#1 Myth about Mental Health Coaching – Mental Health Coaching #5 - Purity 1347

To see today's photo, go to mt4christ.com or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning. Today's photo of autumn splendor in the single-lane, tree-lined expanse of Reynolds Road in Pattersonville, New York comes to us from yours truly as I decided to stop in my tracks to capture the beauty set before me while at work back on September 30th, 2020. At this point in my story, the Lord had, had, had put me on solid ground of a new home and delivered me from my second job at Walmart, but was still beckoning me forward to finish my master's thesis in Christian counseling and to see what else would lie down that undetermined path. I'm so glad I answered that, uh, the call because it has It's been a truly amazing journey ever since. I can't imagine, or maybe I don't want to because I can imagine, what my life would have been like if I decided just to sit on the couch content with my house down by the river and stop pursuing what God wanted for my life. I guess I would have just been spiritual all by myself, reading books, watching TV or movies, and eating junk food, praising the Lord for it all and just smiling. But the Lord doesn't call us, uh, to kick up our feet, uh, and relax. He calls us to go into all the world and to make disciples. And if we truly experience his love, grace, and mercy and know our freedom in Christ, our heart's desire will be to answer that call in whatever way we can. Well, it's Thursday, and I share today's pathway photo, as is my habit on Thursdays, as a visual reminder, encouragement, or invitation to the pathway of Christian discipleship. When we seek God, we will find him, and he will reveal his purpose for our lives. For me, after much searching, pondering, and questioning, I seem to have found— I, I seem to have been called to be a Christian life coach. The Lord has shown me the way to freedom, and now, instead of just encouraging others to find it for themselves, I am making myself available as a guide and companion to those who wish to experience the freedom, joy, and peace that comes from being responsible for your recovery, spiritual formation, or mental health. And that brings us to our current series on mental health coaching, which is one of the certified specialties that I offer my clients. Yesterday we presented a, a portion of Matthew Boone's 2023 blog post to address the difference between therapist and mental health coach. Coaches. And, and today we will begin to share Boone's insights on common myths about mental health coaching. He writes, common myths about mental health coaches. As a relatively new and rapidly growing area of coaching, there are many misconceptions about mental health coaching. Myth number 1: a mental health coach can't help with quote unquote, real mental health issues. While mental health coaches aren't therapists, they can still draw on principles and practices from evidence-based therapies such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, CBT, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, ACT, or Dialectical Behavior Therapy, DBT. Extensive research backs the use of these interventions in a clinical setting to treat conditions like depression and anxiety, and mental health coaches use, use of these techniques are for common problems like stress. Stress is promising. Many people choose a mental health coach versus a therapist if they want professional support but don't have a complex mental health condition such as post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, or suicidal thoughts. Emotional wellness coaches can help clients manage emotions, change their way of approaching problems, improve relationship skills, and reduce stress and anxiety, all of which bolster mental health. Okay, that's good news. Mental health coaches can offer therapies that can help people treat their depression, anxiety, or stress. And please don't, uh, please don't let Boone's technical jargon concern you. Essentially, cognitive behavioral therapy , acceptance and commitment therapy , and dialectical behavior therapy are methods that raise self-awareness, encourage the acceptance of reality, and the redirection of one's thought life, which could be summed up as renewing your mind, as the Bible states. And although I am familiar with these theories and their terms, I would cut through the psychobabble and the somewhat humanistic or Buddhist mindsets inherent in their vernacular and encourage clients to follow God's Word's advice in Romans 12:2, which says, do— and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is good, that what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. And as Philippians 4:8-9 says, finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you. God's truth existed before these psychological theories, and whatever truth they may contain finds its source from our Creator. The danger of such theories lies in their subtle insistence that we can heal ourselves, that we can have peace without God, And that idea is as old as Eden, where Satan originally encouraged Adam and Eve to be all they could be by rebelling against God's commands in a futile, futile attempt to become gods themselves. So while some of the principles contained in CBT, ACT, and DBT can be sound, their non-spiritual, humanistic, atheistic, or Buddhist underpinnings could make you more self-aware in one sense while leaving you peacefully deceived and lost in another, if you should believe the lie that you can live independently of God. As I have stated, I am a Christian life coach, and this coach is going to give you the truth without pulling any punches from a Christian biblical worldview, unlike other quote-unquote Christian therapists or coaches who add that term to their practice but utilize these atheistic therapies as if they were gospel without presenting the actual gospel. I have been set free in Christ and know the subtleties of spiritual warfare, and although I can see