The Anazao model

Pioneered by Peter and Heather Toth, the Anazao Counselling Model is the integrated approach they developed to address both the biological and spiritual components of any physical or mental illness or disorder. Together, the Toths have 29 years and over 40,000 hours of clinical counselling experience with long-term proven results. Having recently retired, their counselling practice was typically fully booked 6 months or more in advance, with clients drawn from all over the world. They have imparted their knowledge and skills through the Anazao Training School, lecturing and demonstrating their approach for students and practitioners across Australia, the United States, Europe, New Zealand, South Africa and South Korea. Peter and Heather’s books and counselling resources can be found at their website: Anazao.com.au

"The Anazao approach is unique - it is the first complete model for healing of the whole person - spirit, soul, and body."

The success of the Anazao model is due to the thoroughness in removing all the blockages necessary to bring about lasting healing - personal sin, generational iniquity and curses, demonic activity, past trauma and injury, dissociative ‘parts’ of the mind, a person’s poor lifestyle choices, and irrational or unhelpful thinking patterns.

One of the key Anazao distinctives is the inclusion of dissociation as an important and often overlooked component in many disorders and relationship issues. Ministry for SRA (Satanic Ritual Abuse) survivors is treated as a more complex form of dissociation, with rapid resolution of the dissociative ‘part’ systems achieving long-term outcomes for these clients.

Another critical distinction of the Anazao approach is the room it gives for the Holy Spirit to intervene supernaturally and bring the deep healing only He can bring.

Anazao Model distinctives and training:

• An understanding of dissociation and its contribution to many mental and physical dysfunctions
• Expertise in resolving dissociative alter or part systems
• Effective ministry for SRA survivors - approached as a more complex form of dissociation
• Healing of past trauma - including the physical, emotional, and spiritual impact on the person
• Resolving generational iniquity and curses - including freemasonry, witchcraft, occult involvement, new-age activity, legalism, sexual issues, the inherited patterns of behaviour and mindset, etc
• Addressing the personal sin component, which is an important part of any disorder or dysfunction
• Dealing with demonic interference within a legal rights framework
• Use of the gifts of the Holy Spirit as healing tools when required
• Greater intimacy with Jesus as the ultimate goal of counselling for Christians

The following synopsis of the Anazao counselling model provides a more detailed look at how the model’s components fit together.

A holistic and comprehensive approach

The power that drives a wheel comes from the hub. The hub is the Holy Spirit, who indwells, leads and directs every believer. It follows then that Christian counselling must be Holy Spirit-directed.

The spokes transfer the power from the hub to the rim. The Holy Spirit uses each of these spokes or therapy tools for one end: greater intimacy with Jesus. In this context, we use “Jesus” in the collective sense, meaning the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The rim is literally where the rubber meets the road. It is the constant focus and main evaluative tool of success in our ministry. If people have a deeper relationship with Jesus, a greater connection with the Father and the Holy Spirit, then the counselling has been a success. The fact that a person may have been physically healed, experienced emotional release, and had his dissociative parts removed is all secondary to greater intimacy with Jesus.

In fact, if people make their healing the focus, they have missed the point. Each of the spokes represents an important ministry tool or therapy approach that, used separately or in conjunction with other spokes, enables Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, to bring his healing to the client.

The five spokes dealing with Inner Healing, Deliverance, Dissociation, SRA, and Accident Healing are the major therapy tools that involve direct supernatural intervention for the tool to be successful. This means that the therapist is often the last person to know what exactly is going on. There is an expectation that the Holy Spirit will at times lead aspects of the session through supernatural intervention, speaking directly to the client. This builds confidence in the client’s ability to hear Jesus and, in turn, increases intimacy with Him, bringing healing, both physical and mental, to a deeper level. Truth spoken by Jesus directly to the client in these situations will have a greater impact than truth spoken by the counsellor. Jesus, through the action of the Holy Spirit, is the ‘star’ of this type of counselling.

The six spokes dealing with Self-Differentiation, Personal Sin, Cognitive Behaviour, Spiritual Hygiene, Generational Sin, and Body Soul and Spirit impact are predominantly therapist-directed. These are situations where the counsellor is directing the process entirely, imparting knowledge with understanding. Using these tools is just as important in the overall counselling approach as the more ‘Jesus-directed’ approach. If the facilitator is sensitive, the Holy Spirit is just as ‘present’ through what s/he is saying directly to the client as when the Holy Spirit speaks directly to the client, as outlined in the first five spokes.

Understanding the Eight Core Conditions and using the Gifts of the Holy Spirit primarily refer to the counsellor’s qualities. The Eight Core Conditions include warmth, respect, empathy and attending skills conveyed through the powerful tool of Active Listening. Appropriate use of self-disclosure, but not overuse. The ability to draw together disconnected strands and bring the problem to a succinct focus is called ‘concreteness.’ Challenging can be the most underdeveloped of the eight core conditions. Unfortunately, too many Christian pastors and those involved in personal counselling rescue their clients and don’t challenge them regarding the personal sin component that is present in almost every sinful reaction to someone else’s sinful action. Immediacy, the last of the eight core conditions, is the ongoing frank evaluation of the personal relationship between the client and the counsellor.

The single unifying concept that connects all of these thirteen spokes is legal rights. Understanding what legal rights are, how they layer, and how sickness and health are linked to a thorough understanding of legal rights cannot be overemphasised.

This model is truly eclectic. Using all thirteen spokes provides a balanced approach that ministers to the total person; body, soul and spirit - with the focus always on intimacy with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

For more information on the Anazao counselling approach, visit the Anazao website: anazao.com.au/the-anazao-ministry-model/