Evidence-Based Counseling Does Not Mean Free of Faith

Camille McDaniel (00:06.83)
Welcome back to Christ in Private Practice and Happy New Year. I’m really glad that you’re joining me for the very first episode of 2026. How awesome. There’s something to the start of a new year, you know, that makes many of us just take a pause. We take inventory. We think about all the different things that we want to be able to do as clinicians with the new year that we have.

the kind of care we want to give or maybe some different services that we want to offer and just reflecting on how we can just make sure that this brand new year truly aligns with our values and our goals and our mission. So today I want to talk a little bit about a topic that has come up. Probably you’ve seen this come up maybe in clinical counseling.

circles, consultation circles, online circles, where you may have either been a part of the conversation or you just kind of read it and thought, hmm, yeah, okay, I wonder how I would actually respond to this. And that’s really a conversation around evidence-based care and faith integration. And sometimes that is, you know,

posed or asked with genuine curiosity and sometimes it is posed or it’s asked with kind of an undertone that you can’t really do good clinical evidence-based work if you are integrating faith. And sometimes we may even see these conversations and wonder ourselves, okay, how would I respond to this and how do I feel about what I’m doing and how do I

you know, make sure to firmly know that what I’m doing is evidence-based even as I am integrating faith. Sometimes people do really question, is Christian counseling actually evidence-based? Is this really, you know, something that’s empirically been studied and reviewed or is this just doing good work spiritually, you know?

Camille McDaniel (02:26.486)
And so today, let’s go ahead and let’s talk about it. Let’s add some clarity to it. And instead of asking the question though, is Christian counseling evidence-based? I want to talk about it and I wanna switch that up a little bit and look at it from the point of view of which evidence-based counseling modalities actually integrate well with your client’s Christian worldview.

and which ones require some discernment or they may require some reframing. Or some of them might even just require some very serious boundaries around it because not every empirically supported treatment model carries the same assumptions about the human nature and responsibility in this world and suffering and healing. And so,

If we can get some clarity around that, that’s not a negative thing. I actually think that is great ethical and professional care to get very clear on that. And so before we move forward into looking at which specific treatment modalities do work well with faith integration, I think we should first get grounded in what evidence-based practice

actually means. And so I’m going to pull from the American Psychological Association for this one because the American Psychological Association’s understanding of evidence-based practice is is maybe not what we think when we think evidence-based. It’s not research alone. Actually the APA defines evidence-based practice as the integration of

three components and that is the best available research. So that is one of them, but then also clinical expertise and that has to do with clinical training and the longevity of the clinician that has been in the field and then what they have encountered along the way. And also a third one and this one is important. So in addition to the available research and in addition to clinical expertise,

Camille McDaniel (04:49.954)
The APA also takes into account when talking about evidence base, the client’s values, culture, and worldview. That last component really matters deeply, especially when you’re talking about faith integration. And for us, that would be the Christian faith integration. And so if a client’s understanding of their suffering or their identity

or morality, forgiveness or even hope is shaped by their Christian faith, then ignoring that framework, that’s actually, that’s not being neutral. That’s actually, that’s not being professional, which is what many of us may have been taught or may have thought, but it’s really incomplete care. And this perspective

This is not just someone’s opinion, but it is actually supported with decades of peer reviewed research. Many professionals in the field, some really well known professionals like psychiatrist Dr. Harold Koenig, psychologist Dr. Kenneth Pergamont, Pergament, excuse me, I always want to say Pergamont when I see his name, but it’s Pergament.

And they actually have spent a lot of their career studying religion and mental health. And their research has been published in both medical and psychological journals. And there’s a consistent showing that religion, including Christianity, because Christianity was included in these studies along with other faiths. But the good part is Christianity was also studied.

And what they found is that there is measurable psychological association with outcomes of faith and mental health being impacted in a positive way. They said the outcomes were that there were some improved coping under stress. There has been a decrease in depression and suicide, lower rates when faith was integrated.

