. . these are not just diagnoses from the DSM; they are part of our everyday vocabulary and understanding of people. As Christians, how should we think about psychiatric diagnoses and their associated treatments? We can t afford to isolate ourselves and simply dismiss these categories as unbiblical. Nor can we afford to accept the entire secular psychiatric diagnostic and treatment enterprise at face value as though Scripture is irrelevant for these complex struggles. Instead, we need a balanced, biblically (and scientifically!) informed approach that is neither too warmly embracing nor too coldly dismissive of psychiatric labels and the psychiatric medications that are often prescribed. Biblical counselor and retired physician, Michael R. Emlet, gives readers a helpful way forward on these important issues as he guides lay and professional helpers in the church through the thicket of mental health diagnoses and treatments in a clear, thoughtful primer in which the Bible informs our understanding of psychiatric diagnoses and the medications that are often recommended based on those labels. This first book in the Helping the Helper series will give readers biblical, gospel-formed categories that will help them understand and minister to those who are struggling with mental health issues.

    Some of these pieces exegete Scripture with a counseling perspective, while others recast specific "psychological" problems.

    Paul David Tripp and Timothy S. Lane collaborate to expose the heart issues at stake and help people to make real, lasting change. These answers, the authors assert, lie in appropriating the fullness of the grace and freedom of Jesus in new ways that offer radically more hope than conventional models.

    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.From pastors and academics to physicians and psychiatrists, a world-class team of contributing counselors share accounts of Scripture having helped overcome bipolar, dissociative identity, and obsessive compulsive disorders, postpartum depression, panic attacks, addiction, issues from childhood sexual abuse, homosexuality, and more.The book also shows how the graces of Christ, as revealed in the Bible, brought powerful spiritual change to the lives of such people who seemed previously burdened beyond hope by mental and emotional roadblocks.Contributors include John Babler, Ph.D., Kevin Carson, D.Min., Laura Hendrickson, M.D., Garrett Higbee, Psy.D., Robert Jones, D.Min., Martha Peace, RN, Steve Viars, D.Min., and Dan Wickert, M.D.

    Why Does It Have to Hurt? The Meaning of Christian Suffering

    They are living, complex things that grow and change. Sometimes they fly so high we scrape the top of heaven. Sometimes they barely make it off the ground. Sometimes they feel buried under the ground. What hope do we have of understanding ourselves when we are so changeable? And what hope do we have for lasting change when our response to life is so different from one day to the next? But God designed our hearts to be both varied and varying, and he delights in his craftsmanship. He made our hearts to respond to life in a wide, beautiful spectrum of thought, desire, and choice. This spectrum bends, adapts, expands, and contracts as it dynamically responds to changing situations. The goal of change is not to flatten this variety, but to guide our responses so they reflect who we are in Christ. Jesus perfectly lived his humanity out as a dynamic being. Now as our risen Savior, he redeems all of human experience for his purposes. Without a holistic understanding of people, our approach to those in need of help will be lopsided, focusing on just one aspect of human experienceperhaps simply trying to correct faulty thinking, to stir different emotions, or to correct wrong actions. Focusing on one of these aspects of human experience to the exclusion of the others does not do justice to Gods design. Jeremy Pierre, in this ground-breaking book, lays out a holistic understanding of who we are and how we change through a dynamic relationship with Christ. Every day our dynamic hearts need help from our dynamic Savior. As Dr. Pierre connects the realities of our changing and complex thoughts, desires, emotions, and actions to who we are in Christ, readers will gain a more complete understanding of who we are, who God is, and how change happens in

    Depression is not new though, indeed the "Prince of Preachers" C.H. Spurgeon struggled with depression and talked openly about it. Here Zack Eswine draws from Spurgeon's experiences to encourage us. What Spurgeon found in his darkness can serve as a light in our own darkness. This is not a self-help guide, but rather "a handwritten note of one who wishes you well."

