Can church be bad for your health?

[coadie]

Originally Posted by rgcraig

Our insurance covers sessions and they only cost the patient $8 per visit.

Some of my friends are going broke because the state is both slow pay and so highly discounted.

The trick for getting reimbursed is a diagnosis. If you diagnose someone, that can really do a number on their head. One group I know, the insurance company gets the diagnosis and the patient can't be told the same by the Psych.

On the counseling side "intake" interviews or sessions often take 2-3 meetings.

[Aquila]

Originally Posted by ILG

Man, it's so beautiful outside. I just went for a walk in the woods. That's some good counseling there!!

[Aquila]

So... I think most of us agree that someone can suffer from PTSD from negative experiences in church.

Would it be wrong to try to strongly encourage this person to attend a church given their situation?

[NotforSale]

Originally Posted by coadie

It is funny you say that. Many pastors are surprised at how much counseling they are called to do and how un prepared they are for it. I see them as relevant in many cases for counseling.

Billy Graham said if a husband and wife seriously prayed together and sought answers from the Lord together, the divorce rate would be about 1 in 400.

I know about a dozen counselors that are healthy and competant and one of the best is a friend of my pastor. Out of that dozen, i can't tell you how successfull they are regarding desired outcomes. I could name over ten times that many that can't do counseling well, mess up, get off on tangents that are irrelevant to what they are trying to treat or some other maladaptive pattern. Like the dean of my school said. The difference between a psychologist and the patient is the psychologist has "keys".

He was one of the rare, normal and solid few that I know that is competant.

Even Mr. Graham is off on this one. It's not that easy. In fact, it’s statements like these that destroy the confidence of long standing Christians, and the reason is simple; if I DO what Mr. Graham says, my marriage won’t fail. After time, when the perfect World you tried to build falls apart, God becomes responsible for not holding His end of the bargain, when God had nothing to do with the broken kingdom.

See, Mr. Graham had a successful marriage. He had a blessing. He was fortunate. He found the right mate. When people wind up blessed, they gauge everyone else off of their own successes. In other words, if I can do it, they can do it. This is the Pharisaical approach to Faith and spiritual expectation, breeding self righteousness because we look down on those who don’t do what WE can do.

We are people, and that is why things fail, even if we do everything right. We can coddle, protect, and guide someone, only to find them in a pile of pig dung.

I've been a pastor for 15 years and marital conflict is the most difficult problem we face in Church today.

Children that become adults who have been molested, abused and beaten, or raised by single parents, they can have a host of issues where there is no easy answer. I’ve watched Pastors, Counselors with 30 years of experience, and parents who raised their children with 110% effort, throw their arms up in the air in total dismay as families fell apart.

You can pray until you have broken knees and still wind up divorced.

[NotforSale]

Originally Posted by ILG

Man, it's so beautiful outside. I just went for a walk in the woods. That's some good counseling there!!

Now that is good Therapy!!!

[ILG]

Originally Posted by Azzan

Honestly, I don't remember exactly. This was back in 1993. I know that a lot of the cost was covered under my major medical policy so all I had was the co-pay. I exceeded the limit though and then had to pay out of pocket. I think the rate back then was around $100 an hour. I have no idea what it would run today.

But it was worth it.

Yeah, when I went to those four sessions, our insurance didn't cover any of it and we had to pay $400.00. It wasn't worth it. I'm glad you got your money's worth.

[ILG]

Originally Posted by Aquila

So... I think most of us agree that someone can suffer from PTSD from negative experiences in church.

Would it be wrong to try to strongly encourage this person to attend a church given their situation?

[Azzan]

Originally Posted by ILG

Man, it's so beautiful outside. I just went for a walk in the woods. That's some good counseling there!!

Agreed!

[Timmy]

Originally Posted by ILG

Me too!

[coadie]

Originally Posted by Aquila

So... I think most of us agree that someone can suffer from PTSD from negative experiences in church.

Would it be wrong to try to strongly encourage this person to attend a church given their situation?

You still haven't demonstrated that there was actual "TRAUMA"

There has be be trauam before there is a post trauma time period.

Life is loaded with negative experiences. That doesn't mean people carry trauma wounds.

I get a little blunt. Why do people think they have a right to carry resentment and grudges forever over junk that preachers said that hit them wrong? Counselors have a knack of assisting people in discovering roots of bitterness and turning them into scars and victims.


Would it be wrong to encourage some one to eat if they had memories of vomiting a meal one day?

My advice is for people to learn better coping mechanisms and discovering tools to get over stufff. I suggest going straight back to church. It isn't the church that is the problem. The presenting problem seems to be how this person reacted to what someone else said and did.
Confront your fears.

Aquila, your story is over dramatized. Tiger woods isn't playing the PTSD card either.

The bible doesn't say we have rights to not be offended. When someone is offended, I don't recommend a pitty party and involving others in build up of a huge story of trauma and unfairness.