the merits of truth a psychological theory presents, I back away from their technical language and anti-Christian failings and will make the same points with the truth of God's word instead of trying to appear wise in my own or the world's eyes. Paul touched on this in 2 Corinthians 4:2, which says, rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways. We do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly, we commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. We don't distort the word of God. We set forth the truth plainly. The NLT puts it this way: We reject all shameful deeds and underhanded methods. We don't try to trick anyone or distort the word of God. We tell the truth before God, and all who are honest know this. We don't need underhanded methods to try to trick people that we are wise in ourselves. We tell the truth before God, and all who are honest know this. But although I must object to Boone's lifting up those therapies as if they were amazing The point is that mental health coaches can help their clients essentially by addressing the truth of reality and being responsible for what they think and do. As he, uh, states, mental health coaches can help clients manage emotions, change their way of approaching problems, improve relationship skills, and reduce stress and anxiety, all of which most are mental health. So this adequately debunks the myth that a mental health coach can't help with real mental health issues. We can, and if we do so with the truth of God's Word and encourage faith in Jesus Christ, we might help our clients to save even more than just their peace of mind. When we speak the truth plainly, they could experience a peace that goes beyond all understanding. When they put their faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior of their lives and discover the new eternal life he has for them. Today's Bible verses come to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John J. Crewe. This morning's meditation verses come from the section— this morning's meditations come from the section on death and eternal life. And today's Bible verses are Philippians 3:20-21, which says But our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. Today's verses fall under the 26th point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on death and eternal life. That 26th point is: Our citizenship is in heaven. There, there our bodies will be like the glorious body of Jesus Christ. Today's verses tell us the good news that those who put their faith in Jesus are already citizens in heaven and will one day receive new glorious bodies when Jesus comes to bring everything under his control, when he comes back to reclaim the earth and reigns for a thousand years before bringing a new heaven and a new New Earth into being. Christians should not question their salvation. If we put our faith in Jesus, our citizenship changes from that of Earth and the kingdom of darkness to heaven and the kingdom of the Lord's light. It's a done deal. And when we believe and follow the Lord with the way we live, we can have confidence that what God's word says is true. Because we will experience the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. I'm living it now. So walk in the Spirit and follow where the Lord leads you, and one day you will rejoice all the more when he takes control and gives you a glorious body to match the glorious life he puts in your heart and mind. As always, we invite you to go to mtforchrist.com, where we always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist our brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Today we continue sharing from According to Your Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament by Stephen F. Alford. And in Alford's devotional, he prompts us to read a chapter of scripture every day. Today's chapter is Acts 18, and from Acts 18 he shares a portion of verses 9 and 10, which says, do not be afraid But speak, and do not be silent, for I am with you. And Stephen Alford writes: Is it any wonder Paul could say, "Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel" ? This was the message that God gave to Moses. Moses, however, refused on the grounds of his incompetence. Though the Lord had promised to be with his mouth, Moses refused. The result was that the Lord gave the honor to his brother Aaron. The contrast is seen in John the Baptist. He obeyed the word of the Lord and fulfilled his mission to the praise of his Lord. John could say, "I am the voice" . He posed as nothing more than a voice. The greatest example is seen in my blessed Lord, who never held his peace when it came to teaching and preaching the word of God. He kept at his Father's business. And Stephen Alford ends by praying, "Lord, give me the grace to obey the message you have given me. Amen." Amen. Yeah, we're to speak the truth plainly and to deliver that message, not to shy away from it. And to speak plainly the truth. And, you know, I don't want to sound unscientific or anything, but those— if you read up on Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Theory, and Dialectical Behavior Therapy, you'll see, oh wow, it's just telling you, you know, you sort of have to decipher the truth. Oh wow, they're a radical acceptance. That means you you just accept the truth of your reality and what your conditions are. Accept your strengths and limitations for what they are and, you know, deal with your problems from there instead of lamenting. And you take positive action to change things and you change the way you think. If you're dwelling on negative things, you focus on the positive things. And when you have faith in Jesus Christ, it's not just affirmations, it's It's the truth you're focusing on, the truth of what God has done in your life, and that he has given you new life, that you are accepted, significant, and secure in Christ. That's good news. You know, we have to know who we are in Christ and, um, you know, live according to it. You know, that's