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Biblical Counseling and Mental Health
Helping people who struggle, and finding help yourself. Biblical counseling is not a substitute for medical or clinical care; in an emergency, call your local emergency number or, in the U.S., call or text 988.
If you or someone you know is in danger or thinking about suicide, call your local emergency number now or, in the U.S., call or text 988. Biblical counseling is not a substitute for medical or clinical care.
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- Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation (CCEF) · Resource
Biblical counseling organization: articles, videos, podcasts and books. - Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC) · Resource
Certifies biblical counselors; articles, podcasts and training. - Side by Side: Walking with Others in Wisdom and Love · Resource
A short introduction for ordinary Christians who want to help.
Editorial suggestions from reformededucation.org. They describe and do not endorse.
Narrower topics
Clinical and Professional Care
Helping Someone in Need
Depression
Anxiety and Fear
OCD and Religious Scrupulosity
Overcoming Sin
Grief and Suffering
Abuse and Trauma
Eating Disorders
Shame, Forgiveness and Conflict
Parenting
Mental Illness and the Brain
Marriage
In Crisis or Danger
All 53 resources in Biblical Counseling and Mental Health
Online Courses1
Educational Resources48
Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation (CCEF)
Biblical counseling ministry and training organization near Philadelphia, publishing articles, videos, podcasts, books and the Journal of Biblical Counseling.
Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC)
Certifies biblical counselors and publishes articles, podcasts and training. Its Standards of Doctrine (updated 2015) are required of members.
Biblical Counseling Coalition (BCC)
A collaboration of biblical counseling ministries that publishes resources and a Confessional Statement (made public 1 February 2011).
Harvest USA
Ministry begun in 1983 that helps churches and individuals affected by sexual sin, including pornography, with discipleship, support groups and resources.
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
Free, confidential support by call, text or chat, 24 hours a day, for people in emotional distress, a mental-health crisis or thinking about suicide. United States only.
Depression: Looking Up from the Stubborn Darkness
257-page book offering the comfort and hope of Christ rather than quick fixes, for people with depression and those alongside them. It includes a chapter on medical treatments and one for families and friends.
Running Scared: Fear, Worry, and the God of Rest
317-page book on the roots of fear and the effects of anxiety, worry and dread, in thirty short biblical meditations.
Side by Side: Walking with Others in Wisdom and Love
171-page introduction to biblical counseling for ordinary Christians, written on the conviction that friends are the best helpers.
Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands: People in Need of Change Helping People in Need of Change
362-page treatment of how God uses ordinary believers, who themselves need changing, to help others change, following Jesus’s example.
Addictions: A Banquet in the Grave
320-page book arguing that addiction is a worship disorder and offering hope in the gospel, replacing a sickness–recovery–relapse cycle with sin, salvation and sanctification.
Uprooting Anger: Biblical Help for a Common Problem
Practical guide to anger that focuses on the beliefs and desires of the heart, with discussion questions and homework for personal or group study.
Finally Free: Fighting for Purity with the Power of Grace
176-page book giving eight gospel-centered strategies against pornography: sorrow, accountability, radical measures, confession, your spouse (or singleness), humility, gratitude and a living relationship with Jesus.
Sexual Detox: A Guide for Guys Who Are Sick of Porn
103-page book for men on the lies of pornography, with two chapters on a biblical theology of sexuality before practical steps.
Someone I Know Is Grieving: Responding with Humility and Compassion
Compact book from the ‘Ask the Christian Counselor’ series on how to respond to grieving people without giving advice or trying to fix it.
When Sinners Say “I Do”: Discovering the Power of the Gospel for Marriage
Gospel-centered guide to marriage covering love, forgiveness and unity, with a study guide and video series.
Breaking Pornography Addiction
Article (14 April 2016) adapted from Powlison’s mini book on sexual addiction: acknowledge pornography as sin, understand deeper struggles beneath it, and turn to God. It counts progress as fewer relapses, more honesty and quicker repentance.
Women and Pornography
Journal of Biblical Counseling 31:3 (2017): on the growing number of women who secretly view pornography, calling counselors and churches to notice and respond.
How can I help my teen struggling with pornography addiction?
Video (14 February 2024) for parents with three strategies: reinforce the teen’s battle, widen it beyond this one struggle, and limit the battlefield with practical measures.
Strategies for Fighting Depression Well
ACBC article (1 October 2019) with five strategies: persevere, focus on eternity, honor physical limits, seek community support and remember your place in God’s army.
Battling Anxiety and Depression
ACBC article (20 July 2021) from personal experience: remembering God’s past faithfulness for depression, and reorienting thoughts through prayer and gratitude for anxiety.
Is It Abuse? A Biblical Guide to Identifying Domestic Abuse and Helping Victims
360-page guide for pastors, counselors and friends: how to recognize physical, sexual, emotional, spiritual and financial abuse, its effect on victims and children, with case studies, worksheets and a safety action plan.
National Domestic Violence Hotline
Free, confidential support 24/7 by phone (1-800-799-7233), by text (send START to 88788) and by chat, for people experiencing domestic violence and those concerned about them. United States only.
A Suicide Care Plan: One Church’s Model
Journal of Biblical Counseling 36:3 (2022): how one congregation trains staff and volunteers in suicide prevention and uses a triage team for crises and care teams for longer-term support.
Truth in Love 176: Suicide
ACBC podcast (15 October 2018) on how churches can support people with suicidal thoughts and families after a suicide: warning signs, a team approach, immediate safety and removing means of harm, and the ministry of presence.
Eating Disorders
Journal of Biblical Counseling 24:2: presents anorexia as legalistic and bulimia as out of control, and both as centered on self, and points to honesty, Scripture and wise counsel.
