Film 1: Jeni’s Story

A young mother and pastor’s wife, Jeni had always believed that depression was a figment of people’s imagination. Certainly a Christian would never get depressed. Jeni and her husband, Greg, tell how depression unexpectedly shattered their world but also how God used the experience for their benefit and to make them a blessing to many others.

Film 2: Onica’s Story

Though only 15 years old, Onica has already suffered many losses in her life, including numerous painful bereavements and her parents’ broken marriage. Her relationship with family counselor Dr. Emilie DeYoung, who also appears in this episode, has helped her on the road to recovery and equipped her to face the future with hope. Onica also relates how God has used Alpacas in her healing.

Film 3: Timika’s Story

Timika has probably been depressed for many years. Only recently, however, did she recognize it and begin to seek spiritual, psychological, and physical help. A nurse educator, she now recognizes the opportunity she has to prevent her students suffering in the same way.

This film also looks at the unique challenges faced by the African American Community in dealing with mental health issues. Thabiti Anyabwile brings a unique pastoral expertise and Helen Brent speaks with the wisdom of decades spent working as a mental health nurse in the inner city. Sadly (for us), this lovely Christian lady passed away just a few months ago, but we rejoice with hope that she has gone to enjoy eternal light, life, and love.

Film 4: Paul’s Story

Paul has struggled with anxiety, discouragement, and depressive tendencies for the past 3-5 years. As a pastor, and a father of ten children, some of whom have special needs, he brings a deep biblical, spiritual, and practical insight into depression and also how the church can help those who suffer with it.

Film 5: Sue’s Story

After ten years of suppressing grief and anger about the death of her mother, Sue suddenly fell into a deep depression. Hospitalized and mentally fragile, Sue began a long road to recovery. Her story shows the power of the Gospel and how God used this experience to deepen Sue’s spirituality and make her a brighter witness for Christ.

Dr. Eric Johnson, Professor of Pastoral Care at Southern Baptist Seminary, discusses the kind of person that gets depression.

This is an extract from Jeni’s Story, which you can view in full here.

Email/RSS readers click through here to view video.

I’ve actually really enjoyed the winters since coming to Michigan, even looked forward to them. Yes, it’s much colder and snowier than Scotland, but I’ll take cold temps, lots of snow, and sunny days over the Scottish diet of rain, wind, low cloud, and 5-6 hours of daylight (more like greylight) for two months of the year.

People here complain about the “gloomy” Michigan winters, but, believe me, it’s like Hawaii compared to the dark, damp, and dreary winters in the Scottish Highlands. At least you can do something in Michigan winters. I’ve tried cross-country skiing and snowboarding before finally settling on downhill skiing. Even just walking through snow-blanketed forests is such a beautiful, even spiritual, experience.

But then came the “Winter of 2014,” as we will call it when we talk to our grandchildren. So many days have been too cold to spend any time outside; it’s been scary cold at times.

And now even Texas, Georgia, and the Carolinas have been paralyzed by ice and snow, with many lives lost, properties damaged, and businesses struggling.

An additional complication has been an epidemic of SAD (Season Affective Disorder), “a type of depression that is said to be caused by the combination of cold temperatures, precipitation, and shorter days.”

Dr. Norman Rosenthal, the clinical psychiatrist who first described the condition, defines it on his website as “a type of depression that occurs regularly, every autumn and winter, when the days get short and dark, though it may occur at other times as well.” I saw a ton of this in Scotland, among young and old, as did my wife, who’s a family practitioner.

In this report, Rosenthal says that he has “seen a lot of seasonal affective disorder this season.”

There has been a tremendous amount of it around, even in people who think they’ve got it under control…The main factor is darkness. Firstly, there has been a lot of cloud cover. Then, even when it’s been fairly bright outside, it’s still so frigidly cold, so unpleasant, that people minimize their time outdoors. So instead, they are indoors a lot of the time, where there’s a lower light level.

He warns:

Seasonal affective disorder is something you have to look out for. It doesn’t announce itself with a sign bearing its name. It creeps in slowly with drops in energy or weight increases. The symptoms accumulate, and before you know it, you have it.

