Christian marriage counselling - free advice online UK

Seek marriage counselling services online - UK - USA

Christian marriage counselling online could be defined by the things which in general terms make Christian counselling ‘Christian’ as well as ‘counselling’: an awareness of the possibility of sin without an excessive emphasis on it; a concern for the health of free souls without a motive to conquer them; a resilience to the potential for nihilism within secular thought without an ostrich-like reaction to life’s tragic aspects… in short, hope, faith and love. A counsellor may be a Christian without being a ‘Christian counsellor’ – we are only concentrating on the latter here. Christian pre-marriage counselling is especially common, and is often a pre-requisite for any couple who want to get married in a church whether they are ‘regulars’ there or not.

There are various free online sources for Christian marriage counselling. Church leaders can often suggest counsellors for face to face sessions. There are also websites of various stances with marriage and relationship advice - www.christianadvice.net features a directory of Christian counsellors and advice on how to choose one. There’s also an American Association of Christian Counsellors at www.aacc.net. For sources outside the net, one suggestion is ‘Roots & Shoots: a guide to counselling and psychotherapy’ by Roger F Hurding. This is a thoughtful and comprehensive British-published study of Christian and secular therapies for professionals and interested lay readers. One thing to note before you buy it though is its academic style. That doesn’t mean it’s boring – but have a quick flick through first. There are many books concentrating more on the practical guidance side of Christian marriage counselling. Again, church leaders should be able to provide recommendations (if you don’t go to a church, you can still ask in one!)

The orthodox Christian conviction is of course that Jesus himself didn’t get married – not to another person, at least, although the Church is described as his bride in the New Testament. That raises a discussion which we can’t have here, but has a lot to do with context. Context is key for other comments on marriage in the New Testament. Be that as it may, many practitioners of Christian marriage counselling would hold to the view of Richard Lovelace that ‘the Bible is not an encyclopaedia, but a tool for making encyclopaedias’

© The Pink Fridge Online Magazine 2008 - Christian Marriage counselling