Counseling Religion

Worship leader and recording artist Laura Story's life took an unexpected turn when her husband, Martin, was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Their lives would never be the same. Yes, with God all things are possible. But the devastating news was that no cure existed to restore Martin's short-term memory, eyesight, and other complications. The fairy-tale life Laura had dreamed of was no longer possible. And yet in struggling with God about how to live with broken dreams, Laura has found joy and a deeper intimacy with Jesus.

We're all infected with a spiritual disease. Its name is shame. Whether we realize it or not, shame affects every aspect of our personal lives and vocational endeavors. It seeks to destroy our identity in Christ, replacing it with a damaged version of ourselves that results in unhealed pain and brokenness. But God is telling a different story for your life. Psychiatrist Curt Thompson unpacks the soul of shame, revealing its ubiquitous nature and neurobiological roots. He also provides the theological and practical tools necessary to dismantle shame.

Therapeutic counseling in a Christian context can be highly effective when it maintains narrowly focused goals in a time-limited setting. The details of this proven model of pastoral counseling are described in this practical guide. This second edition of Strategic Pastoral Counseling has been thoroughly revised and includes two new chapters. Benner includes helpful case studies, a new appendix on contemporary ethical issues, and updated chapter bibliographies. His study will continue to serve clergy and students well as a valued practical handbook on pastoral care and counseling.

Many pastors and lay counselors have had minimal training in clinical methods of grief and trauma counseling. The Complete Guide to Crisis and Trauma Counseling is a biblical, practical guide to pastoral counseling written by one of the most respected Christian therapists of our time. Dr. H. Norman Wright brings more than 40 years of clinical and classroom experience to this topic. He shares real-life dialogues from his decades in private practice to demonstrate healthy, healing counseling sessions.

This one of a kind resource provides pastors, church leaders, and non-professional counselors with everything they need to establish a program for lay counseling. This new edition has been thoroughly revised and updated in light of fresh research and outlines a practical training resource that...

We might be relieved if God placed our sanctification only in the hands of trained professionals, but that is not his plan. Instead, through the ministry of every part of the body, the whole church will mature in Christ. Paul David Tripp helps us discover where change is needed in our own lives and the lives of others. Following the example of Jesus, Tripp reveals how to get to know people, and how to lovingly speak truth to them.

Biblical counselors have worked for decades to demonstrate that God’s resources in scripture are sufficient to help people with their counseling-related problems. In Counseling the Hard Cases, editors Stuart Scott and Heath Lambert use the true stories of real patients to show how the truths of God’s word can be released to bring help, hope, and healing into the lives of those who struggle with some of the most difficult psychiatric diagnoses.

A friend feels rejected. A counselee is angry. A church member's child is ill. You want to help, but where do you begin? Author and counselor Michael R. Emlet outlines a model of one-another ministry based on how God sees and loves his people primarily as saints, while bringing comfort to the sufferer, and faithfully speaking truth to the sinner. Filled with everyday illustrations as well as counseling examples, Emlet demonstrates what it looks like to approach fellow believers simultaneously as saints, sufferers, and sinners.

The work of psychotherapy and counseling is full of ethical challenges and dilemmas. Responding to these situations with wisdom is critical, not only for the professional's credibility, but also for good therapeutic relationships and positive treatment outcomes. Since its first publication, Christian Counseling Ethics has become a standard reference work for Christian psychologists, counselors, and pastors, and a key text at Christian universities and seminaries. This thoroughly revised edition retains core material on counseling ethics that has made it so valuable in a variety of settings.

While many books have tried to integrate theology and psychology, this book takes another step and explores the importance of the spiritual disciplines in psychotherapy, helping counselors to integrate the biblical principles of forgiveness, redemption, restitution, prayer, and worship into their counseling techniques. Since its first publication in 1996, this book has quickly become a contemporary classic—a go-to handbook for integrating what we know is true from the disciplines of theology and psychology and how that impacts your daily walk with God.

Pastors and counselors regularly minister to people whose marriages or families are in crisis. Tempers run high and feelings are brought low when a marriage is hurting or a family is in disarray. Pastors and counselors need practical, biblical help in order to connect their theological training to the reality of modern messy relationships.

Many parents struggle in raising their teens because they fail to transition from seeing them as children to seeing them as adults-in-training. Progressively giving teens more control over their lives reduces stress and prepares your teen for maturity as an adult. In Feeding the Mouth that Bites You, Dr. Ken Wilgus outlines a clear path to help parent teens in today’s world. Engaging, accessible, and based on Dr. Wilgus’ thirty-five years of clinical family work, teaching on parenting―and successfully raising three teens of his own―you’ll find this guide immensely practical.

When people treat you wrongly, insult you, or are outright sinful to you, how do you react? Are you satisfied to hold grudges against those who wrong you, as long as they don't lead to action? Unfortunately, your decision to harbor bitterness is just as much of a sin as the one originally committed against you, and your reaction to others' sin is a spiritual battle you are called on to win.

Since the beginning of the biblical counseling movement in 1970, biblical counselors have argued that counseling is a ministry of the Word, just like preaching or missions. As a ministry, counseling must be defined according to sound biblical theology rather than secular principles of psychology...

When someone suffers through trauma, can healing happen? And, if yes, how does it happen? Dr. Diane Langberg tackles these complex and difficult questions with the insights she has gained through more than 40 years of counseling those whose lives have been destroyed by trauma and abuse. Her answer carefully explained in Suffering and the Heart of God is Yes, what trauma destroys, Jesus can and does restore.

Each day men and women diagnosed with mental disorders are told they need to pray more and turn from their sin. Mental illness is equated with demonic possession, weak faith, and generational sin. As both a church leader and a professor of psychology and behavioral sciences, Michael S. Stanford has seen far too many mentally ill brothers and sisters damaged by well-meaning believers who respond to them out of fear or misinformation rather than grace. Grace for the Afflicted educates Christians about mental illness from both biblical and scientific perspectives.

Lament is how we bring our sorrow to God - but it is a neglected dimension of the Christian life for many Christians today. We need to recover the practice of honest spiritual struggle that gives us permission to vocalize our pain and wrestle with our sorrow. Lament avoids trite answers and quick solutions, progressively moving us toward deeper worship and trust.

Caring for the Souls of Children equips counselors, parents, pastors, and other helpers who love children, to boldly trust in the sufficiency of Scripture for counseling. Edited by counselor and author Amy Baker, this in-depth resource begins with an overview of foundational principles for counseling children and addresses a different counseling topic in each subsequent chapter.

Many churches would like to start a counseling ministry, but they don’t know where to start. Mobilizing Church-Based Counseling offers direction to churches for creating a ministry built around lay-led counseling groups and mentoring. Based on proven models used in his own congregation, Brad Hambrick lays out a clear plan to launch a sustainable soul-care ministry that can be replicated in churches of any size.

We need companions on our spiritual journey. The modern world has taught us to value autonomy and individualism. Our churches often see spirituality as personal and private. But we cannot go long in our Christian pilgrimage before realizing that isolation leads to spiritual barrenness. We soon discover that our souls long for accompaniment, intimacy, and spiritual friendship. As a result, many Christians today are rediscovering the ancient practice of spiritual direction.