How to Help People Change: The Four-step Biblical Process (Jay Adams Library) [Paperback]

The four-step biblical process that Adams (1986) puts forth is based on sound interpretations of the Scriptures. His views are distinctively biblical and are likely to be best applied by clergy in the discharge of pastoral counseling duties.

Adams four-step model of biblical counseling is troubling for some - refreshing for others. The modern landscape of biblical counseling is filled a wide diversity of opinion in regard to the usage and integration of secular psychological principals in Christian counseling settings. While some choose to integrate, Adams thoroughly rejects the idea of integration.

In his model, all that is needed for counseling is found in the pages of Scripture and anything outside the realm of Scripture should be soundly rejected. "Strangely enough, many of the most prominent defenders of biblical inerrancy and authority are the very pastors who, in biblical counseling, treat the Scriptures as an insufficient source, in need of supplementation from psychiatry and psychology. Sad to say, they implicitly deny the Scriptures' credentials for helping people change." (Adams, 1986, p.21)

Adams four-step approach to biblical counseling is put forth as an attempt to counsel purely on the basis of the Scriptures ability to help people change. Adams places a high emphasis on the need for biblical teaching in counseling. He asserts that it is not possible to achieve positive change apart from the impartation of biblical truth from the counselor to the counselee.

The counseling process in this system basically leads a counselee toward serious Christian disciples by way of biblical teaching in an effort to import change in the direction of Christ-likeness. This system is unashamedly biblical and blatantly intolerant of secular counseling principals. The goal here is Christian discipleship and the aim is Christ-likeness.

Adams sees the need for change primarily as the result of a deficit of instruction in biblical truth - a shortfall of Christian discipleship.

In this system the true goal of Christian counseling is sanctification through the power of the Holy Spirit. "In other words, this book is not about neutral change. The change for which Christian counselors strive has a spiritual direction and their aim is to help people prosper in the at direction. All change toward God is good, and all change away from God is bad. Sanctification, change toward God is the goal of all Christian counseling." (Adams, 1986, xiii)

Adams counseling methodology is about forsaking sin for the sake of Christ. It is a distinctively Christian approach to the Christian life and Christian counseling. As a pastor I embrace a Christian counseling method very similar to that of Adams. While I do not reject secular principals as wholeheartedly as Adams, I choose not to integrate as a matter of pastoral counseling integrity. I have seen first hand the damaging affects of pastoral counseling done in haphazard ways. If integration is not adequately accomplished then the result is likely to be a mish mashed methodology which has the very real potential to damage clients (parishioners).

I am of the opinion that Adams philosophy fits the needs of pastors most fully. Pastors have been called to minister through Sacrament, Scripture, and Spirit. When ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ stray from that calling they are likely to be unfaithful to both the ministry of the Word of God as well the secular principals they seek to embrace. It is as if they have one foot standing on each side of a moving conveyor belt. They are not full committed to either direction and in the process their counseling is less effective and potentially it is absolutely destructive.

While I appreciate his admonishment toward a truly and purely biblical counseling style, Adams views are rather narrow. I am under the impression that it is highly appropriate for professional Christian counselors to integrate secular psychological principals into their biblically based counseling practices. Though we are to be separate from the world, as Adams clearly points out, we are also to be wise stewards of all truth. "Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves." (Matthew 10:16 ESV)

I highly value the insights of Adams and I do incorporate his counseling approach into my ministry. Reading this book has given me greater insight into a biblical counseling approach which fits into my ministry philosophy. It has been a valuable experience to discover

Adams contribution to the field of biblical counseling.

I look forward to integrating his insights into my counseling ministry in the context of my local church pastorate.

I was looking for a book that would help teach me how to better use the Bible in counseling and I found it in this Jay Adams book. He does a marvelous job in showing that the Bible is totally sufficient in correctly identifying and labeling our problems as well as fixing our lives.
The outline of the book can be found in 2 Timothy 3:14-16 where it deals first with the Bible's total sufficiency in giving a person wisdom for salvation. Jay then shows, as the Apostle Paul did, that the Bible is totally sufficient to teach us what is true, convict us of what is wrong in our lives, corrects us so we get back on the right path, and trains us to live a faithful, godly life. I love how Jay shows each of these parts as essential to counseling and how psychology distorts or even skips some of the essential elements of counseling people for change. And when counseling, not all change is good. Change must be to make us more like God. Psychologist who do not go strictly by the essentials of what the Bible teaches sometimes do more harm than good. They teach people a "victim" or "disease" mindset in which there is little or no hope for them. God's Word teaches "forgiveness, repentance, and deliverance." God's Word solves our problems instead of ignoring, falsely diagnosing, and mistreating them.

Jay shows that the Spirit of God working through the Word of God can make a person pleasing to God. Therefore, God wants to use a Biblical Counselor to teach, convict, correct, and train a humble, repentant person back into a fully restored relationship with God and others.

Jay Adams maintains that Scripture is the only thing necessary in counseling, insisting that psychology has no place in counseling and that "...the counselor must neither add to nor subtract from God's Word, but offer those needing help `the whole counsel of God,' which Paul declared `beneficial' to the church (Acts 20:20, 27) (Adams, 1986, p. 46)." Basing his approach on 2 Timothy 3:15-17, Adams' Four Step Biblical Process includes teaching, conviction, correction, and disciplined training in righteousness (Adams, p.13). His position that counseling is a ministry is evidenced by his statement, "Human counselors participate in the process as they minister the Word to counselees, instructing, encouraging, and helping them to implement biblical injunctions (p. 43)."
I feel Adams' strength is in maintaining that Scripture is the basis for all counseling. However, I do not agree that other methods of psychology cannot be used to assist in helping counselees in the healing process as we lead them to the Truth found in Scripture. Because there are many methodologies found in psychology that have a biblical basis, I see no reason why they cannot be used. It is a matter of using what substantiates Scripture and discarding what opposes Scripture.
It also seems that, throughout his book, Adams is working from a position that the counselees are already a part of the church. The scriptures Adams uses all are directed to working with members of the church. His statement that "God's Word must be ministered to His people..." indicates he is speaking of individuals who already believe and have accepted Christ as Savior (Adams, p. 28). This changes the whole dynamic when working with counselees who are not churched and are not Christians.
Finally, while I do believe that some individuals can and will respond to a very direct approach, I do not believe that is recommended or beneficial for all counselees. For many, it may drive them even further away and cause more damage. Because all people are unique, having different learning styles and "love languages", I believe it is better to access the individual and find the approach that will best fit the needs of the counselee. For many that will mean being very gentle; for others it will mean being very direct.