Biblical Counseling Classes

 By Sara:

As many of you know, I've been taking online biblical counseling classes through the Christian Counseling and Education Foundation (CCEF).  At the beginning of August, I finished the first class and just last week finished the next two.  Although being in-person with people is better than online classes, what I do really like about the online format is how my classmates are from all over the world.  We gain a lot of helpful insights from the different cultures and backgrounds everyone comes from.

I am enjoying the classes very much, though at the same time they are quite challenging in how practical they are.  Many assignments involve going out and practicing the skills we are learning or having discussions with others about their experiences related to the class topics.  I have also had to try counseling myself by recognizing my own sins and focusing on how to address them.  Obviously this is not a very comfortable task!

In the classes I just completed, one was about how we can counsel one another through our everyday relationships and friendships.  It is helping push me to ask better questions in conversation, learn more about what is important to my friends and acquaintances, pray for others well, and deepen relationships.  I am enjoying meeting with a Ugandan friend every week to practice these new skills and discuss with her how they apply to a Ugandan context.

The other class about counseling people who are dealing with challenging problems such as anxiety, PTSD and trauma, addictions, etc., had a lot of readings so I read many interesting books throughout the term.  One of the first books was about what grieving people wish you would or wouldn't say to them.  The main point of the book is that generally, it is very hurtful not to acknowledge someone's grief or to avoid them.  Rather, we should reach out to those who are grieving, ask good questions and listen, as well as showing up to do helpful tasks for them to lighten their physical burdens.  And we should continue to remember their losses with them even months and years later.

The practicality of these classes make them very applicable not only in my work, but also in all of my relationships.  Every day I'm thinking about what I am learning and trying hard to put it into practice.  I hope having a conversation with me is better now than it was a few months ago.  Let me know if you notice anything new if we talk to each other!