Bowden McElroy

Marriage Myths

bowden mcelroy — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:15:28 +0000

Five common myths about marriage, according to Bill Dougherty: 1) It’s foolish to get married without cohabiting. 2) It’s best to wait to get married when you are financially secure. 3) If a marriage gets rotten it never gets ripe again. 4) If your marriage fails your children really want you to find another romantic relationship because they want you to be happy. 5) [...]

Can People Change?

bowden mcelroy — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:02:10 +0000

Which is it? Can people change or not? The answer depends on how one defines success or change. We can talk about sexual preference (whom do you desire) or sexual behavior (who do you actually have sex with) or sexual identity (how do you view or describe yourself). If sexual orientation is defined solely in terms of [...]

When You Don’t Know What to Do

bowden mcelroy — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 16:14:47 +0000

People don’t know how to listen. We talk, we offer advice, we occasionally work up the courage to confront, but we seldom listen to others. Helping – sharing the burdens of others – begins with listening. Listening starts with simply being present. Don’t know what to do when a friend is [...]

Alphabet Soup

bowden mcelroy — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:00:10 +0000

People seeking a counselor can be easily overwhelmed by all of the abbreviations and credentials on a counselor’s business card. All do essentially the same thing; each comes with a different type of training and a different set of underlying assumptions about how best to provide counseling. Let’s start with the title. A psychologist is some [...]

Making a Referral: 2

bowden mcelroy — Mon, 25 May 2009 11:00:20 +0000

The first step in making an effective referral is believing that referral is an appropriate and professional service which is in the client’s best interest. If we believe that the client is being short changed by our referring them, we will often not be effective in making referrals. The second step in making referrals is to [...]

Making a Referral: 1

bowden mcelroy — Mon, 18 May 2009 15:49:08 +0000

Nearly all helping professionals at some time or another find themselves needing to make a referral to another specialist. Whether one is a physician, pastor, or a psychologist, we sometimes find that the client’s needs and goals can best be met by someone who has special training beyond what we possess. Sometimes we discover that [...]

What to Expect from Christian Counseling: II

bowden mcelroy — Mon, 04 May 2009 11:00:42 +0000

An individual may come to counseling expressing a desire to overcome problems with depression. A counselor needs to hear their client’s own theory about what may be contributing to their depression. The counselor also may help the client investigate new areas they have not considered. In counseling, clients may be helped to discover their blind [...]

What to Expect from Christian Counseling: I

bowden mcelroy — Fri, 01 May 2009 14:28:49 +0000

Prospective clients have formed their expectations of counseling based on what they have heard from other people, read, and seen on television and in the movies. When a client comes to counseling, all of these previous experiences lead the client to have a certain set of expectations about what the experience will be like. If [...]

Integrating Psychology and Christianity

bowden mcelroy — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 12:00:09 +0000

Basic Assumptions. The counselors I work with have worked together to compare ideas about the integration of psychology, and marriage and family therapy with biblical theology. Counselors recognize that Christian counseling must first start with a Christian who has been brought to new life in Christ. Prior to our conversion we were dead in [...]

Different Types of Christian Counseling: II

bowden mcelroy — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 12:00:29 +0000

Since the writing of Collins article in 1975, all five categories are alive and well. Evangelicals have increasingly steered away from the clinical pastoral education movement. Seminaries have strongly embraced the evangelical pastoral counseling and the Christian professional movement in counseling. Many seminaries have developed masters and doctoral programs integrating both theology and the practice [...]