the problem with a lot of Christians is they still live in the past. They they, they have their faith in Jesus Christ, but they live independently of him with the way they live their lives. And so they focus on the things of the world, they satisfy the flesh, and they're enslaved to it. And gee, no wonder why you're, you're stressed out. You're not doing— you're not living according to how you're supposed to live according to God's word, you know. You're, you're, you have your secret sins, um, you're not standing in your identity in Christ. So yeah, of course you think because your poor performance in the world you're no good, but God's Word tells you something different. So let's focus on that, that we are accepted, significant, and secure in Christ. And you know, it doesn't really— you know, we want to do our best, but you know, we're not ultimately judged because of our performance. We're judged because of of our, our faith in Jesus. And we're excused from our sins, we're forgiven, and we're set free, and we're given the power to live a righteous life. And when we do that, we, we have amazing peace and joy because the fruit of the Spirit will, you know, starts to grow. We live with God, he, he blesses us. In many ways, but most of all just from the peace that we can have regardless of the circumstances, knowing that we're citizens of heaven. So that's what we, uh, that's why we blog and podcast, is to broadcast this message of freedom and hope, because it's there for you. And like I said, we started the business. We don't have any clients yet. I haven't really advertised to really at all that we're open except for this podcast and blog. But we are open for business, and if you need help to get set free through coaching or prayer ministry, go to my website, mteforchrist.com. Go to the psychological— well, it's not psychological, it's a Christian life coaching link or the prayer ministry link and click on you know, make it on the button that'll lead you to, uh, you know, make an appointment to have a conversation with me about what we can help you with. Um, you know, we can help you overcome your addictions, we can help you overcome, overcome your pain, your depression, your anxiety, your stress, all by walking with you as we, we, we usher you towards God. To a deeper relationship with Him, an understanding of your meaning and purpose in the world according to the Lord, and finding your purpose in Christ. When you discover these things, that's when, you know, that's when you have peace, that's when you have joy, is the ideas of the world are set aside and you find the truth. And it's good news. Anyway, uh, today is Thursday, and amazingly my calendar, I believe, is wide open for this evening. So if you hear this message today and you want to talk to me, um, I'm available this afternoon, uh, so you can make— and there are slots open to make an appointment. I'll talk to you on Zoom, um, and we can start the, start the conversation that can lead to your Your Transformation. Thursday is the only day I'm available for the next several weeks, but, uh, it's open. And if you wanted to reserve a spot, basically we can, we can start with an initial conversation and then set you up with a package of coaching or prayer ministry, um, that'll, that'll work for you. Um, yeah, well, yeah, we, we believe Um, otherwise we wouldn't offer it. So we, we know the freedom that we've experienced it. And if you want to check out the testimonies of two of the guys who were in Freedom in Christ course this year, they're on the website as well, um, and they're pretty impressive. And as for, as for, uh, you know, Mr. Boone's, um, you know, he wanted the soft pedal, the, the power of a mental health coach Um, but yeah, if you're only teaching CBT, ACT, and, uh, you know, DBT, uh, yeah, there is limits to what you can do. But when you, when you're a Christian life coach and you, you bring people in into an encounter with the Lord through prayer and through following him, um, those limitations are gone. Because one of the testimonies that we have on our website that you can read is from a man who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and he tells us a different story about the spiritual therapy, if you will, that he found through the Steps to Freedom in Christ. And, you know, I would point you to that and read up on it because there is no limitations with God, as his word says, and as our website proclaims, with God all things are possible. So Go get it. Anyway, uh, with that said, I do have a day job, so we should probably pray and, uh, get ready to go to that. Uh, Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you so much for all that you've done for us. Um, Lord, we, um, we just— we're in awe of what you've done, um, from where we came from and where we are now. And we thank you for the freedom that we've had. We thank you for using us to help other people, um, to pass on the gift of your love and your grace and your power to other people through the, the things we've done. Um, we know we didn't do it, Lord. We just introduced them to you and you did it. So we thank you for that. And Lord, we just pray for you, for anyone who's listening or reading today's message, that they'd be encouraged and that they would follow you. Into the life that you have for them. And we pray for you to come alongside them, bless them, and bless their prayer requests and their walk of faith. And while you're at it, Lord, we pray for you to go before us today, open our eyes to the things you want us to see, and lead us in the way we should go, as all we want to do is represent you and your kingdom on the earth, because we know your ways are perfect and we're not. So we need your help, uh, to even come close. Um, to, to doing your will. And we're asking for it today. So open our eyes to the things you want us to see and lead us in the way we should go. We thank you, we praise you, we love you, Lord. And we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.