For some reason, particularly in Christian African American culture the idea developed that going to therapy was somehow a betrayal to Christ.
I understand that there are several historical factors that have deterred us from therapy, however, part of my God-given purpose is to be an advocate and a voice to show that you can indeed have both.
Just as God has given medical doctors the tools to help us physically He has done the same for therapists, counselors, psychiatrists, and other mental health professionals. I understand that it has taken a great deal of time to trust medical doctors as well so I believe that we will get there eventually.
Jesus is a healer, this we know. I just would like to see us get to a point that we.are able to see that we can have both, Jesus and a Therapist. To be honest, sometimes it feels like an insult when people speak negatively about therapy and use Jesus to discredit our work. It is almost as if our Christianity is not good enough because of our job. There are plenty of us that are Christians, believe Jesus, depend on Jesus to do our work, and sometimes even pray for and with our clients.
I know that I am not the only one that sometimes just needs someone in the flesh to speak to about what is going on with me. Yes, I still pray, but being able to sit down with a brother or sister in Christ and talk through things. We believe that God will give our Pastors a message to give us, right? We believe the same for other certain individuals so what makes therapy different?
With these thoughts I have created another T-shirt!!
I think I like this one the most so far. I rely heavily on Jesus for my strength daily and being in therapy at the same time does wonders. Healing is the goal.