Camille McDaniel (07:14.41)
greater resilience and even more effective meaning making following a trauma or a loss. So Christian faith, was, you know, it was a very helpful tool in allowing people to have better overall mental and emotional health. So in other words, the the psychology supports faith integration. And

they learned how to study it. So what happened really was that initially, psychology was really making a break away from trying to acknowledge faith or, you know, religion and things of a spiritual nature, because the psychological field was trying to be well known as more of a hard science. So the hard sciences are things that it’s not very abstract. There’s no

big variation as far as like the STEM arenas, you know, in math and science, it’s usually, it’s not usually, it’s going to be that one plus one equals two every single time, right? You know, that’s a hard science where there are things that you just actually know for sure they’re concrete and it doesn’t change. Well, psychology is not that way.

there are certain variables to the human nature and being and way of operating and thinking that has a lot of variation. And so when it comes to faith, religion, belief systems, at one point in time, the psychological field did not have the tools in order to, or I guess the formats and tools to properly evaluate faith and faith variables to see

how prayer and church, going to church and reading scripture or community, church community, they didn’t have a way set up to really research that well. And so they really kind of stayed away from it. But thankfully, as the, I guess the career, the field at large, the psychological field started to grow and started to mature, they started to recognize that

Camille McDaniel (09:38.254)
and worldview and faith were actually pretty big factors in someone’s psychological state and their emotional and mental health and well-being overall or their ability to get through different mental challenges that might come up as they were living their life. So now we actually have a good amount of research.

that points to the fact that faith integration is just one more thing that can assist somebody in healing. And I know that there are some who understand that when misused, when faith is misused, just like when many other things in life are misused, whether that’s relationships, connection, trust, dependability, when those things are misused, then the outcomes can be negative.

But when those things are used properly, the research has shown that it aids in overall increase of positive outcomes, which is really good news for those of us who are seeking to integrate our faith whenever our clients are looking to have that integrated into their counseling experience. So.

Now let’s talk about some treatment modalities that integrate really well with faith. And let’s start with cognitive behavior therapy or CBT, you know, is what we call it. But it integrates very well with Christian counseling and cognitive behavior therapy. Essentially, it teaches at its core.

that thoughts influence emotions and emotions then influence behavior and distorted or unexamined beliefs can actually hold a lot of distress and so we have to take a an intentional examination of our thought patterns so that we can work on reducing

Camille McDaniel (11:51.222)
suffering and cognitive behavior therapy, it doesn’t really claim that thoughts are the only factor of your mental health. It does acknowledge biology and environment and trauma and relational history, but it does recognize that thoughts contribute heavily to meaning making and that meaning that you derive then impacts

how we move forward in our actions. And this is where scripture also has already laid a foundation for how we move forward and how our thoughts in us moving forward definitely impact our outcomes and our outward expression. In Romans chapter 12, there are about

11 chapters addressing like sin and suffering and redemption and the apostle Paul is actually talking to people who are in the midst of a culture that is that is a very strong culture not necessarily aligned with their beliefs but this culture is very strong in where they live and it has great influence and the apostle Paul is talking about transformation as he writes to the people.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you might prove what is good and acceptable and that perfect will of God. And that’s in Romans chapter 12, verse two. And so this right here is instruction. Paul is identifying that the mind is the starting point of transformation and renewal.

is ongoing and can be intentional as a process but it’s an internal change that then leads to external behavior. So scripture is telling us what to pay attention to and then cognitive behavior therapy later on came along and studied how this process functions psychologically and demonstrated through research that actually

Camille McDaniel (14:15.584)
changing patterns of thinking can indeed lead to measurable improvements in your mood and in your behavior. Now I don’t believe that like you know Aaron Beck or you know or some of the other individuals that kind of spun off of that Albert Ellis like I don’t believe that they were you know and if you look it up I’m pretty sure they weren’t necessarily going to the Bible.

It just so happens the Bible is now showing up in science, right? know, biblical principles are showing up in science. think even Albert Ellis, I think at one point had referenced like faith as being irrational. know, so there were many in the field of psychology that just didn’t understand where faith came even into play.

