The extent to which counselling is effective depends on the balance that a counsellor shows in the responses that are made to counselees. The two broad aspects of counselling are directive and nondirective. In nondirective counselling , it is believed that people should not be told what to do. Directive counselling attempts to teach people better ways to fulfill their needs. Too directive counselling is ineffective because only decision based on personal convictions will last and counselling that is not directive enough confuses counselee as there are insufficient guidelines for them to follow.
Christian counselling is most comfortable with an approach called indirect-directive .
The counsellor recognises the counselee s problem and then guides him or her in solving it. Christian counselling is biblical when it helps people solve their problems according to the will of God and to grow spiritually. This approach is also indirect, as the counsellor uses indirect techniques such as questions, listening and suggestive statements, to help the counselee reach appropriate decisions. Christian counselling tends to deal with present behaviour, but it is also necessary to do something about unresolved issues from the past. Where this is the case, the past must be dealt with properly.