Handbook for the Christian Counselor

"Christian counseling," or, in other words, the treatment by pastors, elders, or church leaders of the moral and psychological problems of members, is increasingly becoming a task that is as necessary as it is difficult. The Christian "counselor" must be up-to-date and have answers for the difficulties posed by our contemporary society, but must also be clearly rooted in the teachings of God's Word. This work, full of new principles and techniques, all fundamentally based on the Bible, will make the practice of Christian counseling much more rational and effective.

Handbook of Modern Biblical Counseling is Jay E. Adams' key work, in which he develops and substantially expands his method or "school" outlined in his first book, Competent to Counsel. The author himself states:

"Competent to Counsel, while it contained much information about the goals, methods, and processes of counseling, was primarily polemical in nature... It was only an attempt. However, before engaging in battle with adversaries, I felt compelled to do something to meet the frequently expressed need for a practical manual to be available... With the Handbook of Modern Biblical Counseling, I have tried to fill this need." Jay Adams.

The work is divided into three parts:

• In the first part, the author analyzes the different "persons" involved in the counseling process: the counselee, the counselor, and the Holy Spirit as the primary person.
• In the second part, he studies the presuppositions and principles in the practice of counseling, hope, prayer, reconciliation...
• And in the third, he delves into the practical aspects of the process, support, sympathy, love on the part of the counselor, the language to use, questioning, different problems, and examples of specific cases.
• The book is finally complemented by six practical appendices, six reference tables, and several "model" questionnaires; all of them extraordinarily useful in the counseling process.