Counseling Religion

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.

In The Peacemaker, Ken Sande presents a comprehensive and practical theology for conflict resolution designed to bring about not only a cease-fire, but also unity and harmony. Sande takes listeners beyond resolving conflicts to true, life-changing reconciliation with family members, coworkers, and fellow believers.

Jesus was never in a hurry to be anywhere other than where he was, trusting and obeying his Father. Could the same be said of us? We long to know peace, purpose, and contentment, but life's stresses, the world's discouragements, and our own striving for growth get in the way. In Relaxed, pastor and teacher Megan Fate Marshman explores what it means to set aside our addiction to trying to figure everything out and relish a slower, compelling, powerful, and relaxed life with God.

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.

Wrong thinking produces wrong emotions, wrong reactions, wrong behavior - and unhappiness! Learning to deal with your thoughts is the first step on the road to healthy thinking. How to handle one's thoughts properly is what this book is all about! It explains the life-changing method the authors call misbelief therapy, and it can work for you.

Nothing destroys trust like sexual betrayal. Beyond broken vows, a woman who discovers that her husband has been viewing pornography or having an affair must deal with devastating blows to her self-image and self-worth. She must grapple with the fact that the man she thought she knew has lied and deceived her. She may even bear the brunt of shame and judgment when the people around her find out.

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.

In Biblical Counseling and the Church, Bob Kellemen and Kevin Carson have assembled over twenty respected ministry leaders who examine the relationship between counseling and the church. This comprehensive resource, part of the Biblical Counseling Coalition series, helps leaders and counselors develop a vision that goes beyond being a church with a biblical counseling ministry to becoming a church of biblical counseling—a church culture that is saturated by "one-another" ministry.

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.

Two way prayer is an extension of the eleventh step of AA to use prayer and meditation to improve a connection with God on the journey to sobriety. The practice has emerged as a valuable part of the addiction recovery process and has been validated in scientific studies. Priest and recovering alcoholic, Fr. Bill W. offers detailed, step-by-step instructions as well as sample writings that demonstrate how practical, intimate, and transforming this type of prayer can be.

Ours is an age of anxiety. The solution isn't to rid ourselves of the sources of anxiety but to recognize that anxiety originates from a spiritual influence - and then use the weapons of power, love, and a sound mind to fight back and live in God's peace. Sharing her own story of emerging from the battle with anxiety as well as the stories of others, Dr. Michelle Bengtson reminds you of your identity as a follower of Christ and of the peace he promises you in spite of everything.

Our world constantly tells us to "do what feels good", especially when it comes to issues related to sexuality. Sadly, this mind-set always leads to guilt, pain, and heartache. And yet, in the gospel, there is good news for the sexually broken. Pointing listeners to the grace of Jesus Christ, longtime counselor and teacher David Powlison offers hope for both the sexually immoral and the sexually victimized: all brokenness will one day be transformed.

In Effective Biblical Counseling, Gold Medallion Award-winning author Dr. Larry Crabb presents a model of counseling that can be gracefully integrated into the functioning of the local church. He asserts that counseling is simply a relationship between people who care and that its goal is to free people to better worship and serve God.

A diagnosis of dementia in a loved one can be both frightening and frustrating. Only a biblical foundation fuels a Christian response that both honors the patient and glorifies God. Drawing on years of professional experience working with Alzheimer's patients, Dr. John Dunlop wants to transform the way we think about dementia.

Unwanted: How Sexual Brokenness Reveals Our Way to Healing is a groundbreaking resource that explores the "why" behind self-destructive sexual choices. The audiobook is based on research from more than 3,800 men and women seeking freedom from unwanted sexual behavior, be that the use of pornography, an affair, or buying sex.

In dark times, God can seem silent. We feel isolated, confused, and alone. Everyone experiences suffering - even the biblical writers express similar feelings in the Psalms. Through brief meditations on Psalms 88 and 89, Ligon Duncan points to hope in the midst of the pain of feeling abandoned by God. These examples of crying out to God show listeners how to respond to their own suffering, and assure them of our heavenly Father's mercy that sustains trust even in the darkest of circumstances.

Men today are starved for sexual formation. They've been failed by parents, churches, and culture alike, leading to widespread shame, confusion, and brokenness in the area of sexuality. In The Sex Talk You Never Got, therapist Sam Jolman helps men reconnect their God-given sexuality with innocence, awe, and joy, and shows listeners how to celebrate--instead of struggle against--the gift of sexual desire.

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.

Reclaim your joy and thrive through the storms of life when you find your strength in God. The human soul has a built-in yearning for joy and beauty and all good things. But that craving for life is so easily lost in the pace and demands of modern life. Join New York Times bestselling author John Eldredge as he gives you the tools you need to follow Jesus' path of supernatural resilience. Between false promises of ease and comfort on one side and the sheer busyness and stress of daily life on the other, people today are facing a shortage of peace, happiness, and strength.

What makes counseling biblical? What does the biblical counseling process entail? What is the focus of each stage of the process? Lauren Whitman, an experienced CCEF counselor, addresses these questions and more in A Biblical Counseling Process, sharing a process from start to finish that will help guide counselors in reaching the hearts of their counselees and connecting them to Jesus, who brings hope and change.