Truth in Love 438: Biblical Help with Eating Disorders
ACBC podcast (30 October 2023) on heart attitudes behind disordered eating, from anorexia to gluttony. The guest says a medical evaluation is always necessary.
Shame Interrupted: How God Lifts the Pain of Worthlessness and Rejection
337-page book on shame and how, through Jesus, the shamed are covered, adopted, cleansed and healed.
Unpacking Forgiveness: Biblical Answers for Complex Questions and Deep Wounds
240-page book on what biblical forgiveness means: pardoning the repentant and being reconciled, responding to unrepentant offenders and conquering bitterness.
The Peacemaker: A Biblical Guide to Resolving Personal Conflict
Guide to resolving conflict in four steps: glorify God, get the log out of your own eye, gently restore, and go and be reconciled.
Shepherding a Child’s Heart
Guide for parents of children of any age on speaking to a child’s heart, drawing on the author’s experience as pastor, counselor, school administrator and father.
Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family
Fourteen gospel-centered principles for parents, aimed at how parents think about raising children rather than a list of techniques; includes study questions.
Blame It on the Brain? Distinguishing Chemical Imbalances, Brain Disorders, and Disobedience
192-page book (second edition, 2024) on how brain disorders differ from spiritual problems, with a four-step approach: understand the disease, distinguish the physical from the spiritual, address the heart and strengthen bodily weaknesses.
What Did You Expect? Redeeming the Realities of Marriage
Marriage guide arguing that couples need changed expectations, radical commitments and grace, built around six commitments including confession and forgiveness, building trust and appreciating differences.
Christian Association for Psychological Studies (CAPS)
Association of Christian psychologists, counselors, therapists, social workers, researchers and students (more than 1,200 members in the U.S., Canada and 25+ other countries), publishing the Journal of Psychology and Christianity and holding an annual conference.
American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC)
Describes itself as the world’s largest Christian mental health organization, serving licensed professionals, pastors and lay counselors with training, webinars, continuing education, credentialing and a Code of Ethics.
Psychology and Christianity: Five Views
Compares five approaches to how Christians should relate to psychology: biblical counseling (David Powlison), levels of explanation (David Myers), integration (Stanton Jones), Christian psychology (Robert Roberts and P. J. Watson) and a transformative view (John Coe and Todd Hall).
Suffering and the Heart of God: How Trauma Destroys and Christ Restores
Book (2015) drawing on more than forty years of counseling trauma and abuse survivors: what trauma destroys Christ can restore, slowly, through talking, tears and time, with patience from family, friends and counselors.
Global Trauma Recovery Institute (GTRI)
Initiative housed at Biblical Theological Seminary offering training, clinical supervision and case consultation in trauma recovery for mental health clinicians, ministry leaders and professionals, at home and abroad.
Mental Health Grace Alliance
Christian mental-health recovery ministry (since 2011) offering peer- and lay-led support groups and free training for group leaders, in English, Spanish and Chinese; it reports serving over 30,000 participants in 58+ countries.
International OCD Foundation: What Is OCD and Scrupulosity?
Secular, evidence-based explanation of scrupulosity (religious or moral OCD), which the page says affects people of all faiths, and of its main treatment: cognitive behavior therapy with exposure and response prevention (ERP), with medication in some cases.
Scrupulosity and OCD Information Packet for Faith Leaders
20-page packet for clergy compiled from IOCDF, ADAA and AnxietyCanada material: what OCD and scrupulosity are, ERP, how accommodating and giving reassurance can feed OCD, and questions for clergy.
The Bruised Reed
An exposition of Isaiah 42:3 and Matthew 12:20, ‘a bruised reed he will not break’, on Christ’s tenderness toward the spiritually weak and discouraged, in 16 short chapters. Puritan Paperbacks edition, 160 pages; first published 1630.
Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cure
Twenty-one sermons from Westminster Chapel in London on the causes of the unhappiness many Christians experience and the cure, by a preacher who had trained as a physician. First published by Eerdmans in 1965, about 300 pages.
The Heart of Christ
A 136-page Puritan Paperbacks edition of Goodwin’s most popular book, on Hebrews 4:15 and Christ’s tender affection in heaven toward his people, both in their afflictions and in their sins.
Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices
344-page Puritan Paperbacks edition. Brooks sets out Satan’s devices to entice toward sin, to discourage religious practice and to create spiritual doubt, with biblical remedies for each.
Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners
184 pages. Bunyan’s account of how he came to understand and rest in the love of God in Christ, written for his spiritual children; includes his imprisonment narrative and a continuation of his life.
Letters of Samuel Rutherford
First published in 1664. Letters to people from nobility to ordinary parishioners on self-examination, deception, and the love of Christ known through suffering. Includes a 30-page biographical introduction, subject indices, a glossary of archaic terms and notes on the recipients.
Loss of Assurance
Tabletalk article (25 June 2016) on why Christians lose their sense of assurance (negligence, falling into sin, temptation, God withdrawing for their growth) and how it is recovered: by the same means it is first obtained, including confession and returning to God in repentance and faith, relying on Christ’s merit rather than oneself.
Podcasts & Audio3
Where Life & Scripture Meet (CCEF)
The podcast of the Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation (CCEF), on biblical counseling for anxiety, depression, OCD and other struggles.
Truth in Love (ACBC)
Podcast of the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors, hosted by its executive director Dale Johnson.
Christian Faith and OCD, Scrupulosity, Intrusive Thoughts, Compulsions
Podcast about living with OCD and scrupulosity from a Christian perspective, teaching an inference-based cognitive behavioral approach (ICBT); more than 240 episodes.