Kelly Johnson, who is married to House Speaker Mike Johnson, practices an ancient form of Christian counseling that classifies people into 'choleric', 'phlegmatic,' and other personality types purportedly ordained by God

Newly-elected House Speaker Mike Johnson and his wife Kelly are seen here in 2018 as he signs paperwork to run for reelection.

Melinda Deslatte/AP

• Kelly Johnson, the wife of House Speaker Mike Johnson, was a Christian therapist.
• Johnson advertised a specialty in temperament therapy, a practice linked to a group founded in the 1980s.
• Its practices are built on the teachings of the Greek physician Hippocrates.

Kelly Johnson, the wife of the newly elected House speaker, ran a Christian counseling service that is affiliated with an organization that advocates against abortion and homosexuality and whose practices are built on the teachings of the Greek physician Hippocrates.

It is not clear if Kelly Johnson will continue her practice. Not long after Rep. Mike Johnson became House speaker last week, Kelly Johnson's website became inaccessible. Johnson, her husband of more than 24 years, rose overnight from a virtually obscure House lawmaker to the position that is second in line to the presidency.  The couple is deeply religious; both Kelly and Mike Johnson previously worked with religious organizations and causes the religious right advocates for. Along with her counseling, Johnson is also listed as an advisor to the Louisiana Right for Life, an anti-abortion organization. 

Kelly Johnson's website listed a specialty in Temperament counseling, a specialty that she received training for from an organization founded in the 1980s by a Christian couple. According to the materials the organization provides, the National Christian Counselor's Association is adamant that its offerings take place outside of more traditional state-licensed settings so that counselors and clients can be fully engaged through their faith.

"The state licensed professional counselor in certain states is forbidden to pray, read or refer to the Holy Scriptures, counsel against things such as homosexuality, abortion, etc," a catalog of the organization's offerings states. "Initiating such counsel could be considered unethical by the state."

The temperament-based approach breaks people down into five types: Melancholy, Choleric, Sanguine, Supine, and Phlegmatic. Richard and Phyllis Arno, who established a test to identify people's temperament, founded the National Christian Counselors Association in the early 1980s. They and their advocates prefer the term temperament over personalities as the term personality is characterized as a "mask" while temperaments are "inborn" and thus inherent to each individual regardless of outside influences such as parenting. Their work is largely based on Hippocrates' view that there were four temperaments.

Tim LaHaye, a controversial and influential figure on the evangelical right, pointed to Hippocrates' beliefs when he began his own work in the 60s and 70s. The Arnos cited LaHaye in one of their books. LaHaye was vehemently opposed to LGBTQ people, writing an entire book on why he believed gay people were depressed because homosexuality was immoral and antithetical to the Bible. According to The New York Times, LaHaye's anti-Catholic and antisemitic writings led him to step down from an honorary position leading Congressman Jack Kemp's 1988 GOP primary campaign. LaHaye later pushed President George W. Bush's election in 2000 and worked with then-Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in the 2008 presidential primaries. LeHaye became enormously popular and wealthy later in his life after he penned a series of apocalyptic novels. 

One post for an affiliated counselor on the organization's website describes a deliverance ministry in addition to temperament testing. Using this approach to drive demons out of a client makes sure the person is "better able to receive and act upon godly counsel, including recommendations from the APS profiles." (APS profiles are the abbreviation for the couple's temperament testing system.)

Not all Christian counseling is created the same. Some more traditional counselors may add Biblical elements to science-based approaches, while others counseling might take the form of pastoral guidance, and some reject more science-based approaches in favor of a faith-based model that emphasizes the power of God and scripture. 

It's not entirely clear where Johnson falls on this informal scale. She has a Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education from Louisiana Tech and a Master's in Education from Centenary College. In a personal testimonial, Johnson wrote about "deliverance through extraordinary trials, including her recovery from a broken neck in a 2007 car accident and other serious health challenges." Her counseling, which had a varying fee structure, was affiliated with Cypress Baptist Church in Benton, La., which according to Louisiana Baptist Message is where the couple attends services. Their church, in keeping with the denomination's views, proclaims it is welcoming to all, but makes it clear it "recognizes only the biblical definition of marriage" and only sex through marriage.

The organization does advise counselors to follow some elements of more traditional counseling, including maintaining the confidentiality of what is discussed. Counselors are also advised to hold malpractice insurance.  A representative for the organization did not immediately return Insider's request for comment.

The Johnsons are deeply religious and have both publicly professed their "biblical worldview." The future House speaker rose to fame in the 1990s when he and Kelly became de facto spokespeople for "covenant marriages," a special agreement offered in some states that makes it more difficult for married couples to get a divorce. Johnson later cut his teeth as a litigator seeking to advance school prayer and defend bans on same-sex marriage. He also served in a leadership role with the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in the US. Before his rapid political rise, Johnson wrote frequent guest columns for his local newspaper in which he questioned LGBT Americans, as CNN previously reported. At one point, he wrote in favor of criminalizing gay sex.

Johnson said on Thursday night that he now views the issue of same-sex marriage as settled law after the Supreme Court's landmark Obergefell v. Hodges ruling. He said he has nothing personally against LGBTQ people, he just questions "their lifestyle choices."

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