The Right Tools are Key!

A good counselor knows the Bible will provide wisdom from above—that which is “pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy” (James 3:17–18). The Bible’s wisdom is better than merely coming up with our own advice, spewing a few worldly pithy statements, or restating some psychological labels and theories. True and lasting help comes only from God and His Word. The Bible is sufficient for giving hope because it presents the God of all hope (Romans 15:13). 

However, knowing how to bridge to the Bible after someone asks “What now?” is a learned skill. We may ask questions like: 

• May I share something from God’s Word that speaks to your situation?
• After sharing a passage, ask: if you had to pick a phrase or two that mean the most to you right now, what would they be?
• Can I show you a helpful diagram pointing to God’s solution to this problem? 

Responding to clients’ pleas for help with the truth of Scripture is best done in a memorable, portable, and practical way. They should be able to remember what you said and how Scripture can help them. It should be portable so they can carry it in their minds (or maybe even literally in their pockets) and redraw or write it on the back of a napkin. It should be practical in that it ministers the Word down into their life, giving them clarity on what they need to do, think, or believe. 

4 Worksheets for Christian Counseling

If you came to my counseling office, you would find two large three-inch notebooks filled with page protectors. Each contains about ten copies of a worksheet or handout I know I will use later. These notebooks are what I reach for during sessions to grab a diagram, worksheet, resource, or list of questions to use with the counselee right then and there. After we work through one of these sheets in a session, I let the counselee take it home with them—aiding the memory, portability, and practicality of the instruction I gave them. Here are four worksheets I use the most. 

1. The Gospel Y Chart  

The heart is the center point of change. If we are not helping people work through heart issues, then we are not doing anything more than calling for behavior modification; superficial change will only be temporal. To provide lasting hope and help for a person, we want them to see their life in light of the Gospel. The Y Chart helps identify what is motivating a person. Is our counselee just trying to please the flesh (2 Corinthians 2:14), or are they striving to please God (Galatians 1:10)? 

The Y Chart is a helpful tool for calling out sinful habits that must be changed. It points out the why (pun intended) behind what we do. You can help your counselee find a better way of following God through the use of this diagram. This is a great tool that your counselee can easily reteach to a friend of theirs after the session. You don’t even have to have a printed version of it; a whiteboard or piece of blank paper will do. The Biblical Counseling Coalition provides a ten-minute overview of the Y Chart here. Check out this video for an extended explanation of how to use the Y Chart. 

2. Two ways to handle hurts  

When our expectations are missed or frustrations rise, we get upset. The Bible calls this anger. There are two primary ways we can handle our hurt feelings; first, we could choose to sin, wallowing and asking, “How did this happen?” Or we can choose to acknowledge that it did happen, and now we ask, “How can I use these hurts to glorify God?” When these two options are thoroughly and humbly vetted in our minds, we will find that using our pain to glorify God is better. Otherwise, we will end up in a world of bitterness and resentment. 

The “Two Ways to Handle Hurts” worksheet is helpful for counselees trying to make sense of their pain who may be slipping into natural responses of control, stubbornness, or disobedience to God. It can also help us understand how God can use suffering in our lives to make us more like Christ. While it may not answer why God allows suffering, it gives a perspective on it that will bring hope and endurance to the counselee. You can use this worksheet here, or I have remade it into a one-page worksheet.