Maybe. But with caution.
Radical differences in worldview exist between Christianity and secular psychologists. These incompatibilities can result in counsel that is worthless at best or even sinful.
The questions below expose these issues.
• What is a human being?
• Does God exist?
• Does absolute morality exist?
I have a minor degree in psychology. One of my professors said that 90% of the psychologists who publish literature are atheistic humanists. This results in definitions irreconcilable with Christianity.
What is a human being?
Christian view
A human is a spirit living in a body. When the body dies, the spirit continues elsewhere.
Mankind is made in the image of God. Since God is holy, he requires holiness of man, consistent with his moral law.
Morality is absolute, universal, and eternal, not relative to any individual or culture.
We are born with a corrupt nature inherited from our first ancestors. The doctrine of original sin is central to our understanding of human behavior: sinners by nature and only secondarily by choice. Until regeneration deals with the sin nature, moral improvement is superficial at best. This belief is the core of the gospel.
Secular psychology view
A human being is an intelligently evolved animal. Spirit does not exist because God does not exist, and therefore humans have no spirit or soul. People are born morally neutral but subject to negative influences from family or society and are sinners by choice but not by nature.
Absolute morality does not exist. Morality is a social construct and varies between cultures or individuals. Counseling should focus on how a person is hurting oneself by their thinking or conduct. Actions may be deemed immoral for their negative consequences, not because they violate a universal standard to which they may be accountable to a superior authority.
How do we view the world?
Christian view
The Bible teaches that all events in the life of a Christian lead to sanctification. (Rom 8:28) Life is meaningful because God is teaching us, not because we are making it meaningful ourselves. God is ultimately in control of it all.
Secular psychology view
For the secular psychologist, life events do not teach anything because God does not exist. Therefore, neither does sanctification. Adjustment to social norms and improved relationships with oneself and others is the only goal.
How do Christians and secular psychologists view each other?
As delusional. Either the Christian is living in a fantasy world, or the secular psychologist has a truncated view of reality.
To the humanist psychologist, religion is fantasy at best and a neurosis at worst. Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychiatry, taught that belief in God is a neurosis caused by the subconscious need for an adequate father image. When psychology meets this need properly, the fantasy of a divine being should dissipate, and neuroses such as Christianity should disappear.
The secular psychologist may try to use one’s belief system to help, but since they do not know the Lord, such help may be limited or even harmful.
The problem of guilt
During a psychology course I attended in college, the professor spoke at length about guilt feelings and how to help people overcome them. His focus was entirely on feelings of guilt, not guilt as an objective reality. This bothered me.
I said to the professor, “I have an uncle who has committed every sort of sin except murder and incest. The last time we saw him, he was pacing the floor, wringing his hands, eaten up by guilt. He knew he was guilty. Everyone knew he was guilty. His guilt feelings stemmed from real, objective guilt. What could you do for a man like that?”
You won’t believe the professor’s response. He remained silent, merely shrugging his shoulders as if to convey, “I don’t have a clue.”
When it comes to the issue of guilt relative to an objective, unchanging divine standard, the secular psychologist lacks responses consistent with his worldview. He can only deal with feelings of guilt, not guilt itself, because objective non-relative guilt is impossible.
Can a secular psychologist help a Christian?
Yes, with certain kinds of problems. Post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTS), caused by war, accidents, or crimes. Some forms of schizophrenia are genetic and can be helped with counseling combined with medicine.
Some forms of depression are also genetic or symptoms of an underlying physical condition treatable with medicines and exercises, both mental and physical. Secular psychologists can help identify psychological problems.
Demonic influences
Christians are aware that Satan exists. We know demons can exacerbate problems of any kind. An experienced Christian may be able to distinguish between what is natural versus supernatural. A secular psychologist is unable to do so.
Results?
Psychologists underestimate the power of the gospel. In getting to know the members of churches we have attended or founded, we discover ex-alcoholics, ex-addicts, families restored, and ordinary people whose lives are enriched beyond expectation.
We have never seen or heard of psychologists able to duplicate these effects of the gospel. A biblical church is the most powerful social and psychological entity in the history of humanity, especially when we understand its members as individuals.
Where do we look?
In Christian counseling, we are taught to look to Christ as totally sufficient, not to our own resources.
Some years ago, my wife and I took a course advertised as training in Christian counseling. After the first three classes, we realized the course was presenting Rogerian non-directive counseling as the method and disguising it with Christian vocabulary. This form of counseling was invented by the secular humanist Carl Rogers, who advocated avoiding direct advice to counselees, allowing them to come to their own conclusions and cure themselves.
The teacher, at one point, said we should tell the counselee to follow their heart. That is when we resigned from the course. Where do we see in Scripture a directive to look to our own corrupt hearts and ignore the counsel of others? These teachers were professing Christians, but their methodology was anything but Christian.
Conclusion
A Christian might seek counsel from a secular psychologist as long as they keep in mind aspects of spiritual reality of which the psychologist is completely unaware.
Within specific limits, a Christian might profit from the counsel of a secular psychologist. Qualified Christian psychologists exist, and a Christian should give priority to these.
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