Nouthetic counseling (Greek: noutheteo, 'to admonish') is a form of evangelical Protestant pastoral counseling based upon conservative evangelical interpretation of the Bible. It repudiates mainstream psychology and psychiatry as humanistic, fundamentally opposed to Christianity, and radically secular. Its viewpoint was originally articulated by American author and preacher Jay E. Adams, in Competent to Counsel (1970) and further books. A number of organizations and seminary courses promoting it have been established since that period of time.[1] The viewpoint is opposed to those seeking to synthesize Christianity with secular psychological thought.
Since 1993, the movement has renamed itself as biblical counseling to emphasize its central focus on the Bible.[1] The Baker Encyclopedia of Psychology and Counseling states that "The aim of Nouthetic Counseling is to effect change in the counselee by encouraging greater conformity to the principles of Scripture."[2]