It’s fair to say that there are some who deny the existence of SAD, but most experts agree that “the deprivation of sunlight, a common side effect of winter weather, can have detrimental effects on the human body and mind. A lack of sunlight – which is said to both deny people a source of vitamin D and inhibit the development of mood-influencing neurotransmitters such as dopamine, epinephrine and serotonin – has negative effects.”

Although it’s always worth asking if there is any deeper underlying cause of SAD, there are a few simple things that may help alleviate symptoms:

• Get outdoors as much as possible.
• If indoors, spend time in rooms with large windows and lots of sunlight or use artificial daylight lamps.
• Exercise regularly and eat well.
• Don’t set too high expectations of yourself.
• Meet up with friends.

Here’s a short video a friend and I made on the subject a few years ago. We both just about died of hypothermia in the process.

Although we may fail to communicate this at times, we are actually friends, and when friends disagree, it’s always worthwhile remembering the things we agree on, what we share in common.

First of all, we share the same core of Christian doctrine. I’m pretty sure we can all subscribe to the BCC doctrinal statement.

Second, we all regard one another as Christian brothers. More than that, I hold these men (and many more men and women they represent) in the highest possible regard. I use Bob and Heath’s resources, alongside multiple CCEF books, etc., in my counseling classes.

Third, we all share the same motivation – the desire to honor the Lord by helping suffering people with all the legitimate resources that God has placed at our disposal.

Fourth, although we differ in some important areas, we probably agree on at least 95% of counseling presuppositions and practice. If you were to compare the advice we would give to most counselees, while Bob, Heath, and Charles would no doubt be much more skillful and insightful than I, the general contours of our advice would overlap about 95% of the time. I’m pretty sure we use the Bible equally in our counseling.

So what explains our differences? I hope these answers might shed some light not only on our recent discussion but also help other Christians think differently about other debates they are involved in and those they are debating with.

(Slightly) Different Worldviews
First, we probably have slightly different worldviews. We are all trying to look at the same world through the same spectacles of the Word of God. However, we do seem to differ slightly in how we view certain areas of the world.

One of the challenges of the Christian life is to know how to balance the terrible impact of sin upon the world versus the wonderful impact of common grace. That balance or emphasis will determine how optimistic or pessimistic we are about learning from the world.

I think it would be fair to say that Bob, Heath, and Charles probably view some parts of the world (like psychology, pharmacology) through a more negative lens than I do. They approach these worlds with more caution and skepticism than I do. They may be right to do so, and I have to say I used to be much more skeptical myself (my Seminary dissertation defended Jay Adams to the hilt). However, for good or ill, I see more common grace in these areas than I used to. There’s danger at both extremes, and none of us are at either extreme, but we are at slightly different points in the reject all/embrace all spectrum, with hopefully all of us moving closer to the perfect balancing point.

Different Experiences
As I interact with my biblical counseling friends I’m often struck by how much personal experience plays into our approach to counseling.

For example, if I’ve seen people run to pills way too quick, if I’ve witnessed friends and family suffering from the side-effects of some meds, if I’ve seen people messed up by weird psychology and worldly therapy, if I’ve seen nouthetic counseling save a life/family/congregation, etc., then I’m going to approach counseling with a certain bias.

On the other hand, if I’ve seen people helped by meds, if I’ve seen Christians’ lives transformed by CBT, if I’ve worked in tandem with gifted and godly Christian psychologists, if I’m in a context where pride or ignorance are preventing many suffering Christians from even considering meds (to their own and their family’s detriment), etc., then that too will lend a bias to my counseling.

Now, I’ve painted two extremes there, but I think part of the difference between my friends and I has to do with our different experiences. It looks as if Bob, Heath, and Charles’ experience has been more of the former and mine more of the latter. Although we try to be as objective as possible, we can’t deny that past experience influences present practice.

