What is counselling?

Counselling is a carefully arranged opportunity for people to talk through issues that are affecting their life, with someone trained to help.

ACC defines Christian counselling as activities which “…seek to help people towards constructive change and growth in any or every aspect of their lives, through a caring relationship and within agreed relational boundaries, carried out by a counsellor who has a Christian worldview, values and assumptions”.

Counsellors can be found through GPs and the NHS or through a voluntary organisation or in private practice.

Counsellors use different methodologies or models for their counselling depending on their training and what they find to be effective. They also have different ways of viewing the world. Christian counsellors are those who have a Christian worldview. However, they do not make any assumptions or have any requirements about your beliefs and values, and they will not press their faith on you.

ACC counsellors

ACC does not seek to make all Christian counsellors think the same or counsel in the same way. However, it is expected that an ACC counsellor will have a specifically Christian worldview, working with overall assumptions, implicit or explicit, underpinning his or her counselling. They should be consistent with:

What the scriptures reveal about the nature and activity of God – that He is both the creator and judge of human beings and their redeemer in Christ.
People having been created in the image of God – although, because they are fallen and sinful, they are in need of God’s redeeming grace.
Christ as the one true Saviour and Lord. Through His life, death, resurrection and the gift of the Holy Spirit, God has made available all the resources of His grace to rescue people, heal them and bring them to maturity and wholeness..
God’s work of justice and mercy in the world and His love towards all people.
His work of rescuing people, even though they do not deserve it, and bringing them to faith and maturity in Christ, through the work of the Holy Spirit.
The realities of a fallen world where suffering, pain, guilt, fear, broken relationships and fragmented communities occur.
God’s desire for His people to work to bring healing and wholeness of spirit, mind and body.

The Association of Christian Counsellors (ACC) is a registered UK charity. Founded in 1992, it is the leading agency representing the voice of Christian counsellors, and pastoral carers, in the UK: people who feel that God has called them to be equipped to counsel or to care for people.

Ethical dilemmas
ACC acknowledges that ethical norms may sometimes clash. Counsellors may sometimes need to hold them in tension. Since every situation is different it is not possible to set out here a hierarchy of norms. However, ACC believes that applying broader Christian ethical norms such as love, grace, holiness and forgiveness may help in resolving dilemmas.

ACC requires all its counselling members to work to its Ethics and Practice document, which can be found at www.acc-uk.org/1412 or by contacting the ACC office on 0845 124 9569 or office@acc-uk.org. This includes strict ethical requirements, a statement of expected good practice and a rigorous complaints procedure.