I think Freud called like faith like a neurosis. So we’d have to look it up because again, there were some thought patterns of faith before that really showed that there was not a full understanding of how it can be very beneficial. But again, in their research, in this cognitive behavioral research,

you then find that they came to a conclusion that scripture actually talked about long ago. Now, let’s also look at something else that just kind of, again, supports what we’re talking about with cognitive behavior therapy and with the scriptures and what scripture had already talked about and why, therefore, these two actually go well together.

if you want to have a modality that you can then use with faith integration. If you look at Proverbs chapter 4 verse 23, it appears like in the section of like wisdom when we’re talking about wisdom and it says wisdom and discernment but and it says keep your heart with all diligence for out of it springs the issues of life and in Hebrew culture at that time like the heart

Camille McDaniel (16:34.178)
didn’t just mean like a bodily organ, but the heart was representative of your thoughts and your intentions and your your moral reasoning, not you know, not just your emotions. And so when it’s saying keep your heart with all diligence, it’s like, you know, protect your your very being and how you do things and how you craft your thoughts and what your your moral compasses, you know, because out of it springs the issues of life.

So this is actually instructional to make sure that we are guarding our thoughts and the ways that we are developing our path in life because whatever we develop internally is going to then externally be shown. And obviously cognitive behavior therapy later put operation to this principle in the clinical framework that scripture had already stated first.

So this is kind of again showing you that hey, there’s alignment here. There’s one more scripture I’m going to just share because this is also another one that is good for you to stand on too. And that’s in 2 Corinthians chapter 10, Paul is addressing like patterns of thinking that shape behavior and allegiance and he writes,

Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. Right? And so again, this is not about passive acceptance of every thought that enters your mind, just accept all of the thoughts. But no, this is literally saying it’s about active evaluation and commanding.

where those thoughts are going to take root and which ones will not take root. So when we help a client examine automatic thoughts or when we help them challenge distortions or replace them with truth, we’re not undermining faith. Actually, as you see, faith integrates very well right into a CBT framework. We are, you know, aligned in that.

Camille McDaniel (18:55.608)
So this is why I believe that CBT integrates so naturally with the Christian faith integration, counseling integration. Scripture gives the instruction and then cognitive behavior therapy came long after and provided the research, the clinical structure and basically said, what scripture is telling us to do.

research backs it up. There’s another, here’s another evidence-based model for your consideration and many people do use this and it’s called solution focused therapy or solution focused brief therapy depending. And so what solution focused?

therapy emphasizes is like identifying your strengths and clarifying your goals and just noticing what’s already working for you and then moving forward into the future, rather than kind of looking back on past analysis. So there is is something that kind of aligns here because

The Bible is about stewarding the things that you have now. It’s about hope for the future. It’s about purposeful action, intentional action that leads you in the right direction. Scripture does emphasize moving forward and wisdom as you move forward, you know, and so there is alignment there.

But one thing that we do need to do with Solution Focus is make sure that we are using discernment because the Bible does also give examples of us sitting with others in their grief, grieving, allowing ourselves to grieve, thinking about what we have done and how we have gotten to the place that we’re at, which then can cause us to repent.

Camille McDaniel (21:03.224)
for certain things that we need to change, have a heart change and a mind change about. There is space, you know, in the Bible for the suffering, for the acknowledgement of suffering and where it comes from. So when we are using solution-focused tools, we do have to be careful not to move too quickly. If we are integrating faith into it, not to move too quickly past a client’s pain, because solution-focused,

Treatment is evidence-based, but if we are going to integrate it with Christian principles, know, and beliefs, we have to make sure we’re not bypassing, we’re not moving too fast because Solution Focused is about the here and now and the future. And biblical principles do also acknowledge how things in the past can impact us now and encourages us to sit with our brothers and sisters.