Different Purposes
Bob and Heath have massively important roles in leading the Biblical Counseling Movement. They are not just writing as individuals but as leaders seeking to unite, guide, and equip thousands of men and women across the world. They are extremely gifted motivators and organizers with a huge responsibility to build understanding, cooperation, development, etc. That stewardship should and does influence their stances and words. I totally respect and admire that.

I’m more of a loose canon (or a pesky mozzie?)! I’m not that into labels or movements. I don’t have an official role or leadership position in any national organization, and I don’t seek that either – it’s not my gifting or calling. But I hope there’s a role for me too. I hope I can be a Biblical Counselor without being part of the Biblical Counseling Movement. I hope I can provoke reflection and reformation – maybe highlight areas from time to time that need more thought and action.

I do see myself as an advocate for Christians suffering with serious depression and other mental disorders, especially those who have suffered from a lack of sympathy and holistic care from other Christians.

I’m not saying that my friends are not; I’m pretty sure they see themselves also as advocates for depressed Christians, especially for those who have suffered at the hands of some over-prescribing doctors and some damaging psychology. But I believe one of my purposes in life is defending and caring for depressed Christians who have suffered from careless or ignorant words and actions from within the church.

Different Sins
It’s very difficult for us to engage in any controversy or debate without sinning. Sometimes pride, territorialism, ego, and competitiveness (we’re all Type A males I think!), produce exaggeration, misrepresentation, anger, defensiveness, excuses, false accusation, and so on. I’m as susceptible to that as the next guy. The result is that sometimes we magnify differences that are really quite small and we are sometimes reluctant to concede, “OK, I was wrong there.”

So why not just do this in private? Well, we have private discussions also. But public communication is good too, even if it’s sometimes tainted with sin, because hopefully it helps others too as they observe, read, weigh, and come to their own decisions about these matters.

We have to be careful it doesn’t get out of hand of course, but the church often benefits from disagreements. When conducted in the right spirit it can lead us all further into the truth, especially in this complicated area of the relationship between the body, the mind, and the soul, and what are the appropriate roles for biblical counseling, medicine, and psychology in each case.

Probably Bob, Heath, Charles, and Chris have other explanations for why we differ. But that’s my analysis, offered in a conciliatory and constructive spirit.

• CBT is an officially recommended treatment, but is available to less than 10% of patients in the UK with schizophrenia.
• About four-in-10 patients benefit from taking antipsychotic medication.
• But the drugs cause side-effects such as type 2 diabetes and weight gain.
• Up to half of patients with schizophrenia end up not taking the drugs.
• CBT reduced symptoms, and improved person and social function
• CBT worked in 46% of patients, approximately the same as for antipsychotics.
• Most patients were agreeable to trying cognitive therapy.
• Drugs and CBT combined were the best treatment.

The authors are at pains to point out that those presently taking meds should not stop taking them. The research conclusions are primarily aimed at helping those who will not take meds, are irregular in taking them, or who suffer too bad side-effects from them.

See summary of research here.

For a simple explanation of CBT, see Six Steps to Better Thoughts, Feelings, and Actions.

Halfway through, he points out how in this respect the “Counseling Wars” are so similar to the “Origins Wars” and then says:

I know of no single biblical counselor who rejects the observations of secular psychiatry. Biblical counselors embrace the same facts as secular counselors, integrationists, and Christian psychologists. Biblical counselors are not distinct from these other approaches in their embrace of the facts but in their approach to and understanding of these facts.

I think this is true in principle, but I don’t see much evidence of it in practice. That’s where I’d like to see the biblical counseling movement mature and develop, and it could do so by taking a leaf out of Ken Ham’s book.

Informed Interaction
When compared with biblical counselors, Ham and his creationist colleagues seem to be much more informed about the science they are interacting with and much more capable and courageous in entering the scientists’ world, taking the scientists’ facts and findings, and re-framing them within the biblical worldview.

I don’t see so much evidence of that in biblical counseling, a field I read a lot in, teach in, and do almost daily as well. What is much more common is disinterest in, hostility towards, or even outright rejection of the whole field of psychology and pharmacology IN PRACTICE. Note these last two words. I don’t doubt the “we embrace the same facts” theory, as Heath Lambert ably articulates it. But where’s that actually being practiced and who is actually practicing it?

