Issues in Integration 1 Issues in Integration: A

Discussions of Christian counseling have identified several distinct definitions for what makes counseling Christian. Worthington (1986) suggests that the two major emphases of definitions revolve around context and content. By contextual definitions, counseling is Christian when it occurs in Christian and religious settings—churches, parachurch organizations, and the like. Worthington, Dupont, Berry and Duncan (1988) suggest that Christian counseling techniques (content) can be grouped into three categories. The first of these emphasizes the goal of counseling as conversion and discipleship or spiritual growth. In terms of content, Worthington, et al. distinguish two emphases; the first includes techniques derived from Scripture and the spiritual guidance literature; the second involves focus on Christian topics or issues as an emphasis of therapy or counseling. Crabb (1978) and Kirwan (1984) are examples of persons who emphasize the goals as what is distinctive about Christian counseling. An alternative proposed by Bufford (1992) is that what makes counseling or psychotherapy Christian is that it or the agents providing it are consecrated or set apart for th