Domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species—a list most of us memorized in middle school biology class but probably failed to value as we should. With over two million currently identified species, the development of the taxonomic system by Augustus Quirinus Rivinus in the late 1600s enables mankind to better interact with the awe-inspiring array of flora and fauna in God’s creation. Melvil Dewey had a similar inspiration in 1873 when he created a system for classifying books, making them easier to catalog and access. Can you imagine what the Library of Congress, with its nearly 39 million print volumes, would look like without Dewey’s interventions? Classifications enable us to sort potentially overwhelming data.
Seeking to equip college-age camp counselors for the various life circumstances they might encounter with teenagers over the course of the summer, we encountered a similar need. We couldn’t hope to address every scenario ahead of time—abuse, addictions, anger, anxiety, apathy, assurance of salvation, authority (and those are just the A’s!). The best we could do was address a handful of issues that seemed especially pertinent. Not only did this approach unintentionally elevate certain counseling topics in a hierarchy of seriousness, it also failed to equip our counselors to handle the multitude of issues we didn’t have time to cover. While acknowledging that some counseling issues will require a greater degree of wisdom to accurately apply God’s solutions, at the same time, we wanted our staff to fully embrace the truth that God’s Word is sufficient for every problem.
Considering the vast array of painful circumstances young people encounter led us to develop what we now call “the four categories of counseling.” Without being simplistic, these categories help identify shared characteristics among a variety of counseling issues, while also offering insight into potential heart responses.1Although a counselee’s experience of suffering often falls into several overlapping categories (as demonstrated in the next section), this tool provides a helpful framework for assessing the data we gather in counseling. Whatever the occasion for the counseling conversation, under the surface, we find common themes with which we are all familiar. What is more, we find these same themes in the pages of Scripture (Romans 15:4). Scripture speaks sufficiently to every issue of suffering we face living in a fallen world. As we prayerfully listen to a counselee’s unfolding story, we don’t have to panic. Rather, by identifying the category his or her need primarily falls under, we have a starting place for pointing our counselee to Christ.
A Taxonomy of Suffering
Heath Lambert rightly identifies, “All counseling is occasioned by a world that is broken by sin.”2Heath Lambert, A Theology of Biblical Counseling (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016), 225. We can trace every reason for pain, ungodly fear, insecurity, shame, and every other aspect of suffering we face, back to the initial brokenness of Genesis three. We can group this broad domain of brokenness into two basic counseling categories: suffering that comes from outside of us and suffering resulting from our own sin. We can further break these categories into four specific aspects of suffering: sin around me (I’m suffering because I live in a sinful world), sin against me (I’m suffering because of someone else’s sin), sin in me (I’m suffering because of my own sin), and sin with me (I’m suffering because I’ve engaged in sin with others).3While these categories initially took shape through personal conversations with Dr. Jim Newcomer in 2019, they have been further developed in collaboration with our full-time staff at The Wilds. The Four Categories of Counseling © 2025, The Wilds Christian Association, Inc. All Rights Reserved. These categories can help us think about how we should respond in God-honoring ways to the various types of suffering we experience in life. Scripture speaks sufficiently to every issue of suffering we face living in a fallen world, providing a central counseling focus as well as a prescribed biblical response for each of these four categories.4 To access Renewing Guides for each of the four categories, see https://lifelineforteens.com/resources. Also helpful for the counselor: The Four Categories of Counseling overview chart.
- Suffering as a result of living in a sin-cursed world (Sin around Me)
Sin around me began with the original sin of Adam that catapulted the entire world into a broken existence (Genesis 3:1-19). Because of the Fall people get sick, grow old, and die. Similarly, disasters such as hurricanes, tsunamis, famine, and earthquakes in the natural world cause significant suffering even though they aren’t the direct result of someone’s personal sin or sin against us. We suffer as a result of living in a sin-cursed world (Romans 8:20-22) and need to learn how to respond biblically to this reality.
