I think it is always good to be reminded of the 6 key elements of counseling regardless of how long you’ve been counseling. I oversee a men’s residential addiction ministry and am frequently helping people with their counseling skills and looking to train up new counselors. The 6 key elements are very important to keep in mind. If you’ve been counseling for a while you could say them with me…couldn’t you? Well, let’s just say them together:
Build loving involvement Share biblical hope Gather relevant data Evaluate the problem/data biblically Provide biblical instruction Assign practical homework
All 6 of those aspects are incredibly important in the counseling process. I want to focus on element number 6–assign practical homework. My contention is that you could be really good at 1–5 and not so good at number 6, or maybe even completely ignore giving homework and completely hamstring the process.
Homework is Essential to Growth
Unless you were one of those odd people that loved homework in school I’m assuming you were excited to finish high school, college, and graduate school because you were ready to get paid for working and also so that you could be done with homework!
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