The Christian Counselor's Manual by Jay Adams - Essay Example

In the scope of this book, I have kept in mind my intention to continue to publish materials covering specialized areas of the field of biblical counseling." (Adams, 1986, P xii). Therefore, the work is an important contribution to the Christian pastors and counselors and it deals with essential questions such as who is qualified to be a counselor, how can counselees change, how does the Holy Spirit work, what is the role of hope and the function of language, etc. In the opening chapter of the book, the author discusses the persons involved in counseling and he maintains in the second chapter that the Holy Spirit is the principal person in counseling.

The third chapter deals with the human counselor and discusses who should counsel, counseling as ministerial, qualifications for counseling, authority in counseling, counselors as a directive, and the personality of the counselor. The final chapter of the first part offers a discussion on the counselee and includes topics such as sources of knowledge, no surprises necessary, solutions for every problem, what the counselor needs to know, how prior knowledge helps, and counselees can change.

"Part Two: The Presuppositions and Principles" includes seven chapters and the first of these covers the topic presuppositions and principles basic to counseling. The next chapter, 'Hope', discusses the hope of change, everyone needs hope, specific problems requiring hope, and how to give hope and the sixth chapter of the book deals with prayer as the base for Christian counseling. In the next chapter, the author deals with the topic 'The Reconciliation / Discipline Dynamic' which covers the three steps, the purposes, and benefits of discipline, where to begin, marriage, divorce, and the reconciliation/discipline dynamic.

The next chapter emphasizes the relevance of reconciliation. The tenth chapter deals with presuppositions and methodology which covers the topics such as expert knowledge, Freudianism, behaviorism, common knowledge, Rogerianism, Hobart Mowrer, divine knowledge, judging activity, changing activity, and structuring activity, and the next chapter with technique. The third part of the book under the title "The Practice and Process" deals with various aspects of the practical counseling process and the first chapter of this section is about the language of counseling, establishing that language is important.

The next chapter, 'The Language of Emotion and Action', focuses on feeling, attitude, and behavior, while the fourteenth chapter of the book deals with sin as the problem, counseling as warfare, opting for desire-oriented and motivated life, feeling-oriented counseling, decision making, common themes of sin, themes expressed in individual styles, Satan and his associates, feeling and doing, case by Spencer, responsibility, and sin, temporary insanity, and the influence of childhood training. The following chapters of the book deal with love in counseling, support, sympathy and empathy, the motivation for change, effecting biblical change, elements of de-habituation and re-habituation, helping the 'Schizophrenia', resolving sexual difficulties, helping those who fear, and counseling those who fear that they have committed the unpardonable sin.

Therefore, this book has great value to the pastors who are engaged in different types of Christian counseling and the author maintains that the book is a beginning for better works for the counselors. "It is my hope that in subsequent volumes and revision of this work the pastor and other Christian counselors will find the help of a sort that up until now has been unavailable." In short, The Christian Counselor's Manual by Jay Edward Adams is highly valuable to practicing pastors of the church and the Christian counselors and the author assumes the approach of nouthetic counseling and applies it to a wide range of issues, topics, and techniques in counseling.