Home / What is Biblical Soul Care? What is Biblical Soul Care?
It is not a new method or idea but is something that was commanded and practiced since early Jewish culture. Great models are the New Testament church (Acts 2) and the Puritan community. Today, you might know it as biblical counseling, intentional discipleship, mentoring, or other names. We would define it as speaking the truth in love anchored in the Word of God, depending on the Spirit of God, and practiced in a community of believers. It is more of an overarching term and a cultural philosophy of care than a counseling method.

Who would benefit from watching this series?
Small groups, ministry leaders, lay counselors, and anyone within the body of Christ who wants to deepen their understanding and ability to help care for hurting individuals in their life. Much of the material is foundational biblical principles that will help to establish or enhance the culture of caring within your church and your personal circle of influence. The last half of the series goes a bit deeper into the heart issues and how to implement this model in your church.

What is the content of this series?
There are 18 topics taught by Dr. Garrett Higbee, who has over 25 years of experience in counseling. He brings a unique perspective as a trained clinical psychologist, radically transformed, and now practicing biblical counseling for over 15 years. Each session also contains a short but powerful mini-drama that portrays real life issues through six different individuals involved in a small group, a workbook to follow along, a leader’s guide to assist in directing a group through the questions, and an added bonus section of taped live Q&A with Dr. Higbee.

What is the purpose of this series?
Dr. Higbee and his staff have a great desire to see soul care returned to the church. They have a strong conviction that the most hurting individuals should be able to be cared for within the church. This series is the first of many to begin building the foundation of helping the local church take back counseling at all levels and changing the culture of caring in a way that will attract the world and provide superior solutions in Christ. As you watch the videos, you will see real life struggles and hear from Dr. Higbee’s practical biblical insight into how each of the situations might be handled.

How is this DVD series different than others?
We have excellent counseling resources available to us today, and we want to build upon that foundation. While the content of the current material is rich, the process and context of counseling still has room for growth and improvement. Some of the issues addressed in this series are:

• how to prepare your heart when giving counsel
• the role of community through an advocate model
• the power and use of prayer in counseling
• the role of the Holy Spirit in counseling
• the importance of the process of counseling to fully engage counselees from a variety of backgrounds and issues.

We will introduce you into a four-step model of care called C.A.R.E. This model can be used by anyone to engage and help those who need counsel.

What is the advocate model?
While we think counseling is highly personal, we don’t think it should be so private that it excludes those we love and do life with. Scripture challenges us to lean onto Christ and to bear one another’s burdens. The advocate model is a great avenue for encouraging community and helping hurting individuals within the church to realize they do not have to walk their journey, trial, or crisis alone. We believe that God intended the community of believers to assist one another in making lasting change for His glory. It is such an encouragement for the person in the midst of a great burden to have a trusted friend or fellow sojourner come alongside and help bear the burden of their trial. You will see the example of this model lived out in the lives of the individuals in this video series.

Do I need to be or have an interest in being a formal counselor to view this series?
No, not at all. While we believe a seasoned counselor would be blessed and affirmed by watching these sessions for further equipping, our primary focus is to appeal to people at a foundational level of caring. Those who desire to be a better friend, mentor, disciple, or formal biblical counselor could all benefit from this series, and we hope more seasoned folks will take others through this to develop a culture of caring from prevention to intensive intervention.

Would this be a good tool for my small group?
It would be an excellent tool for small groups to go deeper, be more intentional in doing life together, and helping those around them. It will encourage open dialogue and communication among those in your group. The church should be the place where the most hurting can come but often we feel incompetent or simply are not sure how to approach difficult situations. Our hope is that this series will give insight into how to approach these difficult relationships with compassion and biblical wisdom.

Do I watch this series alone or would it be better in a group or larger team format?
We recommend you watch this with at least one other person, even better as a team or group. The discussions and insight of others would really enhance your learning.

Are there additional resources available dealing with more acute situations?
At this time we are developing a series on advance counseling topics. Please watch our Web site for more information in the near future. Our desire is to produce ongoing training resources to help equip, train, and encourage the church to develop a model of soul care within their local body of believers. We want to work with other training organizations to compliment their offering and find ways to round out the training in biblical counseling. Feel free to contact us with further ideas and suggestions for future training topics at .