What do you Presuppose? - Priolo, JOFMM Spring 2004

In this first edition of the Journal of Modern Ministry, I’d like to ask
you a rather personal question that is applicable whether you are a
pastor, elder, deacon, missionary, or lay leader in your church: Are
you a Christian counselor, or are you a counselor who is a Christian?
“What’s the difference?” you ask. A truly Christian counselor is
one whose counseling model reflects the Scriptures at every point. A
counselor who is a Christian uses a counseling model that does not
reflect the Scriptures at every point. A Christian counselor builds
his counseling model exegetically. He doesn’t have a “counseling
theory” but rather a “theology of counseling.” A counselor who is
a Christian supplements what the Bible has to say about changing
people with so-called “truth” from other sources. One of the
greatest differences between the two has to do with presuppositions.
A Christian counselor presupposes only that which the Bible
teaches. A counselor who is a Christian presupposes that which his
favorite secular counseling theories (there are now hundreds from
which to chose) teach.
“But why are my presuppositions about counseling so important?”
They’re important because your presuppositions will tend
to dictate your philosophy and methodology of counseling.
Freudian counselors, for example, presuppose that individuals
behave as they do because of something called an unconscious
mind. This predisposes them to employ such unbiblical methodologies
as hypnosis, dream interpretation, free association, (the
uncensored and unsuppressed communication of whatever
thoughts come to mind), and age regression...