I used to go to a church that placed a high value on what is called “biblical counseling”. I eventually came to realize the purpose of this counseling was to get the person being counseled to submit more fully to the leaders and doctrines of the church. There are many heart-breaking stories of women in abusive marriages who submit to this type of counseling, which is highly patriarchal and committed to the idea of female “submission”, and find their counselors’ objective is simply to keep the marriage together regardless of the circumstances.

Thanks for shedding light on this dynamic of “in-group counseling”.