Journal: Southeastern Theological Review
Volume: STR 15:1 (Spring 2024)
Article: Everybody Integrates: Biblical Counseling And The Use Of Extrabiblical Material
Author: Nate Brooks

STR 15:1 (Spring 2024) p. 7

Everybody Integrates: Biblical Counseling And The Use Of Extrabiblical Material

Nate Brooks

Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

Abstract: Biblical counseling as a discipline has often identified itself as being an approach to counseling that stands opposed to integration. This article draws a distinction between Integrationism as a theoretical approach to Christian counseling and the actual process of integrating extrabiblical material into one’s practice of counseling. It then shows that Jay Adams, Wayne Mack, and Heath Lambert, past and current leaders within the traditional-nouthetic approach to counseling, all integrate significant amounts of extrabiblical material into their counseling, including material derived from secular psychology. Given that all counselors must integrate material from Scripture and from sources external to Scripture, the article concludes by affirming the need for biblical counselors to have a robust theory of integration

Key Words: biblical counseling, common grace, Heath Lambert, integration, Jay Adams, psychology, skills, theology, Wayne Mack

The word “integration” is not a friendly word within the discipline of biblical counseling. Biblical counseling literature often portrays “Integrationists” as those who err by believing that “the biblical text” is little more than “a shallow and imprecise psychology” for counseling.1 Integrationists’ compromised viewpoint stands in contradistinction to biblical counselors whose approach to counseling is based on the faithful belief that “the Bible is a sufficient counseling resource.”2

The labels of “Integrationism” and “biblical counseling” are helpful in distinguishing between two different theoretical approaches towards Christian counseling.3 However, I wonder if these names can serve to cloak an important reality for both perspectives: Integrationism is no less

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reliant upon a theological method than is biblical counseling, and biblical counseling is no less reliant upon a method of integration than is Integrationism.4

The assertion that both biblical counseling and Integrationism are dependent upon theological method is well-attested within relevant literature. Biblical counseling understands itself as an explicitly biblical-theological discipline, an affirmation that can be seen in its very name, and biblical counselors have written on this point extensively.You must have a subscription and be logged in to read the entire article.
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