Christian Counseling 3rd Edition: Revised and Updated

Years ago, I was cleaning out over forty years of Elder’s files for the congregation where I attend. I was looking for sensitive information like names, addresses and phone numbers to shred. I came across a letter written to the elders by a former member who had decided to leave the church. I am always interested in knowing the reasons people would give to leave the church. In the letter I found, a woman cited her reason for leaving was that the Minister acted unprofessional in counseling for her needs. Normally a letter like this could be brushed off as an expression of sour grapes or a matter of personal preference. I knew this minister and he often treated church members in a condescending fashion, especially when they disagreed with him. Later, he was the cause of a mass exodus of twenty-three church families from the congregation that felt the same way as this woman. Perhaps, if this minister had read Collins, Gary Christian Counseling, A Comprehensive Guide. Thomas Nelson, 2007, this series of unfortunate events might have turned out differently. The author, Gary R. Collins is a licensed psychologist and is co-founder of the American Association of Christian Counselors. He keeps informed about current counseling trends while editing Christian Counseling Today magazine. His book, Christian Counseling, is a comprehensive guide written to help church leaders in counseling work. This massive volume registers at 976 pages of small type print and includes every conceivable issue that a Christian counselor might face. The author even has two special chapters on other issues and counseling waves of the future to address areas that might have been missed in other counseling books because they do not fall into a category large enough to address alone.Since this book is so long and large, I found the type and text difficult to read. I considered it a personal challenge to finish reading through the entire text. In fact, I now feel that I can read any other book that appears challenging in volume size with small text.There is much to recommend in reading such a difficult book. I discussed the writing with family and friends while working to understand sensitive issues like depression, anxiety, guilt, forgiveness, sex apart from marriage, abuse and neglect. These are subjects that enslave many people but this book was written to set souls free from these burdens.The book works best for me as a reference guide. At the close of each chapter, Gary Collins includes a section called Key Points for Busy Counselors. The key points listed usually summarize fifteen to twenty pages of a chapter. I find it helpful to refer back to these key points as topics for future reference.My favorite chapter, called the Counselor and Counseling places a strong emphasis on pre-counseling preparation. The section advises readers about preparation techniques to help present themselves as professionals while counseling. What I especially found refreshing was a strong emphasis on prayer and biblical scripture reading used in preparation before seeing a new client. This type of preparation can set the tone for future counseling sessions while letting the counselee know that there is structure and spiritual guidance required to be in partnership with God, the Son and the Holy Spirit.A complete notes section in the back of the book lists scripture references the author used to teach Christian counselor etiquette. This sets the Christian counseling session apart from a secular counselor’s approach that looks to the counselor, rather than including God as the final authority.In a book this size, there is some duplicity. At times, I found myself with the feeling of déjà vu as I read chapters on family issues, interpersonal issues and control issues where the writing seemed to overlap in language, technique and counseling method. If a person only read partial sections of the book this process of duplicity would be fine.Still, I found some refreshing ideas that I discovered that could be of help to Christian counselors. It can be easy to get into a self- diagnosis mode while reading about subjects that are close to home. One example is the subject of how to handle the difficulty of change. All of us are going through changes; some subtle and other changes are glaring. Managing change poorly can make the counselor feel like a hypocrite. While trying to guide people toward lasting change, it can be easy for the counselor to backslide into advising people to do as I say, not as I do. Struggles like weight gain, financial difficulty and marital relations need to be corrected at the counselor level before any success can be achieved with others caught in similar struggles.Gary Collins reminds us that counseling is about stories. Personal stories he uses at the beginning of each chapter often fall flat when I compare them to other Christian counseling books. However, these stories force the reader to engage in personal introspection as you start to read each chapter. I found myself doing much soul searching while reading this book.Despite the size and difficulty in reading the manuscript, I would highly recommend that a reader make the effort to read the complete the text. A major take away I get from this book is found in the scripture reading of (Matt. 7:7-8 NIV). Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Unlike the minister in our story, we do not need to counsel people alone. Instead, I believe that God will find a way through us, if we trust in Him from the beginning.

Great book has lots of information on counciling with the right way to handle most situations

Using this book for a class. It covers all the bases.

I read this book cover-to -cover years after accepting my call to ministry. How I wish it would have been available decades earlier. This text should be required reading for everyone who senses God’s call to ministry. Learn from a professional who speaks candidly about the glamorous and gloomy sides of ministry.

I am retiring as a school counselor and plan to work for my church as a counselor. I wanted to reorient a bit and review some basic counseling techniques from a Christian perspective. This is a great book. The author is easy to read and its written at the appropriate level for someone beginning in Christian counseling- but is also a good resource for someone who has been a counselor for a few years.

I read about this book because I had heard about Gary Collins (the author) in another book I was reading. The idea of counseling had never crossed my mind, but I figured hey, I may as well try to learn about it a bit. I can't say I understood everything from the book but I feel like I learned a lot and will reference it in the future.

This is a great book! I used it fir 2 classes and as a reference in my profession. It’s worth every penny!

Love the book

Christian Counselling is both a study and reference book best described as essential in today’s complex realm of psychology. The Christian counsellor is unique from the secular counsellor in that we acknowledge and live in the field of spirituality with a higher code of moral ethics and lifestyles that are surprisingly compassionate and accepting. From the basics of counselling on depression, abuse, grief, aging to the modern effects of technology, terrorism, wealth, fame and the change of Church this is thee comprehensive guide that with a Themed Christian Bible Concordance gives a solid base upon which to grow as an effective counsellor. A must have book for Pastors and those of high sensitivity who interact with empathy in our ever changing society, from the individual to group counselling sessions.

It's a great resource. Bought it for the St John's Counselling course. Now it is very much a library book. Havn't read it all as it is sooo big.

very good

Excellent book for the Christian counselling course I undertook. I would certainly recommend it.

A very good book would recommend it to Christian counsellors.