in their moments of suffering and help them move through it. So, so it’s just, you know, when we’re using that framework, we want to just make sure that there has been some stabilization that has occurred so that we can then move forward with the support instead of just making sure that we’re not bypassing suffering and because that can kind of create a bit of a shallow, a shallow experience that doesn’t give

full acknowledgement of what the client is needing. Now, here’s something else that I want to shift to, kind of just briefly touch on, and that is walking in discernment when we happen to be using our treatment modalities, whichever ones that we happen to find ourselves using. are many other evidence-based models that I just didn’t talk through today.

and in future episodes I’ll be talking a little bit more and comparing and contrasting a little bit more but what I will say for this episode is that there are other evidence-based models and they do emphasize things that we have to be careful of okay. So there are some models that emphasize like self-sufficiency and the self as the ultimate authority

Camille McDaniel (23:27.51)
or the self as the ultimate healer, the ultimate provider of the things in your world. So these models, they may have some helpful tools within them, but they can conflict with your client’s and understanding of then dependence on the Lord, accountability, right? And being held accountable by other.

brothers and sisters in the faith, humility, know, humbling yourself to that and and being transformed by that rather than just being kind of a, I want to say isolated but instead of just being the author and finisher of your own world and knowing in your own mind’s eye what’s right for you because those are all things that the

Bible does caution you against doing actually. So in that, that, discernment is not necessarily saying anything negative about treatment modalities. It is saying though that we want to make sure that if somebody is coming and they want their faith integrated that the treatment modality that we are using for them is going to align with their faith and not encourage or take them in an opposite direction.

you know with that what also comes up for me and I guess this is also just maybe a question for everyone who might be listening and you feel free to like send me a note or type it under the the video or the audio that you’re listening to but also as you are looking at these treatment modalities and how faith, your faith as a Christian would be integrated into this then you want to maybe also be thinking about the treatment modality that you’re using, does it conflict with your faith?

because you might find that internally you are walking with Christ but externally you are promoting things and promoting frameworks that are taking other people far away from him. And so that’s just something to also look at like you know what you’re using may be working, absolutely may be working and may be evidence-based but it doesn’t necessarily mean that it is putting you in a position

Camille McDaniel (25:49.016)
to do what the Father has put you here to do. Because if what you’re doing then sends people further away, is that what he put you here to do, right? So anyway, just a little thought that kind of popped up as I was kind of sharing about other information in this episode. So then ultimately the thing is, where does this leave us, right? And it leaves us, think, that Christian counseling

is evidence-based when it uses empirically supported models that integrate well and doesn’t conflict with the word and it applies them competently. It integrates scripture where scripture gives instruction, it respects a client’s worldview and it maintains ethical boundaries.

Cognitive behavior therapy integrates very cleanly with scripture because it directly instructs engagement in the way that scripture is instructing us to engage and to do things. Solution focus can also be very good and offer a lot of hope when it’s grounded in truth and when there has been stabilization, especially if there has been.

some pain that needs to be addressed. And then there are other modalities. Again, like I said, I haven’t covered all of them, but there are some though that have just frameworks that do not align with what the Father is letting us know about how he has designed human beings and how we function and how we connect with him and need him and.

and all of that. you want to just kind of think of this and look at the framework that you use. And then maybe you can also start to break down how does that align with scripture? And maybe that’s even something that you might be able to offer to your colleagues, because I don’t really see a lot of material about that, the integration of a multitude of different.

Camille McDaniel (28:03.148)
modalities. I know I will be talking about one probably in the upcoming weeks but it would be hey maybe a very helpful guide that somebody gets an idea about and creates for the community. Who knows? So either way I hope that this episode has been helpful. I hope this has given some information that you can use or that you can pass on for someone else to use and if you have found this episode helpful

I’m gonna ask that you pass this on to somebody else. It really helps the channel to grow and it helps this message to empower others who are out there who wanna be able to integrate their faith ethically and professionally. And they’re just not sure if other people are doing it. And so they are feeling a little isolated. Let them know that there’s a community out there. Many of us are interested in moving forward and doing this well.

ethically and professionally. Thank you so much and I look forward to the other episodes in the future that I have to bring you. But until we meet again, God bless.