Examples in Scripture: Blind man (blindness from birth—John 9), Mephibosheth (lame from being dropped—2 Samuel 4:4), Mary and Martha (death of brother—John 11:1-44), Daniel and his friends (taken captive from home and community—Daniel 1:3-21), Eighteen Israelites (crushed by the collapse of the tower of Siloam—Luke 13:4-5)
Counseling Focus: Because we also know what it is like to live in a world that groans under the curse of sin, we must give compassionate hope while encouraging confident trust in God’s character and promises. We point our counselees to Christ, who showed us how to suffer well and trust God in the midst of great suffering (Psalm 22; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:21-24). Essential posture to cultivate: trust.
- Suffering as a result of others’ sin (Sin against Me)
Sin against me is sin which I did not commit, but for which I am suffering. Abuse, bullying, gossip and slander, parental abandonment, theft, being lied to or about—these are just some of the ways we suffer because of the selfish choices of others. Suffering as a result of someone else’s personal sin, can easily lead to bitterness or a victim mentality, which also needs to be counseled biblically.
Examples in Scripture: Jesus (the ultimate example—Isaiah 53:3-9), David (threatened by enemies—Psalms 3, 13, 18), Joseph (sold into slavery, falsely accused, forgotten—Genesis 37, 39-40), Paul (stoned for preaching the gospel—Acts 14, beaten and imprisoned—Acts 16)
Counseling Focus: Because the sins of others can cause deep wounds, we must offer biblical hope and help with great care and compassion. We point our counselees to Christ, who understands what it is like to be treated unjustly, severely abused, slandered, and hurt by the sinful choices of others (Isaiah 53:3; Luke 6:35-36). Sin against me is an opportunity for believers to image the God of mercy. Essential posture to cultivate: forgiveness.
- Suffering as a result of personal sin (Sin in Me)
Sin in me is sin that I commit personally. Adam’s original rebellion and its painful consequences continue to infect every human heart, seen in mankind’s propensity to live autonomously from God (Isaiah 53:6). Personal sin—such as anger, bitterness, worry, covetousness, pornography, self-harm, escapism, and deception—does not merely abide in the realm of action (what I do and say) but also includes sin in the inner man, because actions spring from the heart (what I desire and believe). While focused on the individual guilty of the sin, we realize that even personal sin is not private—it always impacts those around us.
Examples in Scripture: Adam and Eve (original sin—Genesis 3:1-7), the rich young ruler (love of money—Mark 10:17-22), Moses (unbelief and anger—Numbers 20:1-13), Martha (worry/anxiety—Luke 10:38-42), the disciples (selfish ambition—Mark 9:33-34), Peter (fear of man—Galatians 2:11-12), Demas (love of the world—2 Timothy 4:10), the early church (partiality—James 2:1-9)
Counseling Focus: While we all face ongoing battles with sin, we also know the bondage-breaking power of the gospel. We point our counselees to Christ, who gives us freedom from the power of sin (Romans 6:2-7, 12-13; Galatians 2:19-20). We call others to walk with us in repentance and faith, based on a hopeful confidence in a Savior who not only forgives (Proverbs 28:13), but also empowers obedient, joyful submission to God (Psalm 40:8). Essential posture to cultivate: repentance.
- Suffering as a result of shared sin (Sin with Me)
Sin with me is sin that I commit with someone else, such as rebellion to authority, immorality, gossip, stealing, cheating, and fighting. While sin with me definitely implies sin in me (and requires application of the biblical steps for dealing with personal sin and its consequences, including repentance, radical removal, and replacement), there is more at stake as I have joined with others in my rebellion against the words and ways of God. Sin with me is often discovered by another person, which may mean greater resistance to change. In addition to experiencing shame, counselees may also fear retaliation—knowing that personal confession and repentance potentially exposes others with whom they sinned. Seeking forgiveness and making restitution can be painful and costly. While the gospel compels us to take action to reconcile our relationships with other believers (Romans 12:18), there are cases where reconciliation may not be possible. Counselees will often need help navigating the sensitive details of making restitution, pursuing reconciliation, breaking off ungodly relationships, and pursuing righteous alternatives.
