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TRANS FORMAT ION
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The Wholeness Counseling Framework begins by seeking
to understand the stories of our counselees through the lens of
their attempts to meet their crucial needs, consciously or uncon-
sciously. The first phase consists of understanding their current
crisis “story,” or, in more clinical terms, their presenting problem.
The counselor then moves into unpacking their more holistic
“life story” through the investigation of their Ten Basic Life areas
giving larger insight as to who they have chosen to become. The
Ten Basic Life areas cover the counselees family, social, emotional
and educational background—their current marital, family and
social relationships, their occupation, finances, spiritual life,
sexuality, recreation, physical health, and, finally, routine respon-
sibilities.
How we have chosen to “process” ourselves, life, God and
others in the context of our life story ‘experiences’ is the goal that
the lay counselor seeks to understand in the second phase of the
counseling journey. Who we are is not defined by our life experi-
ences, but through our interpretation of our life experiences—it
is how we have chosen to “process” ourselves in our life story; it
is our internal operating system (IOS) of emotions, beliefs and
behaviors.
For example: If counselees reveal that they were abused as
a child, the counselor can either remain in the “story” by asking
details about the abuse, or seek to move into the “process” phase
by asking how they felt, what beliefs they came to own and how
these beliefs impacted the way they chose to behave. This switch
of focus from ‘story’ to ‘process’ has really helped many lay coun-
selors and pastors become released from the grip of the story,
into the more fruitful work of the actual counseling process.
The driving force of mankind is ultimately one of seeking
to meet our needs for security, significance and self-worth in
“creation” or in our “Creator.”
Scripture paints this picture very vividly:
•
Romans 1:12 “They exchanged the truth about God
for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather
than the Creator.”
•
Jeremiah 2:13 “For my people have done two evil
things: They have abandoned me—the fountain of
living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked
cisterns that can hold no water at all.”
•
Hosea 14:3 “Assyria cannot save us, nor can our
warhorses. Never again will we say to the idols we
have made, you are our gods. No, in you alone do the
orphans find mercy.”
It is important to note that there is nothing wrong with creation
in itself. God wants us to enjoy creation, but not to find our
identity or sustenance in it.
Awareness of creation’s limitations brings counselees to the
inner core of the framework of highlighting the ‘thirst’ of the hu-
man heart and inviting them back into ‘God’s story.’ The option
before us is to seek to either find our ‘thirsts’ met in ‘creation’
or in the ‘Creator.’ For the believer seeking forgiveness and a
renewed relationship with Christ, an invitation for repentance is
presented. For the unbeliever seeking a commitment to Christ,
the invitation of salvation is given, a beautiful, privileged mo-
ment in the transformational journey of counseling.
From here, lay counselors seek to equip their counselees
with tools that can help renew their mind, as Romans 12: 2 and
2 Corinthians 10: 5 instruct us to do. This is the art of repro-
gramming our IOS by choosing to ‘process’ ourselves, life, God
and others anew.
Our renewed ‘processing’ systems will impact how we
choose to behave, producing the fruits of new life-giving emo-
tions, ultimately bringing us back to the beginning of the
Wholeness Counseling Framework as new creations with a ‘new
transformational story.’ God rewrites the story of our lives when
we open the book of our hearts to His eyes.
God made my life complete when I placed all the pieces
before him. When I got my act together, he gave me a fresh
start. Now I’m alert to God’s ways; I don’t take God for
granted. Every day I review the ways he works; I try not to
miss a trick. I feel put back together, and I’m watching my
step. God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the
book of my heart to his eyes. (Psalm 18:20-24, MSG)
Madz Deyzel, B.A.,
is the founder of Grace
Counselling, a lay counseling ministry at Grace
Family Church in Durban, South Africa, where
she developed the Wholeness Counselling Frame-
work and the Wholeness Course. Currently, her
primary focus is teaching and training lay counsel-
ors and mentoring churches in the development of
lay counseling ministries. She holds a B.A. Hons.
Degree in Theology and Counselling through the
London School of Theology and the Waverley
Counselling Centre.
“Who we are is not defined by our life experiences,
but through our interpretation of our life experiences...”