Christian Counseling. A Comprehensive Guide

Abstract

This manuscript was completed and sent to the publisher exactly ten years after the completion of my first book. It is interesting for me to look back over a decade of writing to ponder how my work has changed and hopefully improved through the production of more than two dozen books. Some of these works have been well received and sold many copies; others have had less influence, but each has forced me to face the dis cipline, the long, lonely hours, and the risk of expressing ideas in print, where all can see, criticize, and sometimes applaud. I once asked Paul Toumier which of his many books was the best. “That’s easy,” he said with a twinkle in his eye—“the next one.” I can appreciate Toumier’s sentiments. I am not interested in judging whether this book will be better or worse than the next one, but I do know that this volume has been the most difficult to write and the most time- consuming. It is also the lengthiest of all my books. I hope it will also be the most helpful to date. In the following pages I have tried to summarize much of what we know about counseling methodology and about the major problems which peo ple face today. This book has been prepared as a resource tool for pastors and other Christian counselors, as a study guide for lay helpers, and as a textbook for use in seminaries and colleges. Besides being written for these audiences, this is the reading book for a multi-media resource en titled The Christian Counselor's Library. The library contains twenty- eight audio cassettes, a Counselor’s Manual, and counselee worksheets (besides this book), and was produced by Educational Products Division of Word, Incorporated, 4800 W. Waco Drive, Waco, Texas 76710. In the past decade of writing, I have never before felt the support and encouragement of so many people. Joey Paul and his colleagues at Word, Incorporated, first invited me to do this project, gave constant encourage ment, and waited more or less patiently through several delays as the work was completed. My secretary Marlene Terbush and my graduate assistants Charles Romig and James Beesley helped in innumerable ways as did a team of typists which included Kathy Cropp, Marilyn Secor, Lenore Scherrer, Sharon Regan, Nancy Fister and Lora Beth Norton. In addition each of the people who produced tapes made a significant contribution. Their names are listed elsewhere. Dr. Kenneth Meyer, Pres ident of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, my colleagues in the psy chology department, and my students all showed incredible flexibility 7 8 Preface and encouragement, allowing me to juggle my schedule to complete this project in the midst of a busy school year.