Lay Counseling

A handbook on lay counseling including an overview and how-to information for leaders and lay counselors, Reverend Siang-Yang Tan's helpful book also includes a forward by Gary R. Collins.

This one of a kind resource provides pastors, church leaders, and non-professional counselors with everything they need to establish a program for lay counseling. This new edition has been thoroughly revised and updated in light of fresh research and outlines a practical training resource that can be used to train and equip lay counselors. Filled with useful forms and questionnaires, it also provides a helpful and comprehensive survey of the programs and resources that are currently available.

A client raises spiritual questions. Can a Christian therapist working in a government agency talk with a client about faith? A young couple with two children asks a Christian counselor to help them negotiate an end to their marriage. What responsibility does the counselor have to try to repair the relationship? A youth group member confidentially reveals to the pastor that he is taking drugs. Should the pastor tell the boy's parents? A counselor who teaches a college course has a client show up for class. What should she do? These are just a few of the complex dilemmas that therapists, counselors and pastors face nearly every day. Handling these situations appropriately is critical for both the client's progress and the professional's personal credibility and protection from liability. State and federal codes, professional association statements and denominational guidelines have been drawn up to address ethical issues like competence, confidentiality, multiple relationships, public statements, third parties and documentation. In this book you'll find them all compiled and interpreted in light of Christian faith and practice. Written by qualified professional counselors and respected academic instructors, this book is an indispensable resource for understanding and applying ethics in Christian counseling today.

Vol. 2: Richard J. Wicks and Richard D. Parsons, editors. Vol. 2-3 lack edition statement. Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Are Christian treatments as effective as secular treatments? What is the evidence to support its success? Christians engaged in the fields of psychology, psychotherapy and counseling are living in a unique moment. Over the last couple decades, these fields have grown more and more open to religious belief and religion-accommodative therapies. At the same time, Christian counselors and psychotherapists encounter pressure (for example, from insurance companies) to demonstrate that their accommodative therapies are as beneficial as secular therapies. This raises the need for evidence to support Christian practices and treatments. The essays gathered in this volume explore evidence-based Christian treatments, practices, factors and principles. The authors mine the relevant research and literature to update practicing psychotherapists, clinical researchers, students, teachers and educated laypersons about the efficacy of certain Christian-accommodative therapies. Topics covered in the book include: devotional meditation cognitive-behavior therapy psychodynamic and process-experiential therapies couples, marriage and family therapy group intervention The book concludes with a review of the evidence for the various treatments discussed in the chapters, a guide for conducting clinical trials that is essential reading for current or aspiring researchers, and reflections by the editors about the future of evidence-based Christian practices. As the editors say, "more research is necessary." To that end, this volume is a major contribution to a field of inquiry that, while still in its infancy, promises to have enormous implications for future work in Christian counseling and psychotherapy. Christian Association for Psychological Studies (CAPS) Books explore how Christianity relates to mental health and behavioral sciences including psychology, counseling, social work, and marriage and family therapy in order to equip Christian clinicians to support the well-being of their clients.

Did you know the last fight you had with your spouse began long before you even met? Are you tired of falling into frustrating relational patterns in your marriage? Do you and your spouse fight about the same things again and again? Relationship experts Milan and Kay Yerkovich explain why the ways you and your spouse relate to each other go back to before you even met. Drawing on the powerful tool of attachment theory, Milan and Kay explore how your childhood created an “intimacy imprint” that affects your marriage today. Their stories and practical ideas help you: * identify your personal love style * understand how your early life impacts you and your spouse * break free from painful patterns that keep you stuck * find healing for the source of conflict, not just the symptoms * create the close, nourishing relationship you dream about Revised throughout with all-new material and additional visual diagrams, this expanded edition of How We Love will bring vibrant life to your marriage. Are you ready for a new journey of love? Note: The revised and expanded How We Love Workbook is available separately.

“I am thrilled to know that The Complete Book of Everyday Christianity is being relaunched. A well-worn first edition of this book sits next to my office desk and I consult it often. There is no better collection of everyday issues examined from a Christian perspective. A wide variety of topics are addressed with a cleverly balanced combination of academic and practical perspectives, informed by thoughtful biblical and theological reflection. This is a wonderfully useful tool. I am pleased that it will be available to resource a new generation of Christians who are eager to understand more about what it means to follow Christ in every aspect of life.” — Alistair Mackenzie, Senior Lecturer: School of Theology, Mission and Ministry, Laidlaw College, Christchurch, New Zealand. Also Director of Faith at Work (NZ)