The Need for the Development of Family Counselling Based on Christian Values – Illustrated by the Example of the Activities of the Catholic Church in Poland

Abstract

Family counselling is one of the forms of assistance offered to families today. However, the secular foundations of family counselling are increasingly moving away from Christianity. The secular law normalizes the situations that in fact weaken the value of marriage and family because it helps create policies that offer lofty assumptions, but in reality appear to work against families rather than for them.
The article presents the history of family counselling, in both public institutions and the Catholic Church. It analyses the Church documents that justify the need for the development of family counselling, explain its foundations, specificity, and propose its structure.
The article leads to the following conclusion: the Catholic family counselling is based on completely “non-secular” and not very attractive – in the common sense – Christian values, such as holiness, sexual purity, defined moral standards and responsible  arenthood (in respect of the gift of giving life – fertility).
Even though the modern culture tries to move away from these, it cannot be denied that it is particularly those values, not other, that serve for the benefit of marriage and family. That is the specificity and uniqueness of the Catholic family counselling – it relates directly to these values, and at the same time strives for the spiritual development of a man.