Faith and Mental Health: Can a Christian See a Counsellor?
信仰与心理健康：基督徒可以看辅导吗？
In more than ten years of pastoral ministry, I have heard the same quiet questions many times — usually after the service, usually in a lowered voice. "Shouldn't prayer be enough?" "If I really trusted God, would I still feel this anxious?" "Won't people think my faith is weak?"
If you have wondered about these things, you are not alone, and you are not unspiritual for asking. Let me offer a pastor's and a counsellor's answer together.
God works through means
When we are physically unwell, most of us pray and see a doctor — and we don't usually feel this dishonours God. We understand that God heals both directly and through the hands of physicians, medicine and rest. Scripture shows the same pattern for the weary soul. When Elijah collapsed under the broom tree, exhausted and wanting to die, God did not begin with a sermon. He gave him food, sleep, a gentle question, and a listening presence before anything else (1 Kings 19). The God of the Bible cares for whole people — body, mind and spirit.
Counselling is one of the ordinary means God uses: a regular, protected hour where someone is fully present to you, helps you untangle what is happening inside, and walks with you toward change. "Carry each other's burdens," Paul writes, "and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:2). Sitting with a counsellor is not a failure to carry your burden — it is letting it be carried the way Christ intended.
Needing help is not weak faith
The Psalms are full of believers who felt overwhelmed, abandoned, angry and afraid — and said so to God at length. Lament is not the opposite of faith; it is faith refusing to let go. Depression, anxiety and grief visit faithful people. Charles Spurgeon preached through repeated seasons of deep darkness. Needing support says nothing about the genuineness of your walk with God. Often, seeking help is itself an act of faith: it says, "I believe healing is possible, and I am willing to be helped."
What Christian counselling is — and isn't
Christian counselling does not replace your church, your pastor, prayer or Scripture. It complements them. A counsellor offers something different from a sermon or a Bible study: confidential space, trained listening, and tools for the specific struggles you face — anxious thoughts, old grief, family conflict, habits that won't let go. In my practice, faith is welcome in the room but never forced; we go where you are comfortable going, at your pace. Everything you share is confidential, with only the legal exceptions that protect life.
When to consider counselling
Consider reaching out if low mood, worry or conflict has lasted more than a few weeks; if it is affecting your sleep, work, study or relationships; if you keep circling the same struggle without movement; or if you simply need a safe place to say things out loud that are hard to say anywhere else. You do not need to be in crisis to benefit — many people come simply to grow.
And if you are a parent watching your teenager struggle, the same is true for them. Young people often find it easier to open up to a caring adult who is not their parent — that is not a rejection of you; it is how God often provides.
"He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds." — Psalm 147:3
God's healing comes through prayer, through His Word, through His people — and sometimes, through a counsellor's room in Box Hill on a Tuesday morning. There is no shame in any of His means.
在十多年的教会服侍中，我无数次听到同样的问题 —— 通常在聚会结束后，通常压低了声音："祷告不够吗？""如果我真的信靠神，还会这么焦虑吗？""别人会不会觉得我信心软弱？"
如果你也想过这些问题，你并不孤单，提出这些问题也绝不代表你不属灵。请允许我同时以牧者和辅导员的身份来回应。
神借着各样的途径作工
身体生病时，我们大多会祷告，也会看医生 —— 我们并不觉得这是不尊重神。我们明白，神既直接医治，也借着医生的手、药物和休息来医治。圣经对疲惫的心灵也展现了同样的方式：当以利亚在罗腾树下崩溃、求死的时候，神没有先给他讲道，而是先给他食物、睡眠、温柔的提问和聆听的同在（列王纪上 19 章）。圣经中的神关怀整全的人 —— 身体、心灵与灵魂。
辅导正是神使用的寻常途径之一：一个固定、受保护的时段，有人全然地与你同在，帮你梳理内心发生的事，陪你走向改变。保罗写道："你们各人的重担要互相担当，如此就完全了基督的律法"（加拉太书 6:2）。坐在辅导室里不是不肯背自己的重担 —— 而是按基督的心意，让重担被分担。
需要帮助不等于信心软弱
诗篇里满是感到被压垮、被离弃、愤怒和惧怕的信徒 —— 他们向神倾诉，毫无保留。哀歌不是信心的反面，而是不肯松手的信心。抑郁、焦虑和哀伤同样会临到忠心的人：司布真一生多次经历深沉的黑暗，仍在讲台上服侍。需要支援，丝毫不能说明你与神的关系不真实。很多时候，寻求帮助本身就是信心的行动 —— 它在说："我相信医治是可能的，我愿意被帮助。"
基督教辅导是什么，不是什么
基督教辅导不取代你的教会、牧者、祷告或读经，而是与它们相辅相成。辅导提供的，与讲道和查经不同：一个保密的空间、受过训练的聆听、以及针对你具体挣扎的工具 —— 焦虑的思绪、陈年的哀伤、家庭的冲突、放不下的习惯。在我的辅导中，信仰在房间里受欢迎，但绝不强加；我们按你的步调，去你愿意去的地方。你分享的一切都受保密保护，只有保护生命安全的法定例外。
什么时候该考虑辅导
如果低落、忧虑或冲突持续了几个星期以上；如果它影响了你的睡眠、工作、学业或关系；如果你在同一个挣扎里绕圈、没有出路；又或者你只是需要一个安全的地方，把在别处说不出口的话说出来 —— 都值得考虑约谈。不必等到危机才来 —— 许多人来，只是为了成长。
如果你是家长，看着自己的青少年孩子在挣扎，同样的话也适用于他们。年轻人往往更容易向一位关心他们、却不是父母的成年人敞开 —— 这不是对你的拒绝，这常常正是神供应的方式。
"他医好伤心的人，裹好他们的伤处。" —— 诗篇 147:3
神的医治借着祷告、借着祂的话语、借着祂的子民临到 —— 有时，也借着博士山一间辅导室里的一个星期二早晨。祂所用的任何途径，都没有羞耻。
If something in this article spoke to you, you are welcome to reach out — the first 15-minute conversation is free, confidential, and carries no obligation.
如果这篇文章触动了你，欢迎与我联系 —— 初次 15 分钟倾谈免费、保密、无任何约束。
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