Criticism and Condemnation
Instead, whatever is claimed, the most frequent Christian note with respect to psychology and pharmacology seems to be criticism and condemnation.

Yes, there are exceptions to this. For example, Ed Welch’s Blame it on the Brain? though brief and now a bit dated is helpful. Bob Kellemen’s post on counseling someone with serious depression who wants to try meds, though couched in cautious terms and lacking any “good news story” about medication, is also welcome, although I would not recommend Hodges book to someone in that desperate situation.

So, yes, there are exceptions. But here’s the question: If our biblical worldview is so sure and so strong, why do we rarely see anyone entering the lecture halls, Psychology journals, science labs and research facilities, returning with current facts, figures, and findings, and presenting them from a biblical worldview, as Ham and others do so well in the area of origins. Is there nothing positive to find, learn from, and apply?

If our worldview is so sure and strong, why can’t we more frequently recognize, praise, and use findings, advances, practices, and even meds that secular scientists and psychologists have discovered and have used to help others?

Embarrassing
Some Christians might be embarrassed by Ham’s worldview and presuppositions (I’m not, by the way), but you cannot be embarrassed by his current knowledge of the field he is critiquing. I’m afraid that’s not the case in many areas of biblical counseling. If I hear the ancient concession line about the thyroid gland being repeated one more time, my eyes and veins will pop without any thyroid problem!

How about some current brain research? How about some good news stories about medications and how they helped a Christian? How about working much harder to study current secular theories and therapies and finding even the odd grain of helpful truth in them?

I’d love to see a counseling debate along the same lines as the creation debate. But for all the gifted theologians, sound exegetes, and compassionate carers that we have, I don’t know if we have anyone anywhere near as able a champion as Ken Ham on our side; someone who knows enough about our worldview opponents to stand toe-to-toe with them in an informed debate, and debate knowledgeably and respectfully with an opponent of a contrary worldview.

It’s certainly not me, but if you’re out there I’d love to meet you.

Longer answer to follow. But why am I even asking the question?

In my friend Bob Kellemen’s thoughtful and largely helpful response to my post about going to the doctor to discuss depression meds, he said that his most serious disagreement with me was about my recommendation of Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT).

If that surprised me, then I was even more surprised that Bob read my piece as recommending CBT as a comprehensive therapy to the exclusion of other means. A fair reading of what I wrote would recognize that I was clearly recommending CBT as only one part of a holistic approach that included the body, the mind, the soul, Christian friendship, pastoral counsel, Bible reading, prayer, and worship and fellowship in a local church.

However, it looks like Bob would object even to that – using CBT as any part of a package of comprehensive compassionate care. He sees it as non-Christian at best, anti-Christian at worst, and therefore to be shunned.

Are we talking about the same thing?
I must admit, this really baffles me and makes me wonder if we’re talking about the same thing. CBT’s basic point is that what we think affects what we feel and do. Therefore if we can change what we think, we can change how we feel and what we do.

It’s not exactly revolutionary. It’s actually one of the ways way the Bible describes and portrays how we work as well (Psalm 42; 73, 77; Proverbs 23:7; Romans 12:12; Philippians 4:8-9). If CBT is guilty of anything, it’s of unwittingly plagiarizing the Bible’s insights! But I’m just thankful that God has allowed and enabled even unbelievers to discover some insights into how He made us, and to devise ways of re-training our thoughts so that we are re-made into His image. They misuse it badly at times, of course, but I just wish more Christians would be as thoughtful and skillful in using these insights as unbelievers often are.

Firing and wiring
The behind-the-scenes science of it is that we create electrical and chemical pathways in our brains with our thoughts. As we think our way down these pathways, we strengthen the brain connections. As somebody put it, “cells that fire together, wire together.” The more we travel these mental paths, the faster and easier these paths become, so that eventually our thoughts and resultant action feels automatic. Think of learning to ride your bike.

