Introduction

Safe Harbor Christian Counseling exists to serve the body of Christ by providing Biblical counseling to individuals, couples and families so that God is glorified through the strengthening of His church.  We also desire to introduce people to Jesus Christ that do not yet know Him and need His healing presence in their lives.

Simply put, it is our goal to interact with each client in the same manner that Jesus would if He were talking to that person.  The challenge for us is that Christ does not interact with any two people in exactly the same way.  To one, He offers a yoke that is easy.  To another, a reminder that it is necessary for them to obey His command and take up their cross and carry it.  It is at this point that the clinicians at Safe Harbor recognize the necessity of relying on the Holy Spirit for wisdom and guidance. 
 

Individualized Treatment

The Lord has stated in Psalm 139:14 that each of us is fearfully and wonderfully made.  In other words, we are all similar in that we are made by God and in His image, yet we are all unique and different in other ways.  

We strive to get to know each person as an individual who matters immeasurably to     God, before assuming that we know exactly what will "fix" someone's problems.  It is our desire to balance biblical solutions with the art of being with someone, fully present, in order to help that person connect with aspects of God that their soul needs.  We see this truth in Philippians 3:10, which states that there is fellowship with Christ if we share in His sufferings.  In other words, He is with us and we can experience the truth that "His divine power has given us everything that we need for life and godliness..." (2 Peter 1:3).

Knowing God

Safe Harbor is guided by a passion to help people connect with the healing presence of Jesus when it seems least likely available.  Julian of Norwich presented this possibility in the following manner: "Some of us believe that God is almighty and can do everything  That He is all-wise and may do everything.  But when we think of Him as all-loving and will do everything - there we draw back.  As I see it, this ignorance is the greatest of all hindrances to God's love."

Facilitating Biblical Community

Another area that we believe is foundational to what makes counseling "Christian" is to look at a Biblical view of pain.  As Americans who live in a land of wealth, most of us begin our approach to life from the perspective that the avoidance of pain and the presence of being comfortable is the goal.  Then we project this philosophy onto God and make it His job to make us comfortable and have a good life.  In contrast, Henri Nouwen, in his book, The Wounded Healer, describes the suffering Servant in Isaiah 53 as One who recognizes His wounds, lets them show, and makes them available to the community as a source of healing.  Brennan Manning states, "The Wounded Healer implies that grace and healing are communicated through vulnerability of men and women who have been fractured and heartbroken by life."  

It is part of our passion at Safe Harbor to be used by God to help facilitate the church becoming a community where pretense shrinks back and "we walk in the light as He is in the light..." (I John 1:7).  John goes on to state that fellowship with one another and, to a greater degree purity, result from walking in this light, which we believe exposes the pharisee that dwells in dark corners of all of our hearts.

So, pain is to be felt, shared and function as a source of healing for the Christian community as a whole.  It is to be used by God to purify a people for Himself that are His own, eager to do what is good (Titus 2:14).  Pain is a pathway to knowing God more intimately as we learn to rely on Him to minister in His way to the parts of us that hurt the most.

In summary, we strive to facilitate the development of authentic Christian community as we help clients to process their feelings of pain and emotion.

 
Enjoying God

A final area to consider in the question of what makes counseling "Christian" according to Safe Harbor, is the area of enjoying God.  The invitation of Jesus in Matthew 25:23 is to "enter into the joy of our master."  Yet, we all have a dark side (sin nature) that we often try to hide from others and even God, which causes us to run from God rather than enjoy Him in the way that He desires us to.  

     Our goal is to provide a safe haven for exploration of just how dark and sinful we really are so that we can experience God's love, grace, holiness and forgiveness over all that we are.  Clients are presented with God's unconditional acceptance of them on the basis of being adopted into His family by Him (see Romans 8 and Ephesians 1), as opposed to relying on our own merits with a feeble attempt at increasing "self esteem".  The result is most often that clients experience the joy of the Lord in a deeper and more sincere manner.

 
What Methods Do the Counselors at Safe Harbor Use?

The staff of Safe Harbor Christian Counseling have training in a variety of approaches to counseling, which range from treating issues within individuals to treating family systems as a whole.  The common ground that all of our counselors share is that Biblical principles serve as the foundation for all of our interventions.  These interventions include helping clients to deal with present issues as well as identifying how they got to this point.  Usually, we find that there are patterns that have been in existence for a very long time that the client may not even be aware of.  These patterns are brought into the light and evaluated in light of God's word.  The result may be repenting of previously unknown sins or it may be thanking God for giving the grace to cope with life.   In other words, we often discover and realize that God has been faithful all along by helping someone to develop strengths during trials.

In our clinical work, we place a very strong emphasis on the strengths clients have rather than focusing only on their shortcomings and weaknesses.  The reason for this is found in  Philippians 1:6, which states that, "He who began a good work in you will carry it to completion."  This means that if a client is in Christ, God has been at work in that person's life long before they ever got to Safe Harbor.  Consequently, there are strengths and even godly traits that already exist that the client may not fully realize.  It is our aim for clients to walk in the grace that God has already manifested in their lives.

In summary, our approach in clinical terms could be described as eclectic.  In spiritual terms, we simply rely on God's principles and the guidance of the Holy Spirit to show us what intervention will most effectively bring about God's purposes in the lives of clients.