Counseling Agreement for Onekawa Bible Church

Welcome - We at Onekawa Bible Church (OBC) look forward to helping you with your problems using Gods Word. In order to be as clear as possible about the counselling and the administrative procedures used at OBC, please read the following information. Indicate your agreement to it by putting your signature and the date at the bottom of this form. This signed form must accompa-ny your personal information forms before we can schedule an appointment with you.

We want your first session to be as profitable as possible. So we ask that you give careful attention to the following document. It will help you understand who we are, what we do and what we ask of you as you enter into our counselling ministry. If you have any questions in regards to any of the items below, please contact the Biblical Counselling Pastor at 02102987695; or email us at counselling@onekawabiblechurch.org.nz.

Who are Our Counsellors?

Our Biblical Counsellors are trained in the meaning and use of the Bible and the biblical principles found in it for counselling. We are committed to the position that Scripture is our only au-thoritative guide for life and is sufficient for all of life's problems. We do not base our counselling knowledge on our own opinions, experience, or concepts of behaviour. We seek to apply biblical truth, in its completeness, when we meet with you and discuss your current issue(s).

Our team of Biblical Counsellors deal with a wide range of prob-lems, including broken marriages, parent-child relationships, fear, depression, addictions, abuse, stress, anxiety/worry, and a host of other problems. But know that our counsellors are not infallible; they do not pretend to know all there is about biblical teaching and its applications to life, but they are well equipped and compe-tent to help you change. Your counsellor will make it a point, when meeting with you, to differentiate between God's com-mands and their suggestions.

Our Goal - Our goal in providing biblical counselling is to help you meet the challenges of life in a way that will please and hon-our the Lord Jesus Christ and allow you to enjoy fully His love for you and His plans for your life.

Biblical Basis - We believe that the Bible provides thorough guidance and instruction for faith and life. (2 Peter 1:3 and Ro-mans 15:4) Therefore, our counselling is based solely on biblical principles rather than those of secular psychology or psychiatry.

Advice Provided - If you have significant legal, financial, medi-cal or other technical questions, you should seek advice from in-dependent professionals not associated with OBC. Our pastoral and lay counsellors will be happy to cooperate with such advisors and help you to consider their counsel in the light of relevant bib-lical principles. By signing this Agreement to Biblical Counsel-ling you agree to hold Onekawa Bible Church harmless in any and all matters associated with the biblical advice you have re-ceived.

We are an Equipping and Training Ministry - Our Biblical Counselling Ministry receives many requests for counselling and our goal is to be able to honour all the requests. To achieve this goal, we are continually expanding the ministry by training new counsellors. With this in mind, please be aware that your Biblical Counsellor may have a trainee with him/her. Your counsellor will advise you when or if a trainee will be present. If having a trainee present would make you feel uncomfortable, please let your counsellor know.

Fees for Counselling - The biblical counsellors at OBC provide their time, energy and spiritual gifts as a service to God and as a labor of love to those who are seeking help with problems in their lives (1 Thessalonians 2:7-8, 1 Timothy 1:5). OBC does not charge for counselling services.

Homework - The biblical counsellors at OBC will assign you homework to take home between your weekly counselling ses-sions. The assignments are meant to provide accountability and encourage lasting change.

Time - Habits are not developed overnight, and new habits will take time to develop. In most cases, we ask individuals to commit to regular counselling appointments for a period of 3 to 4 months.

Missing sessions - Counsellees are asked to cancel appointments at least 24 hours prior to the appointment. This gives others the opportunity to use the cancelled time slot. If no cancellation is made, or less than 24 hours notice is received you will risk your counselling case being inactivated and your time slot will be giv-en to the next case on our waiting list.

Confidentiality - Confidentiality is an important aspect of the counselling process, and we will carefully guard the information you entrust to us. However, because we are continually training others to be effective counsellors we ask that you agree to allow counsellors in training to be present during your sessions. There are five other situations when it may be necessary for us to share certain information with others: (1) When a counsellor is uncer-tain of how to address a particular problem and needs to seek ad-vice from another counsellor, ministry leader or elder/pastor in our church; (2) when a counsellee attends another church and it is necessary to talk with his or her pastor or elders; (3) when there is a clear indication that someone may be harmed unless we oth-erwise intervene; or (4) when a person persistently refuses to re-nounce a particular sin and it becomes necessary to seek the assis-tance of others in the church to encourage repentance and recon-ciliation (see Proverbs 15:22; 24:11; Matthew 18:15-20); or (5) when there is illegal activity and we are required by law to speak to the authorities. Please be assured that our counsellors strongly prefer not to disclose personal information to others, and they will make every effort to help you find ways to resolve a problem as privately as possible.

Resolution of Conflicts - On rare occasions a conflict may arise between a counsellor and counsellee. In order to make sure that any such conflicts will be resolved in a biblically faithful manner, we require all of our counsellees to agree that any dispute that arises with the counsellor or with our church as a result of coun-selling will be settled with mediation within the church according to the principles of scripture and the authority of our local church, and, if necessary, legally binding arbitration in accordance with the Rules of Procedure of the Institute for Christian Conciliation; judgment upon arbitration award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction.

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Having clarified the principles and policies of our counselling ministry, we welcome the opportunity to minister to you in the name of Christ and to be used by Him as He helps you to grow in spiritual maturity and prepares you for usefulness in His body. If you have any questions about these guidelines, please talk with your counsellor. If these guidelines are acceptable to you, please sign below.

I, ______________________, have carefully read the conditions for counseling set forth in this document and agree to enter into counseling in accordance with them.

Signature: _______________________   Date: _____________________

I am filling out this PDI form on behalf of the counselee:

My name: ___________________________ Relationship: _______________________