What are your thoughts on counseling? When should one seek counseling and when shouldn’t they?<\/p>\n
Thank you.<\/p>\n\t
I’m puzzled by your question because technically you are asking my advice, which is another way of saying you are seeking my counsel. But you are asking whether doing so is good or not.<\/p>\n
“Where there is no guidance the people fall, but in abundance of counselors there is victory<\/em>” (Proverbs 11:4). Getting advice is needful because we don’t always think of everything individually. Anytime you are making a major decision, you should seek out advice from others. Others may see things that you have missed. You also should get advice when you face a problem and are not certain how to proceed. However, all advice is not equal. “The thoughts of the righteous are just, but the counsels of the wicked are deceitful<\/em>” (Proverbs 12:5). You have to be careful who you get advice from.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: What are your thoughts on counseling? When should one seek counseling and when shouldn’t they? Thank you. Answer: I’m puzzled by your question because technically you are asking my advice, which is another way of saying you are seeking my counsel. But you are asking whether doing so is good or not. “Where there…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[1339],"class_list":["post-50404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-counsel"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":69633,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-to-get-advice-from-non-christians\/","url_meta":{"origin":50404,"position":0},"title":"Is it wrong to get advice from non-Christians?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 3, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good morning, Brother Hamilton, I hope this message finds you well. I wanted to express my gratitude for the valuable resources on your website, which have been a blessing to me over the years. I have a question regarding scriptural authority for seeking counseling outside the church. Specifically, is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":55093,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-to-charge-for-marriage-counseling\/","url_meta":{"origin":50404,"position":1},"title":"Is it wrong to charge for marriage counseling?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 9, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi Jeffrey, I hope you are well. I have this desire to be a counselor on relationships and marriage, Also, I have this desire to do public speaking. My dream is to help people in these areas while serving God. I have signed with someone, who does these things,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":88832,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-enjoy-your-blog-posts\/","url_meta":{"origin":50404,"position":2},"title":"I enjoy your blog posts","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 21, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I really enjoyed your blog posts. So much detail and time went into them, and it's a great ministry when there is limited counsel available online. Noting that we should ultimately seek counsel from our local elders, not online, I do really appreciate your blog. Answer: I'm glad\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18965,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-christians-get-counseling\/","url_meta":{"origin":50404,"position":3},"title":"Should Christians get counseling?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 2, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Does the Christian faith believe in theological counseling? I believe that is what it is called. My boyfriend went through it after his divorce. My boyfriend's ex-wife was committing numerous adulteries. He received counseling through faith with a minister and not through medicines. Do you think this is a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":88782,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-good-to-get-advice-about-a-problem\/","url_meta":{"origin":50404,"position":4},"title":"Is it good to get advice about a problem?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 19, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi Mr. Hamilton, Thank you again for your time and thoughtful answers. I've read through everything you shared, and I'm doing my best to trust the truth over my feelings, even though it is tough for me. I have another question- if that's alright? Do you believe I've obeyed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":55220,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/marriage-counseling\/","url_meta":{"origin":50404,"position":5},"title":"Marriage Counseling","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 18, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew W. Bassford I'm a simple man. I believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God and that it is sufficient to equip us for every good work. My favorite hymn is \"Give Me the Bible\". Consequently, whenever I encounter a problem that afflicts the soul, I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/counseling-300x300.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50404"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50404\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}