Michigan Counseling

There has been a growing awareness in recent years of spiritual counseling, or spiritual therapy as it is some times called. But just what is it, and what can it offer you?

Like any counseling, spiritual counseling is at its most basic, an expert in spiritual matters offering his or her guidance to help you achieve your goals. Obviously, in spiritual therapy these goals will normally be of a spiritual nature, but they can be mental, emotional, or even physical.

Until recently, most spiritual counseling has been offered by ministers of various religions. With the increasing break away from organized religion in recent years and the growth of the New Age movement, there has been a large increase in non-denominational ministers and lay people offering spiritual therapy.

Whether the goal of spiritual counseling is to address spiritual, emotional or mental difficulties, the process starts with spirituality as a basis for all else. Depending on your needs, and the counselor you are working with, the spiritual therapy may be based on the beliefs and teachings of a specific religion, on finding a religion that suits you, or on helping you find your own unique path to spirituality.

To benefit from spiritual counseling or spiritual therapy, you need to make a commitment. You need to commit to honest self-examination. You need to commit to actively taking part in the treatment, not sitting back and expecting the counselor to 'fix' you. You need to commit to maintaining a safe and healthy spiritual life practice. 

Spiritual counseling can be a life changing experience for someone who is willing to make these commitments. A good counselor can help you learn about yourself and your beliefs, with things that you might never have learned on your own. In addition, a good counselor will help you learn how to take care of yourself in the future, so that if you have further mental, spiritual, or emotional problems, you will more than likely to be able to address them yourself without needing assistance.

That, in the end, is probably the biggest goal of spiritual therapy. To teach you to stand on your feet and take care of your own wellbeing, be it mental, spiritual or emotional, through your own abilities and your connection with the divine, in what ever form you believe the divine takes.

If you are interested in learning more about spiritual counseling or spiritual therapy, there are several options open to you. If you belong to or are most comfortable with an organized religion, you may be best off approaching a minister you like and are comfortable with and talking with them about spiritual therapy and what is bothering you. After all, spiritual counseling is supposed to be part of their job description. 

If you are not comfortable with organized religions, there are several national organizations of lay and non-denominational counselors, or you might visit your local New Age or metaphysical shop. The people working there will generally know several local ministers of lay people offering spiritual counseling or spiritual therapy.

Which ever option you take, if you are ready to find spiritual peace and understanding, or want help dealing with mental and emotional problems based on the soul, and not neuro-chemicals, spiritual counseling and spiritual therapy may be right for you.