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What is “Nouthetic” Counseling*? 

            While the name is new, the sort of counseling done by nouthetic counselors is not.  From biblical times onward, God’s people have counseled nouthetically.  The word itself is biblical.  The New Testament was written in Greek, from which the noun nouthesia (verb: nouthetic) comes.  It is a term used largely by the apostle Paul which is sometimes translated “admonish, correct or instruct.”  This term, which best describes biblical counseling, occurs in such passages as Rom. 15:14:  “I myself am convinced about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and competent to counsel one another.”  In that passage, the apostle was encouraging members of the Roman church to do informed, natural counseling, something that all Christians today should learn, as well.  On the other hand, the leaders of a congregation are to counsel nouthetically in a formal manner as a part of their ministry: “Now we ask you, brothers, to recognize those who labor among you and manage you in the Lord, and counsel you.”

Nouthetic Counseling Embraces Three Ideas

            Because the New Testement term is larger than the English word “counsel” and because it doesn’t carry any of the “freight” that is attached to the latter term, we have simply imported the biblical term into English.  In that way, the full force of the biblical concept of counseling may be set forth while avoiding the many contradictory connotations surrounding the English one. The three ideas found in the word nouthesia are Confrontation, Concern and Change. To put it simply, nouthetic counseling consists of lovingly confronting people out of deep concern in order to help them make those changes that God requires. 

            By Confrontation we mean that one Christian personally gives counsel to another from the Scriptures. He does not confront him with his own ideas or the ideas of others. He limits his counsel strictly to that which may be found in the Bible, believing “All Scripture is breathed out by God and useful for teaching, conviction, for correction and for disciplined training in righteousness, in order to fit and fully equip the man of God for every good task” (2 Tim. 3:16-17). The nouthetic counselor believes that all that is needed to help another person love God and his neighbor as he should, as the verse above indicates, may be found in the Bible.

            By Concern we mean that counseling is always done for the benefit of the counselee. His welfare is always in view in biblical counseling. The apostle Paul put it this way: “I am not writing these things to shame you, but to counsel you as my dear children” (1 Cor. 4:14). 

Plainly, the familial nature of the word noutheteo appears in this verse.  There is always a warm, family note to biblical counseling which is done among the saints of God who seek to help one another become more like Christ.  Christians consider their counseling to be part of the sanctification process whereby one Christian helps another get through some difficulty that is hindering him from moving forward in his spiritual growth.

By Change we mean that counseling is done because there is something in another Christian’s life that fails to meet the biblical requirements and that therefore keeps him from honoring God.  All counseling  -- biblical or otherwise – attempts change.  Only biblical counselors know what a counselee should become as the result of counseling: he should look more like Christ. He is the Standard. Biblical counseling is done by Christians who are convinced that God is able to make the changes that are necessary as His Word is ministered in the power of the Holy Spirit.

It is their hope to help every interested church to develop a nouthetic counseling program that will be a blessing to all the members of the congregation. The importance of such counseling in churches is underscored by the words of Paul as he described his ministry in Ephesus: “Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years, night and day, I didn’t stop counseling each one of you with tears” (Acts. 20:31). The regularity and intense nature of Paul’s counsel during his three-year ministry at Ephesus is emphasized by these words. If Paul found it necessary to counsel nouthetically for that entire period as he said, surely our churches need it, too.

How may one learn to counsel nouthetically? There are books and training programs all over the country. Moreover, there is an accrediting organization. The National Association of Nouthetic Counselors (NANC), which produced this information, can give you more information and help.

(Written by Dr. Jay Adams)  

A Definition of Biblical Counseling:

(1)               Discerning thinking and behavior that God wants to change;

(2)               Using God’s Word to change that thinking and behavior;

(3)               For the benefit of the counselee and for the glory of God.

  *” Nouthetic” is a Greek compound word taken directly from the New Testament: “Nous” = “mind” + “Tetheimi”  = “to put into” Hence: “to place the Word of God into someone’s mind, heart, inner being”(Cf. Acts 20:31; Rom. 15:14; 1 Cor. 4:14; Col. 1:28; Col. 3:16; 1 Thes. 5:12; 1 Thes. 5:14; 2 Thes. 3:15)