Do you believe yourself to be wise, discerning, and faithful?

  • Do you question yourself and look to others to give you direction or answers?

It may be that you look towards others and you worry if they will question your Christian faith if you engage in therapy.

If this is the case, your question might not be if you can be a Christian and go to therapy, but rather, how do I trust myself to make decisions?

In my personal opinion, I find it valuable and essential to continually be discerning and question all things. These are what the road to spiritual development and maturity are paved with.

At the end of the day, you need to make peace with your decisions. This can include allowing new information to change your decision making along the way.

And, be asking questions about the questions you are asking:

  • Why are you asking them?

  • What are you really asking?

  • Who are you asking?


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