But what happens if we think the wrong thoughts often enough? That’s right, we end up creating bad pathways that become our default thinking patterns, damaging the way we feel and our daily behavior. Not good! And not easy to get out of these deep and repetitive ruts.

If our thoughts are fixated on spiritual matters like God, sin, and guilt, paralyzing and debilitating us, then usually scriptural truth can transform us over time by renewing our minds.

But what if our thought habits are on everyday matters like being obsessed with cleaning door handles, or irrational fears about our health, or phobias about open spaces? What if we’ve got into any number of negative thought patterns about our children, our ability to cope, our work situation, etc? That’s where CBT can be so helpful. (Yes, with Scripture, prayer, fellowship, etc. too).

Stop it!
Any number of people can tell you, “Stop thinking that!” You can order yourself, “Stop thinking that!” You can try to memorize Scripture even. But the thought pattern is so deep, so habitual that you need extra help (e.g. CBT) to challenge it and change it.

Few people can eradicate irrational anxiety by reading Romans. Instead, we need help to figure out, “Why am I thinking, feeling, and acting like this?” And then we need the tools to challenge the lies and imbalance in these thoughts until we change the way we think, feel, and do.

There’s nothing spooky or even complicated about it. I’ve seen many depressed and anxious people crack deeply ingrained and damaging thought patterns just using this CBT book, I’m not supposed to feel like this (written by three Christians). Where I know there is a motivated Christian friend in the depressed person’s life, I usually recommend that they sit down every day or so with this book and work their way through the exercises. It’s usually not long before they start seeing a change in their thinking, and then their feeling and acting too.

Tomorrow, I’ll give an example of how CBT works in an individual case, and in the meantime have a look at this video.

Is CBT of the devil? The devil can misuse it, for sure. But I view CBT as a gift of God to suffering humanity. If more Christians would open their minds to learn from it and practice it skillfully, there would be far less depressed Christians running to ungodly counsel, and there would be far less depressed Christians continuing in their suffering.

Let a sad fox, a judgmental reindeer, and an empathetic bear teach you the difference as they bring Dr. Brene Brown’s famous 2010 TED Talk (viewed 12.5 million times) on The Power of Vulnerability to life.

Why a priority?
Why make such a book a priority at the beginning of my ministry? First, because conflict will eventually and inevitably arise in every church; and the way we respond to it will make or break the church.

Second, it’s also a “pre-emptive” strike, trying to get ahead of any trouble, so that we have a pattern and model for handling conflict that we can use to keep one another accountable.

And third, it’s to re-teach myself. I was brought up in a large city, Glasgow, and attended large public schools where I learned the infamous Glasgow way of handling conflict – blunt fists or sharp tongues. Not having much in the pecs and biceps department I became quite skilled with the only muscle at my disposal – a sharp, quick, and aggressive tongue.

Tamed but Temptable
Though now considerably tamed by grace, my aggressive, confrontational Glaswegian nature has often resurrected and erupted, damaging myself and others in the process.

On the other hand, aware of my weaknesses in that area, I’ve sometimes over-compensated by avoiding dealing with issues, fearing that I will end up making things worse.

That’s why I need to read Sande again and again, in order to be constantly delivered from my “natural” sinful instincts and to seek spiritual and God-glorifying ways of responding to conflict.

My study guide handout for the introduction and chapter one is here, but I began the class with a general mixture of my own and Sande’s thoughts on conflict and peacemaking.

 Conflict is:

• Inevitable: It comes into the best of relationships.
• Helpful: Not all conflict is bad as different perspectives can stimulate productive dialogue, encourage creativity, and promote helpful change.
• Surprising: Sometimes it comes at the most unexpected times from the most unpredictable of people.
• Damaging: Conflict can damage relationships but also mental, spiritual, emotional and physical health.
• Revealing: It brings out the worst in us and exposes our hearts to ourselves and others.
• An opportunity: To learn how to manage oneself in stressful situations and to teach others how to handle conflict.

