When it comes to helping Christians and Biblical Counselors think carefully and holistically about mental health issues there are few better guides than Edward Welch. As a contributor to this new Ask a Christian Counselor series from New Growth Press, Welch helps us think about how to approach a psychiatric diagnosis with our Bibles in hand. As with all of his books, this one is well-written. It is compassionate and illuminating. Despite its strengths, however, the book lacks a clear audience, making it difficult for me to know how to use it.
Dr. Welch is a licensed psychologist and a faculty member at the Christian Counseling & Education Foundation. He has written on a number of topics and always does so with compassion, wisdom, and creativity. Dr. Welch regularly brings freshness to important counseling topics. He is the perfect person, in my opinion, to address the broad topic of psychiatric diagnoses.
The book begins by exploring the relationship between the spiritual and physical/psychological realms. He helps readers understand how to “bridge the divide” and helps us to see how God speaks to all of our issues, not just the so-called spiritual ones. He outlines a plan for thinking Biblically about any issue of mental health. In every struggle we will want to listen to God and get help from His people, and we will want to listen to those with experience. The order, he says, “is not important, though we should always give God the final word” (12).
The rest of the book explores four different psychiatric diagnoses and follows this simple plan. Welch explores anxiety and panic disorders, PTSD, depression, and Narcissistic Personality Disorder. In each case he gives a cursory overview of the problem and helps readers to connect that struggle with God’s Word. There are some really illuminating sections in each chapter as Welch provides important information, encouragement, hope, and a few practical tools.
The book is brief and perhaps its brevity actually works against it in this case. The issue specific chapters are too short to unpack the problem in great detail. The chapter is also too short to provide a robust set of practical helps. There are times where the lack of depth may mean that some counsel sounds too trite to those in the throws of pain and sorrow. At the same time the chapter doesn’t give enough detail for the counselor to feel that they are adequately prepared to tackle these issues with a sufferer. The book’s brevity makes it unclear to me how to use the tool.
Welch is an excellent writer and there are indeed great insights in this book. His chapter on Narcissistic Personality Disorder was particularly illuminating. Yet, if I had someone struggling with anxiety or trauma or depression I would not refer them to this tool. There are more thorough and detailed explorations of those subjects available to the reader…some even written by Welch. So, while I actually really enjoyed this book I don’t know what to do with it. It could have even been a better tool if it would have given a more robust theological framework for psychiatric diagnosis. As it stands, however, it just doesn’t accomplish enough. It’s a good read but too brief to ultimately make a big impact in the area of mental health help.
Sparrow & Heart Soul Care 