Customer Reviews

Effective Biblical Counseling: A Model for Helping Caring Christians Become Capable Counselors

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Crabb believes that the local church should assume the responsibility for restoring people who are in need of healing. For too long the church has abdicated this biblical role. He states that there are three levels of counseling. Level I is counseling by encouragement which every member of the church can do by helping hurting people focus on establishing biblical feelings. Level II is counseling by exhortation. This level of counseling requires a good biblical background, it can be done by elders, Sunday School teachers and pastors. Level III is counseling by enlightenment that tries to establish godly behavior through changed thinking.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Larry Crabb's charts give clarity and meaning to his writing. While having a strong biblical basis, Crabb does not ignore the contributions of secular systems of psychology, rather, he puts them thorough the sieve of biblical truth to find practical helpful advise. I appreciate his thoughtful critique of competing systems of psychology. He gives the reader a general introduction to the different schools of counseling, both secular and Christian. Rather than bashing the non-Christian viewpoints he notes their strengths and exposes their humanistic presuppositions. The discussion of Transactional Analysis on pg. 39 demonstrates a model of secular psychology adopted by the evangelical church. While Transactional Analysis can be a helpful tool for the pastor, Crabb looks at its humanistic presuppositions and warns of its misuse. He sees man's basic need as significance and security. People need to know that they have worth and that they are loved. Crabb has a gift to communicate in a clear way some rather technical stuff. Also worthy of note is Crabb's discussion how problems develop in chapters six and seven.

I really enjoyed this book but I felt as if I were duped. The church is to have three levels of counseling, yet, it is not until pg. 165 that Mr. Crabb states that Level II counseling (counseling by encouragement) is for "elders, pastors, deacons . . . other spiritually mature." The bulk of the book is about Level III counseling which requires specialized training of six months to a year to learn. Mr. Crabb admits to not having develop a teaching curriculum for it. Clearly, Level III counseling requires a time commitment that few pastors and lay people can afford to make.

The book gave me hope that we can do Level I and II counseling with very little training. I am afraid, however that Level III counseling is out of reach most churches. The time, expertise and expense in trading are beyond the means of most small churches. Personally, this book helped me order my thinking on pastoral counseling. In seminary, I was taught an eclectic model of counseling with no biblical worldview. It left me drifting in a mass of psychobabble. I highly recommend this book because if its excellent survey of competing schools of thought and its thorough analysis of them.

Dr. Crabb does a good job a presenting his case for powerful Christian counseling. Readers should remember that this is Dr. Crabb's opinion and observation - not the Bible itself.

He does a wonderful job of crafting the structures of counseling and how the church should (and is obligated) to participate fully in the healing needs of its members.

Congratulations and thanks for a job well done!

A lot of counselors have the wrong goal in trying to help people. This is reinforced by counselees coming to them seeking the wrong thing. Happiness should not be the goal in life. Crabb gets it right that "happiness must be seen as a by-product, not a goal" (22). It is only when we follow the shepherding of the Lord that we find goodness and mercy following us all the days of our life. With this said, Christ-like maturity is the true and right goal of biblical counseling.
Christ-like maturity is not automatic but a life-long process in the right direction. Obedience to God is one of the key elements that work toward it. As one actively, presently, and consistently obeys Christ-like character begins to develop which is the second element needed for maturity (23).
Many counselors focus on feelings. Though feelings are indicators and motivators, they can be led by a deceived or sin-tainted heart that pursues only personal happiness. Other counselors focus on changing behavior, but that misses the heart issue. Crabb agrees with Romans 12:2 that the main target in counseling should be the mind. When the mind is renewed by replacing wrong beliefs with biblical truth a chain reaction occurs where false assumptions are challenged, goals are adjusted to God's will, godly behavior is acted out on, and mature feelings follow.

If you've never read any psychology books before or have no knowledge of psychology, then this is not the book for you. Written in a very technical style, Dr. Crabb gives the reader keen insight into the troubled mind of an average Christian. Every symptom that manifests can be traced back to a root cause and Dr. Crabb gives us ways to discover that cause and repair faulty thinking. The book is not an easy read but well worth the effort.

Larry Crabb has written a book that will be on the desk's of counselor's for years. Like the classics of C.S. Lewis (Mere Chrisitanity), and others, this book will continue to capture counselors of all types. The book is well written, and unlike many other books on counseling, the applications to counseling is not limited to a time-frame, or new knowledge.

The practical approach for biblical counselors, pastors, and lay counselors will prove itself to be effective and accurate.

Crabb does an excellent job of framing a counselor in all areas of the needs of the counselor and counselee. Although this is not an exhaustive work, it is complete in equipping those that desire to take the first steps to Biblical Counseling.

Crabb's approach is unique in the Christian world and very effective. This book sets out his general approach but his later books fill out the practical outworkings.

Dr. Crabb is very knowledgable and his book contain great information that may help church counselors to improve on the way they approach counseling. However, on one hand, authentic heartfelt compassion is not something you can learn or be trained on; and on the other, there are certain circunmstances where looking at the bigger picture may lead to better gains, granted God's compassion and forgiveness. For example, how many times church counselors or counselors advise beaten women to stay in their marriages, only to find out later that they ended up being the protagonists a crime scene? They - the counselor - stuck to the letter of the law, but missed God's bigger picture.
I prayed to God when I was in such situation myself. I was in an abusive relationship. My son was 18 months. Our lives were at risk. My husband was also an alcoholic and not the best example for a kid. I was desperate. I cried out to the Lord. I heard deeply in my heart God's voice saying "take your child and run away. I will take care of you." I did it under very adverse circumstances. He has taken care of us and blessed us ever since. This happened 20 years ago. I went through counseling for a long time to do a "stuffed chimney clean up." I did have a lot of wrong thinking within me. I prayed for healing and worked hard session after session.

Today, I dedicate my life to prison ministry, because I love God, I believe in Him, and I am deeply grateful. I want people to know that He loves them unconditionally and can do good for them too. I love my group there. I understand that those who make wrong decisions, mistreat people or commit crimes, lack love and Jesus most than enything else. Yes, it takes a long haul to get to know God and be obedient, but that doesn't happen by telling people "you have to obey God." "Haves to" alone or "do what the Bible says" don't really do the job. People need to heal the wounds first. Jesus came to this World and experienced life as a human being. He knows what we go through when we suffer, or when we are tempted, therefore He can feel compassion and work in our hearts so we can change. True obedience and willingness- comes from loving God. In the midst of adversity we usually don't see it, but it will show eventually. There is a bigger picture that involves Faith, which the book does not consider. Some people don't have the intellect to get to the root of their problems, yet they heal and that is God's work, so He deserves some credit too.

I loved this book. It had some helpful concepts, and it was beneficial in understanding the workings of our human behavior. It is personally applicable on any level.

The book was purchased for a class I took at my church. I think the book is perfect for an indepth study of Christian Counseling. My class only lasted 8 weeks, so we didn't really have time to delve into it. I would recommend the book to any counseling student.

The book is great. The copy I received however, is a very old copy. It looks nothing like the picture and I thought I had been sent the incorrect one. I am reading it for a school project and just hope that the copy is current with what I need it for.