Christ as Counselor
By Lecia Crider
I’d made a mistake. I knew it the minute the words left my mouth. I was in a counseling session with a client and had just asked her what progress she had seen in her loved one in the months following his accident. A subtle emotion crossed her face, and reading facial cues is something I’m learning to do. I realized I had broken our alliance. She wasn’t yet ready to talk about progress, because she hadn’t finished talking about her pain. It was too soon, and our connection suffered until I could begin repairing this accidental rupture.
As a counselor intern, I’m newly putting into practice everything I’ve learned in my master’s program. Seeing theory come to life has been both rewarding and challenging. Many in my profession would agree that the therapeutic alliance between counselor and client is the most important aspect of treatment. This alliance is built on trust, collaboration, and honest communication between client and counselor. When the alliance is ruptured – whether by an ill-timed comment like mine or something else – it’s the counselor’s role to work toward repair.
One of the names of Christ I have come to cherish most is Counselor (Isaiah 9:6). The more I have learned what it means to be a counselor, the more I recognize His perfection in this role. When we approach Jesus Christ, we can be assured that He is infinitely interested in creating a warm and loving relationship with us – the perfect therapeutic alliance.
We know that Christ is wholly trustworthy, “…for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee,” (Hebrews 13:5) This means that we can bring Him everything - our mistakes, sins, misjudgments, distorted thoughts, and all the messy pieces of our hearts – and He will not turn away. His grace is sufficient to cover all our weaknesses (see Ether 12:27), and it never runs out. I love the tenderness in Isaiah 46:4: “Even to your old age I am he…I will carry, and will deliver you.” We can trust Jesus Christ.
‘Collaborative’ may not be the first word that comes to mind when we think of Jesus, but it fits. Collaboration is the balancing of agency and submission. Submission to Christ is a gentle willingness to be led and guided by a trusted leader. Collaboration with Christ can look a lot like the account of the brother of Jared in the Book of Mormon (Ether 2-3. When faced with the problem of lighting the windowless barges for their journey across the sea, the Lord asked him, “What will ye that I should prepare for you…?” (Ether 2:25). The brother of Jared then came up with an idea, did his part of the work, and then brought it before the Lord for His finishing touch. This project was a true collaboration between child and Counselor—a pattern we can follow in our own lives.
Honest communication with Jesus Christ begins with us, for He will not force Himself on anyone, but rather invites us into relationship with Him (see Matthew 11:28). Like any good counselor, Jesus Christ is able to honor our silences, but for healing to take place, the silence must at some point become conversation. For clients engaged in faith-based counseling, I encourage them to share all their feelings with Him, not just the warm and fuzzy ones. I love the healing power of gratitude, but I also love the power of laying bare our anger, dismay, frustration, and hurt in front of the only One who can truly heal it all. I think of King Hezekiah, who received a frightening letter warning of destruction from the Assyrians. Deeply troubled, he went “up to the temple of the Lord, and spread it out before the Lord” (2 Kings 19:14). I imagine Hezekiah kneeling at the altar of the temple, spreading out the pages of this letter, symbolically laying bare before the Lord all his fear and distress. This was the beginning of a beautiful conversation between Hezekiah and the Lord.
When we think of Christ as the perfect Counselor, we can approach Him as such—trusting Him with our deepest pain, collaborating with Him in our challenges, and speaking honestly with Him in prayer. As the perfect Counselor, He knows when to listen, when to guide, and when to simply hold us in His love. If you find yourself unsure of where to begin, start where you are: spread out your distress before Him, just as Hezekiah did, and let Him meet you there. The healing alliance He offers is not temporary, and He will never cause a rupture. Instead, His alliance with you is eternal, unbreakable, and full of grace.
Lecia Crider is currently a graduate student at Concordia University Irvine, pursuing a master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. As a counseling intern at Second Story Counseling in Mesa, Arizona, she specializes in faith-based counseling for individuals and has a passion for working with adolescents as they navigate life’s challenges.