Growing up in the church, we were always taught to have faith in God. There were some times when I felt faith was not enough, and again I was told pray more, trust more. But one day my grandma, who raised me from birth, made the decision when I was younger that maybe faith alone was not enough and sent me the therapy. That one decision I believe has been instrumental in my life.
Now don’t get me wrong, I love God for loving me, Jesus for saving me and The Holy Spirit for guiding me daily. But I do believe there are some people in the world who need a relationship with the Trinity and need a relationship with a licensed therapist/counselor/life coach whatever you’d like to call them, as well.
Purpose for Faith
Now, there is a time and a place for your faith, which is all day everyday. We need to seek God at all times to guide us and order our steps as He would see fit. We should always know that we are not meant to live alone, but have help from our heavenly father and those He set us up to interact with on Earth.
When you are struggling with finding your purpose, questioning if a choice in life is right or just how to feel about another person, God should be who we lean on for advice first. If you want to know if the person you are with is meant to be your spouse or if you need a financial break through, again God will put you on the right path if you put your faith in him.
Purpose for Therapy
But on the other hand, there are some things we need to have an honest conversation about our struggles. Why is therapy so taboo of a topic, especially in the African American community? Why do some in the church shun therapy?
Consider this, God allowed medical doctors to help heal the sick. He gave them the desire to help heal, He gave them the aptitude to retain all the pertinent education needed to diagnosis a patient and God gave them the skilled hands to save lives. So why wouldn’t he do the same for psychiatric doctors to do the same thing with the mind?
Therapy is the opportunity to talk to someone outside of your family and friends, who is unbiased and just wants to hear your concerns and help you to organize and resolve those concerns. Normally if you have a problem, you would go to a friend or family or a minister or deacon who you could chat with a few times. But there are some problems that you may be too ashamed to discuss with people you know. It could be as simple as acknowledging that you don’t know how to organize your life, or moving into heavier topics of battling depression, an addiction or even abuse. For all these things a therapist can help.
- Life coach – A life coach is a form of therapy to help you organize your life and career. You can go to them to help provide structure or advice on how to get the most out of life.
- A counselor – A counselor comes in many forms in our lives. Students have a counselor at school to help with making the process of learning more effective when problems arise or when you need educational advice. You may go to a marriage or family counselor when you need to learn skills sets to better communicate with the most important people in your life, if all parties don’t align on how to resolve issues.
- Therapist/Psychologist – A psychologist may deal more with clinical issues that appear due to environmental circumstances or may be hereditary such as depression, PTSD and other behavioral issues. They will work to put together a program that overtime can help resolve or allow you to maintain a healthier outcome to better handle your issues. Now sometimes you may need a psychiatrist, who is similar to a psychologist but can prescribe medication if your case warrants it as well.
You don’t have to suffer in silence if you are ashamed. There is someone who is bound by law to keep your secret, but also help you figure out how to get pass your shame if you just raise your hand for help. You can even find a faith based therapist who will use their acquired therapeutic skills in tandem with the scriptures of the bible to heal your soul.