    Based on her 40 years of counseling experience, the author shows how the true work of counselors is tending first to their own souls in relationship to Jesus Christ, since they cannot lead clients where they themselves have not gone first. Change, growth, and spiritual health must be a reality in their lives first, in order to effectively facilitate change, growth, and health in others. Dr. Langberg’s essays are interspersed with quotes from her favorite authors, most of them Puritan pastors and theologians, for 40 days’ worth of readings. Dr. Langberg is a practicing psychologist whose clinical expertise includes 40 years of working with trauma survivors and clergy. She is the director of Diane Langberg, Ph.D. & Associates, a group practice in suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and speaks internationally on topics related to women, trauma, ministry, and the Christian life. Dr. Langberg is a clinical faculty member of Biblical Seminary and is core faculty with Biblical Seminary’s Global Trauma Recovery Institute. She is the author of "Counsel for Pastors’ Wives" (Zondervan), "Counseling Survivors of Sexual Abuse" (Xulon Press), and "On the Threshold of Hope: Opening the Door to Healing for Survivors of Sexual Abuse" (Tyndale House), and is a columnist for Christian Counseling Today. Dr. Langberg is Chair of the Executive Board of the American Association of Christian Counselors, serves on the boards of GRACE (Godly Response to Abuse in a Christian Environment) and the Society for Christian Psychology. She is also founder of The Place of Refuge, an inner city, non-profit trauma and training center. Dr. Langberg is the recipient of the Distinguished Alumna for Professional Achievement Award from Taylor University, the American Association of Christian Counselor’s Caregiver Award, and the Philadelphia Council of Clergy’s Christian Service Award. She is married and has two sons.

    Jay Adams defends the idea that the Bible itself, as God's Word, provides all the principles needed for understanding and engaging in holistic counseling. Using biblically directed discussion, nouthetic counseling works by means of the Holy Spirit to bring about change—both immediate and long-term—in the personality and behavior of the counselee.As he points out in his introduction, "I have been engrossed in the project of developing biblical counseling and have uncovered what I consider to be a number of important scriptural principles. . . There have been dramatic results. . . Not only have people's immediate problems been resolved, but there have also been solutions to all sorts of long-term problems as well."Competent to Counsel has helped thousands of pastors, students, laypersons, and Christian counselors develop:A general approach to (and theology of) Christian counseling.Specific, practical responses to particular problems useful for teaching, study, and personal application.Since its first publication in 1970, this book has gone through over thirty printings. It establishes the basis for and an introduction to a counseling approach that is being used in pastors' studies, in counseling centers, and across dining room tables throughout the country and around the world.

    Dr. Ed Welch writes compassionately on the complex nature of depression and sheds light on the path toward deep, lasting healing. Welch considers the spiritual, medical, and emotional factors that contribute to depression. Even more important is his insight into the impact of these factors' interaction.

    God radically changes people, and he offers us the opportunity--and the ability, by his power--to be involved in that change. We can live not just as grateful objects of his love but as effective instruments of his love in the lives of the people around us. Have you been satisfied by too little? Content with small changes in your life and the lives of others? Unsure of how to help others and uncomfortable when you encounter their needs? You don't need to start with a strategy or technique, Tripp argues--you need a renewed imagination! Only then can you grasp what is real but unseen and live accordingly. The kingdom of God is near, and it takes us far beyond our personal situations and relationships, making ordinary people a part of God's extraordinary plan for the world. This guidebook shows us how.

    Good Mood, Bad Mood; examines whether we are in an epidemic or if we have simply misdiagnosed common sadness as depression. Current research in the medical community seems to indicate that the criteria we use to diagnose depression has resulted in an increased and incorrect labeling of common sadness as depression. While medical treatment is now the commonly accepted way to deal with pain and sadness, its promise has not been fulfilled. In Good Mood, Bad Mood, Dr. Charles Hodges offers an explanation to help the reader see the importance of sadness and the hope that God gives us in His Word.

    Serious, divisive conflict is everywhere-within families, in the church, and out in the world. And it can seem impossible to overcome its negative force in our lives. 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 readers beyond resolving conflicts to true, life-changing reconciliation with family members, coworkers, and fellow believers.Biblically based, The Peacemaker is full of godly wisdom and useful suggestions that are easily applied to any relationship needing reconciliation. Sande's years of experience as an attorney and as president of Peacemaker Ministries will strengthen readers' confidence as they stand in the gap as peacemakers.

    Martyn Lloyd-Jones, each originally delivered at Westminster Chapel in London, carefully and compassionately analyzes an undeniable feature of modern society from which Christians have not escaped -- spiritual depression."Christian people," writes Lloyd-Jones, "too often seem to be perpetually in the doldrums and too often give this appearance of unhappiness and of lack of freedom and absence of joy. There is no question at all but that this is the main reason why large numbers of people have ceased to be interested in Christianity."Believing the Christian joy was one of the most potent factors in the spread of Christianity in the early centuries, Lloyd-Jones not only lays bare the causes that have robbed many Christians of spiritual vitality but also points the way to the cure that is found through the mind and spirit of Christ.

    But too much stress can produce too much adrenaline which can be physically damaging. Utilizing extensive new research, Dr. Hart has discovered the hidden link between adrenaline and stress and shows how to manage adrenaline levels and prevent stress-related illnesses physically, mentally and spiritually.