NANC Biblical Counseling Class
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13: Physical
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Illness &
Psychotropic Drugs
XVIII. Physical Illness1
1 Adapted from material produced by NANC & Faith Biblical Counseling
A. The Biblical Counselor’s Role
1. The biblical counselor’s role is to address
the counselee’s response to physical illness
2. This does not require the counselor to
possess medical knowledge in order to help
the counselee
3. The counselor should rely on the counselee
to provide any needed medical information
A. The Biblical Counselor’s Role
4. Counselors, even if they possess medical
background, should not play the role of a physician
Accept the diagnosis. It is not the counselor’s role to
prove or disprove the diagnosis
b. Do not recommend other possible diagnoses, methods of
diagnosis, or treatments
a.
5. The counselor should help the counselee to deal
with the illness from a spiritual perspective, not a
medical perspective
6. The goal is to turn the counselee’s attention from
the pain and discomfort of the illness to what God
is doing through it
B. Counseling Principles
1. Data gathering
a. Information about the medical condition
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
How was a diagnosis made?
Basic background about the condition
Lifestyle changes because of the condition
The effect of any medications
The future of treatment / prognosis
b. Information about the counselee’s response
i. What is his thinking or attitude about the condition?
ii. How have family and friends responded?
iii. Where is God in the counselee’s life and thinking?
B. Counseling Principles
2. Hope
a. Help the counselee see that there can be
contentment in God even if relief does not come
b. Help the counselee to see what God is doing in
them through the condition
c. Be understanding and encouraging (Gal. 6:2)
3. Teach appropriate biblical principles
a. Regarding trials & suffering (see previous lesson)
b. Regarding sickness
B. Counseling Principles
4. Homework
a. Focus on application of biblical principles rather
than health issues
b. The area of focus in homework is helping the
counselee to respond biblically to the challenges
of the illness
C. Biblical Principles2
1. Help counselees to think biblically about all
aspects of their condition (2 Cor. 10:5, Phil.
4:8)
2. God will not allow the difficulties of the
condition to exceed the person’s ability to
handle it (1 Cor. 10:13)
3. The illness is under the control of a
sovereign God (Prov. 21:1, 1 Chron. 29:12)
2 Adapted from Robert Smith, The Christian Counselor’s Medical Desk Reference, 57-61
C. Biblical Principles
4. Embrace God’s sufficient grace (2 Cor. 12:7-10,
9:8)
5. Cultivate thankful contentment (Phil. 4:11-13, Job
1:21, 1 Thes. 5:16-18)
“Christian contentment is that sweet, inward, quiet,
gracious frame of spirit, which freely submits to
and delights in God’s wise and fatherly disposal in
every condition” – Jeremiah Burroughs, The Rare
Jewel of Christian Contentment.
C. Biblical Principles
6. Pursue new opportunities for ministry (Phil.
1:12-18)
7. “Victory [biblically defined] is being
controlled by biblical principles rather than
the agony of the condition” (Phil. 3:7-10)
D. Resources
• Robert Smith, The Christian Counselor’s
Medical Desk Reference (Timeless, 2000).
XIX. Psychotropic Drugs3
3 Adapted from material by Stuart Scott, NANC, and Faith Biblical Counseling
A. Are drugs needed in biblical
counseling?
1. There is a difference between medicine &
psychiatry regarding disease:
a. Medicine
i.
There are behavior problems which truly have an
organic cause
ii. When an organic cause of this nature is found, it is
given a medical disease diagnosis. Usually the name
given reflects the cause, not the symptoms.
iii. To qualify as an illness, the condition must show
damage to bodily tissue
A. Are drugs needed in biblical
counseling?
b. Psychiatry
Diagnosis of syndromes or “disorders” are based on
symptoms or behavior, not the cause
ii. There is no general agreement on the cause for such
symptoms or behavior
i.
MEDICINE:
PSYCHIATRY:
Disease
Theory
Symptoms
Symptoms
A. Are drugs needed in biblical
counseling?
2. Why are drugs used?
a. The “chemical imbalance” theory of
psychological disorders teaches that the
symptoms are a result of a chemical imbalance
in the brain.
b. Drugs are prescribed which supposedly fix the
imbalance and thus cure the person
A. Are drugs needed in biblical
counseling?
