Solution Focused Pastoral Counseling (Expanded)

The idea of the book is to enable effective counseling that does not overtax a pastor’s time and avoids long-term counseling.

Solution-Focused Pastoral Counseling presents a new departure in pastoral counseling. It does not depend on psychological manipulation. Rather, it is based on grace and on a natural and spontaneous view of Christian maturation. SFPC rejects the notion that counseling must primarily focus on the counselee’s problem. Its starting point is the fact that God is already active in the counselee and that the church counselor (whether pastor or counselor) should look for clues to discover this activity.

SFPC is short-term—typically one to five sessions. The counselor seeks to create solutions with—not for—the counselee. The focus is on the possibility of life without the problem by encouraging an understanding of what is different when the problem does not occur or is less intrusive. The goal is healthy change, sooner rather than later, by helping the counselee see and work with God’s activity in his or her life.

The solution-focused approach does not require the counselor to be a highly trained psychological expert. It requires biblically based sensitivity and common sense. Yet this approach also recognizes its limitations and understands that there are situations in which other professional and/or medical help is required.