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The Holy Trinity consists of three persons in one God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is called "Counselor" (John 14:16; John 14:26), and His role is to teach, help, comfort, empower, and guide.
The Holy Spirit dwells in the children of God (Romans 8:9; Romans 8:14). Jesus used the symbolism of "rivers of living water" flowing from within believers (John 7:38).
The fruits of the Holy Spirit, "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control," are the products of following the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).
Both the symbols of fruit and water signify the way, in which the Holy Spirit nourishes and nurtures children of God and others through them.
A Holy Spirit-filled therapist is one, who is led by the Holy Spirit and seeks divine wisdom on a regular basis by using spiritual disciplines, such as praying, fasting, and meditating on Scriptures (James 1:5; James 3:17).
Because the Holy Spirit is omniscient, He can reveal the best action plan to resolve problems. Thus, the Holy Spirit-filled therapist has the potential to achieve beyond their ability with the help of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit-filled therapist follows the Holy Spirit daily in both their professional life and personal life. Furthermore, the therapist has taken steps toward their own growth. This integrity fosters healing in the client.
The Holy Spirit-filled therapist is not perfect or better than the client; the Holy Spirit can give insight to anyone He pleases, "saying 'This is the way. Walk in it'" (Isaiah 30:21). However, one must decrease distractions and be sensitive to promptings of the Holy Spirit.
Every therapist has human limitations; however, the Holy Spirit knows everything about the client--even the number of hairs on their head (Matthew 10:29-30). He knows their strengths too because God "wonderfully made" them (Psalm 149:14).
For this reason, the Holy Spirit can enrich the therapist's skills by revealing the root of the presenting problem, specific interventions, and the best timing of those interventions, which are unique to the individual, couple or family.
In Holy Spirit-led Therapy, the therapist is continuously attuned to both the Holy Spirit and the client in order to seek the Holy Spirit's guidance according to the pace of the client and to use any timely gifts distributed by the Holy Spirit, e.g., a word of wisdom or a word of knowledge (1 Corinthians 12:4-11).
This doesn't mean the therapist is more knowledgeable than the client; the therapeutic relationship is a collaborative relationship because the client is an expert on their own life experience. As mentioned, the Holy Spirit can also give insight to the client.
Either way, Holy Spirit-Led Therapy is through finite human beings. Therefore, it's not a magical, guaranteed, quick fix full of constant revelation.
In short, professional training or experience could influence a therapist to simply place clients into categories. Instead, the Holy-Spirit filled therapist is sensitive to the Holy Spirit and is willing to be led by Him for each individual situation.
All three have different education and credentials. A therapist can diagnose mental health disorders; spiritual directors and pastoral counselors do not.
A spiritual director's main purpose is to help someone have an increased awareness of God and a deeper relationship with Him.
Pastoral counseling always involves Christianity.
Although a Holy Spirit-filled therapist has a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, Christianity is included in therapy only if 1) the client expresses this preference based on their beliefs and 2) it's relevant to the therapeutic goals in the treatment plan.
Regardless, the Holy Spirit-filled therapist doesn't solely rely on their professional training and experience but also prays privately outside of therapy sessions to seek direction from the "still, small voice" of the Holy Spirit for the benefit of the client (1 Kings 19:12).
I, Gina Leggio, LMFT, am a Holy Spirit-filled therapist, seeking direction from the omniscient Holy Spirit through spiritual disciplines on a regular basis.
Having studied Scriptures and taught them in children's ministry for decades, I'm sensitive to the Holy Spirit's instruction through the Scriptures in my professional and personal life (2 Timothy 3:16).
I'm also happy to work with clients of other religions or no religious affiliation while respecting their beliefs.
Contact me for a free 10-minute consultation to see if you'd like to work with me. I offer online therapy in Texas, California, and Louisiana.
All Scripture quotations and references are from the World English Bible™, the updated version, at ebible.org. “World English Bible” is a trademark of eBible.org.