3. Problems with the chemical imbalance view
a. Brain physiology is still so poorly understood
that no neurotransmitter imbalance or balance
has ever been documented
b. Even if brain chemical levels were able to be
measured, one could not determine if the
chemical levels caused the depression or if the
depression changed the chemical levels
c. The mechanism of many psychological drugs is
unknown or inconclusive
d. Furthermore, medications are not remotely close
to 100% effective
A. Are drugs needed in biblical
counseling?
e. Improvement of feelings as a result of a
medication does not prove there was a chemical
imbalance
“Psychiatric medication is not treating a verifiable chemical imbalance
in the brain. Contrary to public perception, psychiatric medications are
not chemical bullets that target one particular brain chemical. They are
more like chemical blitzkriegs, strafing chemical sites in the brain and
hoping for the best.
The brain is simply too complex and is sustained by too many
chemicals for us to be able to pinpoint chemical imbalances with our
current level of knowledge. The most we can reliably say is that
psychiatric medication may minimize some symptoms, but it is not
necessarily treating a chemical deficiency.” – Ed Welch, Blame it on
the Brain, 109-110.
A. Are drugs needed in biblical
counseling?
4. The Bible emphasizes a person’s heart
response as most important, not changing a
person’s feelings.
a. The Bible teaches that feelings are the result of
beliefs, thinking, and actions (John 13:17, James
1:25, Prov. 29:18, Gen. 4:5-7)
Beliefs, Thoughts,
Desires
Behavior
Feelings
Chemical
Imbalance
Circumstance
Unbiblical response
Bad feelings /
emotions
Bad feelings /
emotions
Good feelings /
emotions
Decreased
function
A. Are drugs needed in biblical
counseling?
b. Problems in life responded to in an unbiblical
manner produce unpleasant feelings
c. Feeling oriented people use their bad feelings as
the reason for their inability to function
d. Medication is used to reduce the bad feelings,
making the person feel better and thus help him
function better
e. When a person feels better because of the
improved feelings, this gives the false impression
that the problems are solved
f. Even though feelings can be improved through
medication, the heart is not addressed
A. Are drugs needed in biblical
counseling?
5. Concluding that medication is needed for
counseling success denies the sufficiency of
Scripture (2 Pet. 1:3, 2 Tim. 3:16-17)
6. Bad feelings are often God’s warning system
that something is wrong in the heart.
Medication can mask that warning system so
that heart issues are not addressed
7. When no proven medical issue exists, no
medication is truly needed
B. Counseling Guidelines
1. Data gathering
a. Get lots of information on the circumstances
surrounding the time in life when medications
were started
b. Discover how the counselee responded to those
circumstances
c. Ask X-ray questions to discover thinking,
desires, and heart issues
d. How have they responded since being on
medication?
B. Counseling Guidelines
2. Build the relationship and point to Christ
and His Word as the source of true hope
3. Do not be critical of the counselee’s decision
to begin medication
4. Teach the biblical view of problems and the
presence of bad feelings
B. Counseling Guidelines
5. Keep biblical goals in mind:
a. The goal is not to get the person off medication
b. The goal is to help the person to be more like
Christ by responding biblically to the
circumstances of life
c. The goal is to help the person trust Christ more
through the problems rather than to feel better
6. Eventually, the counselee will see that they
do not need medication because they have
learned to respond to problems biblically
C. Coming off medications
1. If the counselee is already on medication
a. The counselor’s job is not to take the counselee
off medication
b. The counselor’s job is to help the counselee to
learn biblical solutions while still on medication
2. If the counselee asks to be taken off
medication right away
a. Learn his thinking and reasons for doing so
b. Explain that there is much work to be done and
that the question of coming off of medication will
be discussed later
C. Coming off medications
3. Don’t discuss coming off medication until the
counselee is consistently responding
biblically to problems
4. When the counselee reaches that point and
wants to come off the medication, send him
back to the doctor who started medication
5. If that doctor refuses, the counselee will need
to get a second opinion
6. Continue counseling for 3-4 weeks after the
counselee is completely off medication
D. Resources
• Ed Welch, Blame it on the Brain (P&R).
• Ed Welch, Addictions: A Banquet in the Grave
(P&R).
• Robert Smith, The Christian Counselor’s
Medical Desk Reference (Timeless).