Peacemaking is:

• Difficult: hard work, goes against our grain.
• Obligatory: Not an option for Christians.
• Hopeful: Can produce even better relationships than what was there before.
• Rare: Uncommon both in the world and the church, therefore opportunity for countercultural witness.
• Healing: restores relationships, improves health.
• Dependent: We need the Holy Spirit in us and in others.
• Modeled: Christ is our model and motivation for peacemaking.
• Conscience-satisfying: even if other person does not respond, we can enjoy the freedom of knowing we tried everything possible to resolve the issue.

Why not get the book and read along with us? I’ll aim to publish the handout here each Monday. It will basically be a summary outline of the chapter with some of my own thoughts thrown in. I’ll highlight what I think are the most important sections and sometimes re-arrange the order. Next week we’ll be looking at chapter 2.

140 articles on the Christian Life,
100 articles of Cultural Commentary
100+ articles on Preaching.
250+ articles on Ministry and Leadership

And today it’s approximately 80 posts on Counseling. Some of the older posts’ formatting may be a bit off, the result of transferring from blogging at Posterous to using WordPress a couple of years ago.

Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling

John Piper On Biblical Counseling

Charity And Clarity In Counseling

The Counselor’s Role In The Holy Spirit’s Counseling

Your Brain Is Plastic (And That’s Good News)

Is It Time For More Positive Biblical Counseling?

Exploring Our Inner Universe

God’s Fatherhood: Better Than The Latest Band-Aid Of Self-Help

A new breed and a dying breed

Really practical theology

Is low self-esteem always beautiful?

Counseling yourself

Daily list: 11 trends in biblical counseling in 2011

Tis the season to be sad

A counseling challenge for 2012

American optimism v Scottish skepticism

Equipping counselors for your church

Turning a dream into reality

What do Bob Kellemen and Mathew Henry have in common?

The best training for counseling

Revealing research

Give us this day our daily brain food

Food and mood

Soul food

I feel sorry for psychologists

Fear and the brain

Can we redeem self-esteem?

Depression: The 6 R’s

Miscarriage? Death of a child? Need help?

Malachi’s short story

A counseling policy for your church

Counseling 101

Rebellious children? Try sleeping

You are what you think

Who sinned? This man or his parents?

Calvin and Piper on sufficiency of scripture

The cost of mental illness

Struggling with personality disorder

Wise counsel for biblical counselors

Want help to stop grumbling?

He cares for you

Pastors and suicide?

Why are we so angry?

Antidepressants work fast?

Journalism and Counseling

Do You Really Need Antidepressants?

7 Questions About Suicide And Christians

Mental Illness & Suicide: The Church Awakes

Pastoral Thoughts On Depression

The Problem With “Mental Illness”

Double Dangers: Maximizing And Minimizing Mental Illness

A Medical Test For Mental Illness

The Puritans And Mental Illness

The Puritans On Medication For Mental Illness

Seasonal Affective Disorder [Video]

8 Ways Preachers Harm The Depressed

Delivered From Islam…And Depression

How Biblical Is Biblical Counseling?

Trinitarian Counseling

Fighting Falsehoods About My Heavenly Father

Wonderful Southern Baptist Resolution On Mental Health Issues

10 lessons from two days

“Black folk don’t go to therapy”

8 ways to help depressed Christians

A depressing report about depression

Caring for the depressed (4): Stigma

Caring for the depressed (3): Support

Caring for the depressed (2): Sympathy

Caring for the depressed (1): Study

5 questions to ask a depressed person

Helpful CCEF video about depression

Helping someone with post-partum depression

The Most Important Question In Marriage

Jesus Sighed

What girls should know about guys: 40 tips

What guys should know about girls: 50 tips

What guys should know about girls (adult edition)

What girls should know about guys (adult edition)

Young(ish), single, reformed

Unofficial study guide for “the meaning of marriage”

What a happy marriage? Marry someone poor and ugly!

How to love your wife (or husband) less

What did you expect? Something more positive!

Disability and salvation: A moving personal testimony

Why disabilities?

A father’s journey with his down syndrome daughter

Loss

If you don’t want to cry, don’t watch this