Why Counseling?
There are issues in life that are extremely hard to deal with. A counselor can help but only God can truly meet the need. At First Baptist Church of Maryville, we have been blessed to have a full-time licensed professional counselor. Pastor Jack Dawson, LPC said his first desire "is to try and understand where the person is coming from and give some direction on which way to go".
As people who Jesus loved and died for, it can be difficult to understand the pain and heartache of life. We must face the issues head on and look to Jesus to give us the ability to take that very difficult situation and turn it into something that can make us into the individual He wants us to be, and then to use us as a blessing to help others.
Areas that Pastor Jack Dawson, LPC has dealt with but is not limited to (from high school age through adult) include:
- Marriage
- Pre-Marriage
- Dynamic Marriage Course
- Depression
- Worry
- Panic Attacks
- Abuse
- Anger Issues
- Grief
- Codependency
- Low Self-Worth
- Sexual Orientation
- Blended Families
- Divorce
- Family Dynamics
Policy & Precedural Guidelines
A. Purpose: This document describes FBCM Pastoral Counseling in terms of the mission, scope of counseling services provided, and the provision of counseling services.
B. FBCM Pastoral Counseling Mission: The goal of counseling is to help individuals work through their toughest issues and crisis circumstances to where they more fully understand and learn how to trust Jesus through the difficult time in order to become more useful servants for the Lord.
C. FBCM Scope of Counseling Services: Pastoral counseling services focus on a wide array of emotional and spiritual challenges faced by many Christians. The counseling provided addresses the following predominate areas: pre-marriage, marriage relationships, worry, anxiety, anger, depression, panic attacks, dealing with personal loss / grieving, bitterness, spousal abuse, homosexuality and sexual abuse. Some clients with these particular issues may also fall within an area of counseling services not provided by Jack. If this is the case that person will not been seen for counseling. For other areas of counseling not mentioned, an initial assessment may be completed and then the client may be referred to the most appropriate source of care which may include outside sources of counseling, special support groups, and sources of interpersonal mentoring.
Because the demand for FBCM Pastoral Counseling is often greater than the ability of FBCM to satisfy this demand, FBCM will give first priority to members, and frequent attendeeÍs. Counseling service may be provided to friends and family members that do not attend FBCM but these services will be limited to the extent that the pastoral counselors can fulfill their primary responsibilities to FBCM members and attendees. In all cases counseling will only be continued if appropriate progress is being achieved. All individuals / couples will be seen at least one time if the area of concern falls within the scope of counseling services described previously.
*The final decision on whether a potential client will be seen or referred will be based upon Jack DawsonÍs judgment as the Counselor. The above criteria should be considered a framework for screening rather than an absolute list of rules.
D. Provision of Counseling Services:
Request for Services: To request counseling services the client should call FBCM and make an
initial request through the Pastoral Care Administrative Assistant or Jack personally. All inquiries will
be handled in strict confidence.
Provision of Appropriate Services: The Administrative Assistant will ensure that the
requested services fall within the scope of services provided, by using a brief screening form. If falling
beyond the scope of services, the Administrative Assistant will help refer the client to the most appropriate
source of counseling or support group care. The pastoral counselor may also help with this referral.
Initial Assessment: Counseling will begin with an initial assessment which will generally
require one or two sessions. Upon completion of the initial assessment the counselor will determine
how the client may receive the most appropriate care which may include continued counseling, referral to
another outside counseling source, referral to an appropriate support group, personal mentoring, or any
mix of these services.
Continued Counseling: If the most appropriate source of care is within the scope of
counseling services provided by FBCM, then counseling will begin with up to an initial 5 sessions.
Upon completion of the initial counseling sessions, continuation of counseling will be evaluated based
upon continued client need, progress made by counseling provided, the appropriateness of counseling as
opposed to other sources of care, and the demand for counseling from other clients in need. Continuation
of counseling will be evaluated periodically.
