Depression and Counseling/Therapy

By Peter Stone

"We demolish arguments
and every pretension
that sets itself up
against the knowledge
of God, and we take
captive every thought
to make it obedient to Christ."
2 Corinthians 10:5

eceiving counseling from a Christian counselor or professional therapist to deal with the root causes of our depression is an important step in our recovery.

Sherry Castelluccio, who suffered from severe post-partum depression after the birth of her daughter, explains how a psychiatrist can be of great assistance.

"Professional help is important. By talking to someone impartial, we have the freedom to discuss what’s really at the root of our anger without fear of judgment or ridicule. It’s incredibly healing just to be able to talk. Some of those deep issues can’t be resolved with a spouse or a loved one because they are either connected somehow or not able to relate. A psychiatrist is able to listen and give advice based on their knowledge of the brain and how it functions. Not only this, it just feels good to talk to someone that can’t or won’t fight back with you."

When choosing a counselor or therapist, please do so with prayer and wisdom. If possible, see one who has been through depression and overcome it, as they understand what we are going through and can help point us in the right direction. I mention this because some counselors mean well but lack knowledge and experience, and sometimes make the error of resorting to shock tactics in a futile attempt to try to help someone pull themselves out of depression. This only places the depressed person under more pressure and fear. Do not hesitate to seek another counselor/therapist if necessary.

Counseling needs to be continued for several months if not years, and done on a regular basis. Some ministers think a one-off counseling/prayer session is sufficient. Ten weeks into depression, I finally sought counselling and visited a local minister. Although I truly appreciate the time he gave to me, he saw me just the once and sent me on my way. Though he gave good advice, this brief visit provided only minimal comfort and did not effectively address the traumas that haunted me. This is what I wrote in my diary that day.

13th March 1990 – Well, the day finally came where I saw Ps X. It’s funny, I was hoping for some huge touch from God, such as healing, or deliverance from oppression or possession, but no received such easy answer.

At this early stage of depression, I was still under the mistaken impression that I could find an ‘instant’ solution to depression.

Two weeks later I went to see another counselor, Pat, a very compassionate and gentle lady who had gone through depression while spending months incapacitated by near-terminal illness.

Although it is normal to feel reluctant about seeing a counselor/therapist, we must recognise that depression is an illness that can be treated, put aside those feelings, and press on.

On 19th March 1990 I wrote –“ I’m a complete emotional and spiritual mess and I need help, dear Jesus, so I’ll be seeing Pat in ten days, but I feel really guilty for taking up her time. I don’t want to impose on her”.

Pat counseled me once a month for several months. She sympathised with what I was going through, offered practical advice, and through prayer and God’s Word helped me to face and deal with several deep emotional wounds and flawed thought processes

Below are some excerpts from my diary about those counseling sessions.

“Pat said that depression is the worse ailment that we can have, because it affects all areas of our lives: mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually. We make the mistake of thinking that because our spiritual life is affected, the cause must only be spiritual. But this is incorrect. Depression touches every part of us, which means it touches us spiritually too.

Pat listed the symptoms of depression, which described my condition perfectly. These included having no hope, being unable to see the future, you cannot ever see yourself getting beyond this current stage, you look at everyone else and wish you were any one of them instead of yourself.

She said that I should be on anti-depressants to help me, and that they will start to work after about ten days”.

Counseling from Pat also helped set me free from one of the greatest bondages in my life. My inner peace had often disappeared when about to make a major change in my life, and only returned when I gave up all plans to make that change. Because of this, and due to erroneous teaching I had received as a child, I had reached the mistaken conclusion that God was removing my peace to guide me.

The truth was that I had been suffering from panic attacks, triggered by the stress of making those decisions. I have met several Christians, also ignorant of the existence of panic attacks, who had reached the same conclusion.

Pat taught me that God gives us peace. John 14:27 Jesus said “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. Do not let your hearts be troubled.” It does not say “My lack of peace I give to guide you.” We need to make our decisions prayerfully with wisdom based on God’s Word – and do so while dwelling in His peace. Isaiah 9:6 tells us that one of Jesus’ names is the Prince of Peace.

It was so ingrained in my thinking that panic attacks were God's voice that I felt guilty and disobedient for no longer listening to them or doing what they demanded, even though I now knew that they were not God's voice. To deal with this irrational fear Pat taught me to pray, “What ever Your will is for my life, Lord, please bring it about - even without my obedience or cooperation. You are God; You are greater than me or the circumstances, so You are able to bring about Your will regardless."

In another session, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Pat discerned spirits of fear and terror at work in my life. She took authority over these and broke them in the name of Jesus. 2 Corinthians 10:4 "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds."

Note that this was only the beginning of being set free from fear and terror - I still needed to retrain my thought processes away from the habit of fearful thinking.

Changing our thinking until it is in line with God’s word is a slow but very necessary process. 2 Corinthians 10:5 "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."

During our prayer sessions, Pat also took me back to some of my childhood traumas. We invited Jesus to join us as we recalled those events. This is what I wrote in my diary after one of these prayer sessions:

8th August 1990 –"It was really beautiful to see how Jesus healed me of my past hurts. On that occasion when I was seven, and hated and hit myself, Pat took me back to that time, and told me to look to Jesus and see how He responded. Jesus told me that He accepted me as I was, and gave me a great big hug, and told me that He loved me, and that I did not need to react that way and punish myself, and that he understood. Jesus’ touch brought deep inner healing.

In August 1990, I read the book “Self Help for Your Nerves” by Dr Claire Weekes. From there, recovery from depression was so rapid that by the 21st of October, Pat said I no longer required counseling. Although I was still suffering from many of depression’s side effects, she said it was time to get back into things, and encouraged me to join a home group and to return to active service in the church.

This is what I wrote in my diary following that final counseling session.

You can visit Peter Stone’s blog at cornerstonethefoundation.blogspot.com