A mini-book written to help people (and their friends and family) who have been diagnosed with a mental disorder. If you’ve just been diagnosed with a mental disorder, you may be feeling overwhelmed and have all kinds of questions. In this mini-book, Christine Chappell writes out of her own experience of diagnosis and offers readers a redemptive perspective from which to begin processing their nuanced problems. Cautioning against a “fix it” mentality, she shows how the Scriptures provide stabilizing truths about our personhood, purpose, and potential for making God-glorifying progress during the challenging post-diagnosis journey.

An authority on mental illness from a spiritual perspective. This dark topic is presented with depth, insight and in a compelling way. It is a very encouraging and uplifting book. A must buy. Great for carers, leaders and sufferers.

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. For over four decades, biblical theology has been at the core of the biblical counseling movement. Leaders in biblical counseling have emphasized a commitment to teaching doctrine in their counseling courses out of the conviction that good theology leads to good counseling…and bad theology leads to bad counseling. A Theology of Biblical Counseling is a landmark new book that covers the history of the biblical counseling movement, the core convictions that underlie sound counseling, and practical wisdom for counseling today. Dr. Heath Lambert shows how biblical counseling is rooted in the Scriptures while illustrating the real challenges counselors face today through true stories from the counseling room. A substantive textbook written in accessible language, it is an ideal resource for use in training biblical counselors at colleges, seminaries, and training institutes. In each chapter, doctrine comes to life in real ministry to real people, dramatically demonstrating how theology intersects with the lives of actual counselees.

Integrate Biblical spirituality into psychotherapy and examine centuries-old answers to modern psychological questions! The Joint Commision on the Accreditation of Hospitals now mandates taking spiritual assessments of all patients. This book is devoted to helping therapists employ Biblical spirituality in the actual treatment program. Biblical Stories for Psychotherapy and Counseling: A Sourcebook organizes the wisdom of the Old Testament into episodes that can shed light on specific psychological issues. From the familiar to the obscure, these stories can help us better understand self-esteem, loyalty and obligations, decision making, temptation, anger, morality, various disorders, family dynamics, support systems, developmental issues, recovery issues, aging, suicidal behavior, and more. From the authors: As brilliant and as penetrating as Freud's insights are, they are limited in the sense that Freud relied heavily on Greek myth and literature for his models and ideas. His view of man was in many ways that of the Greeksa view that concentrated on the pathological underside of man and on the bedrock of his developmental problems. The Greeks could never really shake the sense of doom, the foreboding and the fatalism that led so many great figures in Greek literature and in real life Greek history to depression and, in a surprising number of cases, to suicide. In contrast, the focus of the Bible is far more optimistic; depression can be successfully dealt with, and suicide is a sad error that should beand usually can beavoided. It encourages people to hope and teaches that day-to-day human effort has a purpose and meaning and that heroism is not a fair or useful aim for man to set for himself. The Bible offers the hope of filling every moment of human life with greater meaning and feeling. New solutions to mental health problems are always welcome. Ours is a new approach, yet a very old one. We present stories that offer a vast treasure of knowledge and wisdom about the way people think and act, and why they do so. The stories are drawn from the Hebrew Bible, a compendium whose latest books are already twenty-four hundred or so years old. Yet, through all those centuries, the basic story of man's searching and yearning has changed little. We shall concentrate on the psychological meaning of these narratives and what they tell us about how their characters dealt with challenges of family, handicap, depression, and more. You'll also find information drawn from modern clinical research that parallels the Biblical narratives. The wisdom gained from these ancient stories is applied to help people gain self-understanding and deal with their own situations today. For psychotherapists, these Biblical foundation stories can be used as a basis for integrating spirituality into psychotherapy. The story of Moses, who overcame a speech problem, can be applied to the problems of a Midwestern college student, and the account of David and Goliath can help a businessman overcome his fears of lack of macho. A small sample of the Bible storiesand their clinical implicationsthat you'll find in this volume: the foundation of self-esteem: Saul the courage to emigrate: Abraham assuming responsibility for one's self: Lot's wife focusing on one's main aim: Sarah and Hagar dealing with commandments: Abraham and Isaac dealing with temptations: Adam and Eve drunkenness and disrespect: Noah reciprocity between generations: Naomi and Ruth amoral intellectualism: Balaam aging: Ecclesiastes dealing with disability: Moses and Aaron abandonment: David protected regression: Jonah Biblical Stories for Psychotherapy and Counseling: A Sourcebook will become a well-used reference in your professional/teaching collection. These Biblical stories will be helpful to therapists, cle

We live in a broken world, beset with overwhelming problems: disease, pain, death, sorrow, sin and mental illness--clinical depression, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, schizophrenia, and panic attacks. Our culture assumes people diagnosed with mental illness are stuck, doomed to struggle for the rest of their lives against a problem without ever experiencing real and lasting change. As Christians we know better. The world is broken, but God has invaded that world with the power, light, and hope of his Son Jesus Christ. Whether you're tormented with panic attacks or thinking of committing suicide, Jesus can help.

The Bible has been the subject of much debate and scrutiny throughout history. Some have hailed it as the inspired word of God, while others have dismissed it as nothing more than a collection of myths and legends. In this book, we will take a closer look at the evidence for the Bible's inspiration, inerrancy, authenticity, and truthfulness. We will examine the historical, archaeological, and scientific evidence that supports the Bible's claims and explore the arguments of those who challenge its validity. Throughout the pages of this book, we will delve into the complex and often controversial issues surrounding the Bible. We will explore the historical context in which the Bible was written and the evidence that supports its authenticity. We will examine the scientific accuracy of the Bible and the ways in which it has stood the test of time. We will also explore the many claims of inerrancy and inspiration that have been made about the Bible and consider the arguments of those who challenge these claims. Ultimately, the goal of this book is to provide a comprehensive and objective examination of the evidence for the Bible's inspiration, inerrancy, authenticity, and truthfulness. Whether you are a devout believer or a skeptic, this book will provide you with the information you need to make an informed and reasoned judgment about the Bible. So come along on this journey as we explore the evidence for the Bible's place in history and its relevance in our lives today.