From Jethro to Barnabas…

The Biblical Counselor would be wise to use the M.E.N.D. model: Medications, Exercises, Nutrition, & Doctors important place in the hope-filled world of Biblical Counseling

Medications

Bible-based counseling will realize that medicine properly administered under the professional care of a competent doctor plays a humane (Psalm 104:15) and helpful (1 Timothy 5:23) role in the life of those who suffer. In the book Will Medicine Stop the Pain? a critical caution emerged many times. It went, “If you are presently on any form of medicine intended to help stabilize your emotions, please do not stop taking it unless you are under the direct supervision of your physician and you do so at a very slow pace.”  Even so, Welch says, “You will never find a psychiatric problem where biblical counsel—counsel directed to the heart—is anything less than essential.” Dr. Howard Eyrich brings this idea of medicine in proper perspective when he teaches that medicine should be the last resort and not the first one. The bottom line is once you are on a psychoactive medication; make sure you do not go off them without consulting your medical physician in order to seek their direct professional monitoring and supervision. Even so, As Dr. Edward Welch writes concerning taking medication properly prescribed, “Remember that it is neither sinful nor a sign of spiritual weakness to take medication.” Such is the wise counsel from a noted teacher of biblical counselors.

While not trying to diminish the importance of medications in positively helping people, it is still essential to recognize according to the book Will Medicine Stop the Pain?, what they cannot do for you:

• Medicine cannot teach us to choose to think thoughts leading to peace and happiness instead of thoughts leading to anxiety or depression.

• Medicine cannot show us how to make lifestyle choices that will help keep our body healthy.

• Medicine cannot reveal how to respond to physical limitations with attitudes that build us up instead of tearing us down.

It is true that the Reformed Protestant faith is about Grace alone through Christ alone, but no one should be taking psychological-influencing (psychoactive) medications alone. It is not enough for a medical doctor to monitor the medication and the dosage levels, but they must also insist that regular counseling should coincide with the dispensing of such medications in lieu of the above limitations concerning these drugs. As Fitzpatrick and Hendrickson implore, “We believe that if you are going to take potentially dangerous drugs, it ought to be under the direct supervision of a physician specialist. We also recommend that you receive concurrent counseling from a Bible-believing counselor, and that you take the medicines for the shortest time possible.” This is one critical area that biblical counseling could play a huge role in assisting people—especially Christians—with maintaining and increasing a Christian world-view that focuses on the Bible as the final authority for faith and practice.

In this regard, medications serve to stabilize certain problematic emotional situations while Biblical doctrine stirs the Christian to grow further in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. We stipulate that medications often reduce someone’s pain, which is a Biblically mandated goal (Proverbs 31:6-7), but this verse would also support the author’s assertion that “pain medications can have the side effect of clouding our thoughts, which may make it harder for us to come to grips with our feelings.” Furthermore, it is best if medications can be safely diminished in the life of a believer while increasing healthy Biblical thinking in order to handle the psychological emotional pains of life (Proverbs 14:30, 17:22 & Nehemiah 8:10). Nevertheless, biblical counselors should not totally reject medication even on a long term basis but teach people to use it wisely, appropriately and for the right purposes.

 Exercise, Nutrition, Sleep and a Doctor’s Physical Examination

It is important for the biblical counselor to remember the basics of standard care that exercise is good for the counselee (1 Timothy 4:8) and that nutrition (Daniel 1:12-15), sleep (Ecclesiastes 5:12) and a complete medical examination by a doctor (Colossians 4:14) can alleviate much suffering—physical, emotional and spiritual. For instance, Dr. Archibald Hart writes about the need for proper sleep with, “Sleep prevents fatigue and helps to restore energy . . . Sleep provides the body with an opportunity for healing and rejuvenation . . . Dream sleep’s function is mainly psychological. It helps clear out unnecessary memory.” The truth is “we dream in order to forget—so we can then remember more (of the important things like God’s Word).” Moreover, Dr. David Amen talks about how blueberries are really brain-berries because of how beneficial they are to our brain’s proper functioning (nutrition).  Furthermore, it is settled knowledge that exercise bolsters our energy level and our immune system whereas some depression is caused by organic factors within the body that can be detected by a medical doctor at an annual physical. In fact, hypothyroidism can lead people into feeling tired, weak, and even depressed, yet many don’t know they have this condition even though often a simple blood test reviewed by a trained medical doctor can diagnosis it with definitiveness and then the physician can prescribe effective medical treatments.  Therefore, the wise biblical counselor will work as a team member with these other noble professionals (i.e. medical doctors, nutritionists, pharmacists, personal fitness trainers, neuroscientists), in order to bring the empirically best interventions derived from the sufficiencly of the infallible Word (Hebrews 4:12, 13: 7-9; Philippians 4:8; Titus 3:1; James 3:17-18)  showcasing how our Lord God Almighty the Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier bestows on the person in need His timely grace in Christ (Hebrews 4:14-16).