Counseling Agreement with
Grace Biblical Counseling, L.L.C.
2008 North Highway 56
Glen Rose, TX 76043
Have you been having trouble? Don’t know what to do or where to turn? The trained counselors at Grace Biblical Counseling, L.L.C. want you to know that they are available to take a limited number of counseling cases from outside the congregation in addition to those they are conducting at any given time. You may seek an appointment by calling 254-897-3320.
There are, however, several conditions upon which outside counseling cases will be initiated.
- Counseling of members of Grace Community Church always takes precedence over all outside counseling.
- Counseling will be done by a pastor or trained member of the church; such decisions will be made by the pastors or counseling director.
- Counseling sessions will have a counselor trainee in the room to observe as we seek to further equip more counselors to help more people.
- All counseling will be conducted in accordance with the counselor’s understanding of the Scriptures. Your counseling will be biblical, pastoral counseling in which the Scriptures are in all cases the final authority. If you are not sure that you will be interested in biblically-based counseling, you will be given the option of attending one or two sessions to discover what biblical counseling is like. If you are unwilling to use the Bible as the final authority in counseling, sessions will be terminated.
- If you are a member of another church, it will be necessary for your pastor or other recognized church leadership to accompany you to counseling sessions. This is important since we want to recognize and respect the authority and the discipline of other congregations. And, in addition, this makes transfer back to the pastoral care of your church a lot easier to effect. If someone in leadership at your church is unwilling to come with you, we will likely counsel you to seek out a different church that teaches and practices both sound doctrine and love to its congregation.
- At any time during the counseling, for reasons sufficient to the counselor, as well as the counselee – shall have the option of terminating counseling.
- Information disclosed in counseling sessions will be held confidential only as the counselor believes the Bible requires. The concept of total confidentiality is not biblical; however, information regarding a counselee/disciple will be handled with a high level of discretion. Carefully discerning how to share information is an important aspect of the counseling relationship and we will carefully guard any information entrusted to us. There are situations, however, when it may be necessary for us to share certain information with others, such as an elder who directly oversees the counselee or,
• When there is a clear indication of harm to him/herself or someone else
• When there is evidence or reasonable suspicion of abuse against a minor child, elderly person, or dependent adult
• In discussions with the pastoral staff or elders of GCC or previous counselor(s) for the purpose of gaining information for your care or to help in follow-up and after-care
• When a counselor is uncertain of how to address a particular problem and needs to seek advice and wisdom from another leader/counselor. In these cases, we will try to keep the name(s) out of it
• When a person persistently refuses to renounce a particular sin and it becomes necessary to seek the assistance of others in the church to encourage repentance and reconciliation (see Proverbs 15:22; 24:11, Matthew 18:15-20)
- All counseling is done free of charge as a ministry of Grace Biblical Counseling, L.L.C. However, there may be some reading materials that we suggest from our Resource Center that will be relevant to helping you through your current struggle.
- It should be understood that biblical counseling consists of giving scriptural advice and the practical application of the same to each individual. Yet the counselee is fully responsible for how he/she implements that advice.
We are confident that the Bible has all the information necessary for life and godliness. There are no problems between persons that the Bible fails to address either in general or specific principles. While our counselors do not pretend to know all there is to know about biblical teaching and its application to life, nevertheless, they do know much and will do their best to help you. Counselors will honestly tell you if they are stymied and will seek further help if necessary, to assist you.