Beyond the Clinical Hour : How Counselors Can Partner With the Church to Address the Mental Health Crisis

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.

James N. Sells (PhD, University of Southern California) is professor of counseling, shares the Rosemary S. Hughes Professor of Christian Thought and Mental Health, and codirects the Charis Institute at Regent University. He is coeditor of Ministering to Families in Crisis and the author of several books including Family Therapies and Beyond the Clinical Hour.

Amy Trout (PsyD, Wheaton College) is founder and director of a private practice, Cornerstone Consultants, and chief education officer at Counterpoise (a subsidiary of The Burrell Group).

Heather C. Sells (MA, University of Illinois-Springfield) is managing editor for CBN News.

Ed Stetzer, PhD, is the dean of Talbot School of Theology at Biola University and scholar in residence and teaching pastor at Mariners Church. He has planted, revitalized, and pastored churches; trained pastors and church planters on six continents; earned two master’s degrees and two doctorates; and he has written hundreds of articles and a dozen books. He is regional director for Lausanne North America, is the editor-in-chief of Outreach Magazine, and regularly writes for news outlets such as USA Today and CNN.