Examples in Scripture: Jacob and Rebekah (lying and stealing—Genesis 27:5-29), Joseph’s brothers (violence, lying, revenge— Genesis 37:18-28), Amnon and Jonadab (wrong friends planning wrong actions—2 Samuel 13:1-19), Israelites (complaining against God—Numbers 11), Church in Laodicea (self-sufficient materialism—Revelation 3:14-19)
Counseling Focus: Because of the great value God places on our unity with other believers, we must lovingly challenge our counselees to take the necessary, though often difficult, steps required to seek forgiveness and reconciliation with those whom they have wronged. We point our counselees to Christ, who showed us how to value the unity He paid such a high price to obtain (Ephesians 2:13-16; Romans 5:10-11). Essential posture to cultivate: reconciliation.
Applying the Taxonomy
Asking wise questions and prayerfully listening enable the counselor to help a counselee begin the process of untangling the problem for which the counselee is seeking help. The four categories often overlap, showing where sin around or against me may have been the catalyst for sin in or with me—allowing us to identify where true guilt and shame belong, and providing a ready segue for the gospel.5For example, in his mini-book, Help! I’m In Darkness, Justin Daugherty helpfully applied these four categories of counseling to the issue of depression. See “Four Categories of Suffering” resource at https://lifelineforteens.com/book/help-im-in-darkness. For both believers and unbelievers, the four categories can be used effectively to point to the ultimate source of suffering, as well as the ultimate cure through a relationship with Jesus Christ.6In my counseling ministry with women at my local pregnancy resource center, I often use a blank sheet with the symbols from the four categories to help a counselee untangle her story of suffering. As we put her life experiences on paper, she can more easily see which issues of suffering are truly her responsibility (leading to a gentle call to repentance and faith) and which issues of suffering were not originally caused by her (leading to a gentle call to trust). In addition, this visual helps the counselee more readily see where sin around and sin against may have provoked a sinful response. As a counselor, these four categories then provide a ready platform for demonstrating how a relationship with Christ addresses both issues of “provoked-shame” and “sin-shame.” (See Sue Nicewander Delaney’s mini-book, Help! I Want to Hide (Wapwallopen, PA: Shepherd Press, 2024) and accompanying resources at https://lifelineforteens.com/book/help-i-want-to-hide.)
As biblical counselors, we must always keep the forward trajectory of the renewing process (Ephesians 4:17-24) running in the background of every counseling conversation—regardless of the category into which the situation falls. While we walk alongside our counselees, prayerfully working with them for their restoration, our ultimate aim in counseling is the glory of God. God is glorified when people respond in humble, whole-hearted obedience to His revealed character and will. A “whole” heart includes the mind, desires, and will. So, biblical change will impact our counselee’s beliefs, desires, and the resulting actions of his or her will. We work together in dependence on God, recognizing that biblical change is sourced in the gospel and enabled by our union with Christ.
When people seek help because of the painful consequences of sin around, against, in, or with them, we have the privilege of serving as Christ’s representatives—pointing them to God’s solution to their suffering in His Word. Whether called upon to warn, comfort, or support, by God’s grace we can minister with the disposition of the Wonderful Counselor (1 Thessalonians 5:14). Even as we remain in a world that groans under the curse of sin, we do so with hope, knowing that our suffering is not eternal. Ultimately, God will put an end to all suffering (Revelation 21:4-5). He will bring an end to all injustice and right every wrong (Revelation 22:3-5, 12). Freed from the flesh, the believer’s battle with sin will finally be over when we see our Savior in His unveiled glory (Romans 8:10-11, 18-23; 1 John 3:1-3). In His presence bearing His restored image, we will enjoy perfect harmony with other believers, no longer striving to preserve unity, reconcile relationships or seek forgiveness for sinning against one another (Ephesians 4:13). Until that day, we walk beside our counselees as fellow sufferers and sinners, humbly sharing “the Truth of God with the love of God so lives can be changed to the glory of God”7 Borrowed from the mission statement for The Wilds Christian Association: “Using the unique benefits of Christian camping, we serve people by presenting the Truth of God with the love of God so lives can be changed to the glory of God.” (Ephesians 4:15; 2 Corinthians 2:4; 1 Corinthians 10:31).
