The Need For Holistic Christian Counselling - Now Is The Time - aifc
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How we define our ‘self’ has vast implications on how we live our lives individually and together. In modern society, a new understanding of selfhood has emerged—one that places personal feelings, desires, and inner authenticity at the centre of human identity. The idea that our true self is something we construct from within rather than something shaped by external traditions or institutions has become an almost unquestioned assumption.

This shift has had profound consequences. It has contributed to cultural tensions, social fragmentation, and a growing instability felt across many spheres of life. Yet, at the heart of this transformation is a deeper philosophical question: What does it mean to be human?

The Psychological Turn: From External Meaning to Inner Fulfilment

Sociologist Philip Rieff called this transformation the rise of “psychological man,” while philosophers Charles Taylor and Alasdair MacIntyre refer to it as “expressive individualism.” In past ages, personal meaning was discovered through external structures—family, religion, community, and nation. These frameworks provided a sense of belonging and a shared moral order.

However, with the psychological turn, these institutions came to be seen not as sources of meaning but as obstacles to personal authenticity. The new self does not look outward for guidance but inward to personal emotions, needs, and desires.

With this shift, the very notion of human nature as something transcendent and unchanging was dismantled. The pursuit of psychological happiness remained—whatever form that may take for the individual.

The Cost of Expressive Individualism

When identity is psychologised—when the self is defined primarily by inner feelings and desires—there are potentially as many versions of human purpose as there are individuals. The traditional institutions that once provided common meaning—the family, the church, the nation-state—lose their authority. They are only valid as long as they serve an individual’s personal fulfilment.

At a time when these institutions are already under intense strain—nations challenged by globalisation, families destabilised by economic and legal shifts, religions weakened by internal corruption and external pressures—they struggle to meet the demands of the psychological self. Even history, which has long provided a shared narrative of belonging, is increasingly rejected if it fails to align with personal or group identities.

Rediscovering the Body-Soul Union

Such considerations help us appreciate the traditional articulation of the relationship between our bodies and our spiritual nature, as in Thomas Aquinas’s Summa Theologiae. Aquinas asserts that the soul is to the body as form is to matter—where “form” is understood in the Aristotelian sense as that which organises and shapes matter internally, serving as its principle of operation. The soul, then, is not a kind of motor that simply moves the body; instead, it is the very principle that animates and integrates it.

Aquinas writes that the soul, as form, is present in every part of the body—even in those parts that move without our control. Yet we see the intimate union of body and soul most clearly in intentional bodily acts, such as pointing or solving a jigsaw puzzle. These physical actions disclose the immaterial realities of thought, revealing that our spiritual and physical aspects are not separate but deeply intertwined.

Man is spirit, but he is also body, and this truth has important implications for how we understand ourselves. Recognising this unity counters the materialist tendencies of our age, which reduce human beings to mere physical entities, as well as the expressive individualism that sees the self as purely psychological.

As philosopher Elizabeth Anscombe reminds us, the spiritual is not detached from the physical. It is found in the everyday facts of human life, institutions, and history. In her paper The Dignity of the Human Being, she writes, “Remember that we are intellectual animals, whose vegetative and animal life is part of a life framed by our intellectuality.” This means that bodily activities such as eating and sexual reproduction are not sub-rational or purely instinctual. On the contrary, they are intrinsically connected to the goods of our rational and spiritual nature, such as love of God and love of neighbour.

The Rise of New Narratives

As old frameworks for meaning crumble, new identities and ideologies rush in to fill the void. However, rather than uniting society, these narratives often deepen divisions, as they are built on the premise of personal and group self-expression rather than shared moral order.

The result? A society marked by polarisation, instability, and a sense of perpetual crisis. The freedom that expressive individualism promises—freedom to define oneself on one’s terms—paradoxically leads to increasing social fragmentation.

It’s also important to remember that many people are waking up to the new narratives, questioning them, and indeed rejecting them. This is an act of discernment and of seeing the fruit that the new narratives are producing.

The Path Forward: A More Integrated Understanding of the Self

The unity of body and soul grounds human dignity—and our recognition of it. This unity is not something we come to understand purely through external reasoning; instead, we are naturally inclined from within to value the goods toward which our bodily nature tends.

In a time when identity is often reduced to psychological states and self-perception, reclaiming an integrated view of the human person is essential. The alternative—one in which the self is merely a collection of emotions and desires—increases fragmentation, instability, and a loss of shared meaning.

The challenge is not merely cultural or political; it is existential. Can we recover a vision of the human person and of true Human Flourishing that honours both the body and the soul, both the inner and the outer life?

Suppose we can, and we can. In that case, we may yet rediscover a foundation for human dignity and social cohesion that does not pit personal authenticity against objective reality but recognises it as part of a greater whole.

None of this is to denigrate psychology, which has much to offer us when it aligns with scripture. Instead, defining ourselves at our core psychologically does not leave room for the reality that we are the Imago Dei. That is, made in the image of God. 

That is why at aifc we are committed at such a time as this, to training and equipping Christian Counsellors and Coaches through an approach that relates to the whole person: body, mind and spirit as image bearers of God through Christian Spiritual Formation, integrating with research-based biblically aligned psychology. The need is great, the time is Now. Will you answer the call?

Enrolment closes today (February 3rd) at 11pm TONIGHT. Don’t delay, Australia  needs people like you in important roles like these. Don’t miss this opportunity – take action now before the doors close. Once 11PM hits, enrolment will be closed and you’ll have to wait for our next intake. Click here to enrol now.

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Studying at aifc

Have you thought about becoming a qualified counsellor? It’s a great opportunity to learn how you can extend God's love and grace to the hurting out in the community.

For those who would like to enrol in aifc’s accredited Christian counselling courses we have two intakes per year for courses commencing around the following months:

  • The beginning of each year in February
  • Mid-Year courses commence in July

Enrolment Season - opens approximately 2 months prior to our courses commencing. Enrol online here during our enrolment season.

We also offer two modes of study:

  1. Seminar Blended Mode - only 13 face-to-face days per year
  2. Online Supported Mode - study online only from anywhere

A Master of Counselling course was introduced in 2018.

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