Beyond the Clinical Hour: How Counselors Can Partner with the Church to Address the Mental Health Crisis (Christian Association for Psychological Studies Books | CAPS)

by James N. Sells; Amy Trout; Heather C. Sells

Publisher:

IVP Academic

, 2024

Overview

The global mental health crisis is growing faster than our existing mental health care system can address. To meet the scope of human need, we need new models of care. The good news is that there is an institution uniquely positioned with the resources and the heart to help: the church.

Psychologists James Sells and Amy Trout and journalist Heather Sells know firsthand the urgency of the situation—but they have also witnessed creative partnerships between churches and mental health professionals springing up across the United States. In this book, they call clinicians, students, and educators to collaborate with churches and lay leaders to envision and then create innovative solutions in their own communities.

Challenging the dominance of the traditional “clinical hour” as a one-size-has-to-fit-all model, Sells, Trout, and Sells give concrete guidance on how mental health professionals can work with churches to provide consultation, train lay leaders, and develop and evaluate programs to expand a continuum of care. They also explore the skills, theological foundations, and research-based knowledge that both Christian counselors and church leaders need to integrate their spheres of expertise.

Both a call to action and an encouraging roadmap, this book charts the way forward for combining the science of the mental health discipline with the service of Christian ministry.

Christian Association for Psychological Studies (CAPS) Books explore how Christianity relates to mental health and behavioral sciences including psychology, counseling, social work, and marriage and family therapy in order to equip Christian clinicians to support the well-being of their clients.

Key Features

• Charts the way forward for combining the science of the mental health discipline with the service of Christian ministry
• Explores the skills, theological foundations, and research-based knowledge that both Christian counselors and church leaders need to integrate their spheres of expertise
• Provides guidance on how mental health professionals can work with churches to provide consultation, train lay leaders, and develop and evaluate programs to expand a continuum of care

Contents

• Preface
• Introduction

Part 1: Where We Are: Describing the Mental Health Crisis

• 1. Culture, Church, and Counselor: Linking Arms and Getting to Work
• 2. The “Hurrier” I Go, the “Behinder” I Get: The Rise in Mental Health Need
• 3. Virtue and Unity: Navigating Ethics and Economics in Mental Health Partnerships

Part 2: Integration Has Matured

• 4. Integrating the Integrations: How to Think and Be Christian in Mental Health Care
• 5. From Integration to Articulation

Part 3: Getting There

• 6. Biblical Theology and Christian Thought
• 7. Supervision in Christian Mental Health Care
• 8. Bridging Perspectives: Church Consultation
• 9. Fostering Sanctuary and Safeguarding the Ark: Enhancing Church Organizational Development and Program Evaluation
• Conclusion: Change, Resistance, and Vision

Praise for Beyond the Clinical Hour

As ‘roots’ and ‘wings’ show up in famous quotes, so they do in this book. Rooted in Christian thought and the long tradition of integration, the authors demonstrate a deep understanding of Christian mental health care. At the same time, they challenge us to grow wings, to be innovative and bold as we confront the needs of our world alongside beautiful possibilities for the church. The stories are poignant, the writing is effective, the reflection questions are wise and challenging, and the authors are leaders in the field. This is a fantastic book. Be inspired to imagine the possibilities Beyond the Clinical Hour.

—Mark R. McMinn, author of Sin and Grace in Christian Counseling and professor emeritus at George Fox University

Beyond the Clinical Hour by Sells, Trout, and Sells is a comprehensive and very helpful guide to how Christian mental health professionals can partner with churches to deal with the mental health crisis before us. It includes integration of Christian approaches to mental health and a biblical theology for the foundation of Christian care. It also emphasizes and covers in detail the topics of supervision, consultation, church development and evaluation, and the ethics and economics of care. Highly recommended!

—Siang-Yang Tan, senior professor of clinical psychology at Fuller Theological Seminary and author of Counseling and Psychotherapy: A Christian Perspective

This is one of the most unique, timely, and long-overdue resources for those committed to meeting the pressing needs of the men and women in today’s world. The authors give us a fresh and much-needed biblically based, socially informed, clinically sound, and comprehensive model of providing meaningful Christian care. In some ways it provides an invaluable paradigm shift for understanding the essential role of the counselor and the church working together. This encouraging, empowering, and vision-casting resource is a book that you’ll be reading more than once and wanting to share with your friends.

—Gary J. Oliver, executive director of the Center for Healthy Relationships and professor emeritus of psychology and practical theology at John Brown University

Product Details

• Title: Beyond the Clinical Hour: How Counselors Can Partner with the Church to Address the Mental Health Crisis (Christian Association for Psychological Studies Books
• Authors: James N. Sells, Amy Trout, Heather C. Sells
• Series: Christian Association for Psychological Studies Books
• Publisher: IVP Academic
• Print Publication Date: 2024
• Logos Release Date: 2025
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
• Subjects: Church work with the mentally ill; Mental illness; Counseling; RELIGION / Christian Ministry / Counseling & Recovery; PSYCHOLOGY / Clinical Psychology
• ISBNs: 9781514001042, 1514001047
• Resource ID: LLS:CAPSBEYONDCLHR
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2025-03-11T21:11:40Z