This Case Study was contributed by a Counseling Solution friend and reader
Janet comes to you for counseling. She is open, honest, transparent and seems to be genuinely seeking help for change. After the first two hours, it is apparent Janet has left no stone uncovered. She has told you everything.
Your heart goes out to her. You not only “feel her pain” but you feel the liberty to speak truth into her life. And she respectfully receives your correction. You have faith for the process of change in her life and there is hope that there will be steady, upward, momentum in the next session.
Your next meeting comes, but Janet seems unchanged. She re-enters into the same, lengthy litany of troubles in her life. The next three weeks are more of the same. You now realize you have a complainer on your hands. Her primary idolatry issue is her personal suffering. It becomes evident that she worships her suffering and the attention she garners from her suffering.
The future counseling sessions that you were inspired about are now anticipated with dread, apathy and growing anger toward Janet. Your hope in God for her has been replaced with cynicism toward her. Your compassion is slowly being eroded by frustration and your patience is morphing into a desire to unloving, confront her.
In short, you don’t want to be around her anymore. But she won’t go away. She loves talking about herself.
Application Questions
- What could be going on in the heart of the counselor?
- How would you counsel the counselor about her (the counselor’s) struggles with guilt for not having compassion for Janet?
- How would you practically walk the counselor through her (the counselor’s) sin?
For more on this subject, please read my 7-part series called The Inherent Liabilities of Counseling: When Someone Will Not Repent
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