The word psychology derives from two Greek terms meaning “the study of persons.” Some argue that since the Greek root from which we get psych means “spirit” or “soul”, psychology is religious in nature and involves the study of the spirit and soul. People today when using the term psychology do not use it in a spiritual or religious context. Psychotherapy is the area of psychology people are the most likely to encounter or experience and is what most people think of when the topic of psychology comes up. In 1987, 15 million Americans made 120 million visits to psychotherapists. Since then the numbers have increased dramatically.

The term psychotherapy —- informally known as “the talking cure” —-encompasses a variety of approaches to helping people identify, understand and cope with the dynamics of their mental and emotional states. Ritchie Hernick, editor of The Psychotherapy Handbook, defines psychotherapy as “an umbrella term for all activities involving one or more patients or clients and one or more therapists, which are intended to improve a patient’s or client’s feelings of psychological well-being.”

Stanton Jones and Richard Butman define psychotherapy more descriptively: “We would describe individual counseling or psychotherapy as dyadic (two-way) interaction between a client who is distressed, and perhaps confused and frightened, and a professional helper whose helping skills are recognized and accepted by the client.”

There are literally hundreds of different psychotherapies. What I mean by this statement is that most therapists pick and choose different approaches from the field of psychology that they like and then apply them to the patient and situation. A psychotherapist is really treating the patient with smorgasbord therapy. When this happens, the counselor is using what works at that particular time without regard to how these techniques were developed and meant to be used. When this method of counseling is used, it most definitely cannot be classified as a science. One of the benefits of such diversity is that a counselor can acknowledge their client’s unique problems. This diversity however exposes a weakness in the attempt to scientifically validate psychotherapy. If it is classified as a science it must be judged as a science; but if it is subjective and inconsistent, it is not a science.

Bob and Gretchen Passantino make this observation, ”It is our contention that psychotherapy has become enormously popular among Christians primarily because the church has failed to fulfill its biblical obligation to nurture, protect, admonish, and mature its members.” Can it be true that the church has failed to meet not only the spiritual needs of its members, but also the mental and emotional needs? According to the Passatinos, the church has dropped the ball big time and that is why psychotherapy is flourishing among Christians. In their article by the way the did not cite or give any hard facts or evidence to their conclusion just stated. It could be contended that psychotherapy does contain certain common elements that are reflected in most psychotherapeutic techniques that are appealing to Christians. Some of these techniques could be offering reassurance and support, desensitizing the counselee to distress, encouraging adaptive behavior patters, or just offering understanding and insight to a need or problem. These techniques seem to be good goals which are compatible with biblical counseling, but are they? It is no wonder why psychotherapy is attractive to Christians and non-Christians alike as it has been labeled “the talking cure.”

Many biblical counseling proponents are quite vocal and adamant about the use of psychotherapy in the biblical counseling and Christian counseling fields. Gary and Carol Tharp Army, Christian medical doctors state, “Psychology is a false gospel. Its teachers are nothing less than false prophets. They fill people with false hope and lead them into false peace.” The popularity of psychotherapy in the church should not consume our critical attention. It is but a symptom of fundamental problems in contemporary American Christianity. “Christian psychology” represents the most deadly and at the same time, the most appealing and popular form of modernism to confront the church. What is meant by this term “Christian psychology?” Basically it is simply one form or another of secular psychology developed by godless humanists hostile to the Bible and now dressed up in Christian language.

While most biblical counseling advocates dismiss all psychotherapy and much of the broader field of psychology, most allow for certain interventive actions that can correct a physically based problem that may manifest in conjunction with personal problems. For example, the spiritually based problem of depression may also be accompanied by a metabolic problem that can physically enhance the depression. It is a counselors first priority to get their client out of a dangerous, life-threatening situation as soon as possible.