Introduction to Christian Counseling – Course Book (Print)

Christian counseling is as old as are the needs of men for direction. It is best called teaching, mentoring, comforting, encouraging, and correcting. The more biblically centered counseling is the more Christian based it becomes. The purpose of this book is to further enable you to be a better servant in comforting, healing, and instructing people who cry out for help.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Part One: Fundamentals of Christian Counseling

I. Guiding Principles of Christian Counseling. . . . . . . 1
II. The Distinctiveness of Christian Counseling. . . . . . 11
III. The Nature of Christian Counseling. . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
IV. The Basic Needs of People. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
V. The Qualities of a Christian Counselor. . . . . . . . . . . 39
VI. The Preparation of a Christian Counselor. . . . . . . . . 47

Part Two: Practical Guidelines in Christian Counseling

VII. Pre-Counseling Interviews.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
VIII. The Counselor and Counselee Relationships. . . . . . 71
IX. Productive Counseling.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
X. The Responsibilities of a Counselee. . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
XI. Advances in Christian Counseling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
XII. Questions Christian Counselors Ask.. . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Part Three: Case Studies in Christian Counseling

XIII. Case Studies in Pre-Marital Counseling. . . . . . . . . . 143
XIV. Case Studies in Marital Counseling. . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
XV. Case Studies in Parental Counseling. . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
XVI. Case Studies in Wholeness Counseling.. . . . . . . . . . 173
XVII. Case Studies in Member-to-Member Counseling...... ... ... ... . . 185
XVIII. Case Studies in Leadership Counseling. . . . . . . . . . 196
Appendix: Survey Training Programs, Servant Profiles, Testing Programs.... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 207
Bibliography.... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... . 212

INTRODUCTION:

Christian counseling is as old as are the needs of men for direction. It is best called teaching, mentoring, comforting, encouraging, and correcting. The more biblically centered counseling is themoreChristian based it becomes. The purpose of this book is to further enable you to be a better servant in comforting, healing, and instructing people who cry out for help.

This introductory book is divided into three parts of six chapters each. The first part focuses on the Basic Principles in
Christian counseling that distinguish it from secular counseling. The second part focuses on Practical Guidelines that, when
applied, will enhance the mission of Christian counseling. The third part presents Case Studies in Christian counseling gleaned over many years of experience in helping people. People who effectively help people have given considerable attention to acquiring sufficient understanding and application of some basic principles. The first twelve chapters of this book define those principles.