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Biblical Counseling

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Larry Crabb’s Theory of Biblical Counseling
Dr. Larry Crabb has a unique approach to counseling. His system of counseling, called Biblical counseling, will be explained in great detail. Dr. Crabb’s first book, Basic Principles of Biblical Counseling, was published in 1975. The basic parts and theories of his system, along many changes in theology and emphasis’ will be also explained in detail. Crabb (1975) believes that ". . . the most basic problem of every human being is his separation from God, a gulf made necessary by the fact that God is holy and we are not" (p. 17).
Crabb, like most other Christian counselors, claims that his system is biblically based. The foundation of Crabb’s counseling style is the Bible. God has revealed truth to us in two ways, general and special revelation. Crabb (1987) believes that,". . . many Christian counselors have adopted a method of study that treats the bible as helpful, informative, and insightful- but neither authoritative nor sufficient" (p. 37). The bible is to be allowed the final word. The questions that are answered by the Bible are authoritative.
Dr. Crabb divides problems into two categories, the first category are those resulting from natural or physical causes. This would include such things as a chemical imbalance, and learning disabilities brought on by common, perceptual disfunctions. The second category is composed mostly of problem that are essentially moral. Crabb believes the Bible is sufficient for providing a framework, that is able to direct the counselor in dealing with every problem. The Bible speaks meaningfully to every area of life. "The Bible teaches principles that can comprehensively guide our efforts to counsel with warmth and insight, and it lays out truths about human personality that are sufficient for leading us into a thorough understanding of what therapists call "dynamic" (Crabb, 1987, p.

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