What does authentic Christian counseling look like in practice?This volume explores how five major perspectives on the interface of Christianity and psychology would each actually be applied in a clinical setting. Respected experts associated with each of the perspectives depict how to assess, conceptualize, counsel and offer aftercare to Jake, a hypothetical client with a variety of complex issues. In each case the contributors seek to explain how theory can translate into real-life counseling scenarios. This book builds on the framework of Eric L. Johnson's Psychology Christianity: Five Views. These include the Levels-of-Explanation Approach, the Integration Approach, the Christian Psychology Approach, the Transformational Approach and the Biblical Counseling Approach. While Counseling and Christianity can be used independently of Johnson's volume, the two can also function as useful companions. Christians who counsel, both those in practice and those still in training, will be served by this volume as it strengthens the connections between theory and practice in relating our faith to the mental health disciplines. They will finally get an answer to their persistent but unanswered question: "e;What would that counseling view look like behind closed doors?"e;

Foreword1. Setting the Stage for the Five Approaches2. Moving Models into Practice3. A Levels of Explanation Approach by Thomas G. Plante4. An Integration Approach by Mark McMinn5. A Christian Psychology Approach by Diane Langberg6. A Transformational Approach by Gary Moon7. A Biblical Counseling Approach by Stuart W. Scott8. Distinctives and Dialogue9. Conceptualization and Contextualization10. Case Scenarios for Further ExplorationAuthor IndexSubject Index