Are Christian treatments as effective as secular treatments? What is the evidence to support its success?

Christians engaged in the fields of psychology, psychotherapy and counseling are living in a unique moment. Over the last couple decades, these fields have grown more and more open to religious belief and religion-accommodative therapies. At the same time, Christian counselors and psychotherapists encounter pressure (for example, from insurance companies) to demonstrate that their accommodative therapies are as beneficial as secular therapies. This raises the need for evidence to support Christian practices and treatments.

The essays gathered in this volume explore evidence-based Christian treatments, practices, factors and principles. The authors mine the relevant research and literature to update practicing psychotherapists, clinical researchers, students, teachers and educated laypersons about the efficacy of certain Christian-accommodative therapies. Topics covered in the book include:



- devotional meditation

- cognitive-behavior therapy

- psychodynamic and process-experiential therapies

- couples, marriage and family therapy

- group intervention

The book concludes with a review of the evidence for the various treatments discussed in the chapters, a guide for conducting clinical trials that is essential reading for current or aspiring researchers, and reflections by the editors about the future of evidence-based Christian practices. As the editors say, "more research is necessary." To that end, this volume is a major contribution to a field of inquiry that, while still in its infancy, promises to have enormous implications for future work in Christian counseling and psychotherapy.

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.



Jamie D. Aten (PhD, Indiana State University) is the founder and codirector of the Humanitarian Disaster Institute, and Dr. Arthur P. Rech and Mrs. Jean May Rech Associate Professor of Psychology at Wheaton College (Wheaton, Illinois). Previouslyhe served as the assistant director of the Katrina Research Center and as assistant professor of psychology at the University of Southern Mississippi. Aten has been awarded close to $2 million in external funding by numerous state, federal and nonprofit organizations for psychology of religion and disaster research. He has published numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and co-edited several books, including two American Psychological Association Books bestsellers. He is also an American Psychological Association?s Division 36 (Psychology of Religion) Margaret Gorman Early Career Award winner and Mutual of America Merit Finalist Award winner.



Everett L. Worthington Jr. (PhD, University of Missouri) is Commonwealth Professor Emeritus at Virginia Commonwealth University. He is a licensed clinical psychologist and former executive director of the Templeton Foundation's A Campaign for Forgiveness Research. He was the founding editor of Marriage and Family: A Christian Journal, and his many books include Handbook of Forgiveness, Hope-Focused Marriage Counseling, and Couple Therapy.



Eric L. Johnson trained as an academic psychologist and is Lawrence and Charlotte Hoover Professor of Pastoral Care at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He is the author of Foundations for Soul Care and the director of the Society for Christian Psychology.



Joshua N. Hook (Ph.D., Virginia Commonwealth University) is assistant professor of psychology at the University of North Texas. He is a licensed clinical psychologist, and has written several journal articles and book chapters, mainly on the topics of humility, forgiveness, spirituality and religion.



1. Introduction to Evidence-Based Practices in Christian Counseling and Psychotherapy



Everett L. Worthington Jr., Eric L. Johnson, Joshua N. Hook and Jamie D. Aten

Part 1: Evidence-Based General Psychotherapeutic Factors



2. Evidence-Based Relationship and Therapist Factors in Christian Counseling and Psychotherapy



R. Scott Stegman, Sarah L. Kelly and T. Mark Harwood



3. Lay Christian Counseling for General Psychological Problems



Siang-Yang Tan



4. Christian Devotional Meditation for Anxiety



Fernando Garzon

Part 2: Evidence-Based Approaches to Psychotherapeutic Treatment of Individuals



5. Christian-Accommodative Cognitive Therapy for Depression



David J. Jennings II, Don E. Davis, Joshua N. Hook and Everett L. Worthington, Jr.



6. Christian-Accommodative Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Children and Adolescents



Donald F. Walker, Heather Lewis Quagliana, Morgan Wilkinson and Dana Frederick



7. Evidence-Based Principles from Psychodynamic and Process-Experiential Psychotherapies



Keith J. Edwards and Edward B. Davis

Part 3: Evidence-Based Psychotherapeutic Treatments for Couples and Groups



8. Preparing Couples for Marriage: The SYMBIS Model



Les Parrott and Leslie Parrott



9. Christian PREP: The Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program



C. Gary Barnes and Scott M. Stanley



10. The Hope-Focused CouplesApproach to Counseling and Enrichment



Jennifer S. Ripley and Vickey L. Maclin



11. The Marital Conflict and Restoration Model: Empirical Evidence for Pain-Defense and Grace-Trust Patterns in Couple Reconciliation



James N. Sells



12. Marital Couples and Forgiveness Intervention



Frederick A. DiBlasio



13. Christian-Accommodative Group Interventions to Promote Forgiveness for Transgressions



Julia E. M. Kidwell and Nathaniel G. Wade

Part 4: Reflecting on Evidence-Based Treatments



14. Promising Evidence-Based Treatments



Everett L. Worthington Jr., Joshua N. Hook, Eric Johnson and Jamie D. Aten



15. Conducting Clinical Outcome Studies in Christian Counseling and Psychotherapy



Joshua N. Hook, Everett L. Worthington, Jr., Jamie D. Aten and Eric Johnson



16. Evidence-Based Practice in Light of the Christian Tradition(s): Reflections and Future Directions



Eric L. Johnson, Everett L. Worthington Jr., JoshuaN. Hook and Jamie D. Aten



List of Contributors



Subject Index



"This book offers a way for clinicians to recognize the importance of using effective treatment and it provides a basis for determining the relative effectiveness of the interventions clinicians select. This book also illustrates several ways Christians can connect to interventions that are compatible with their Christian beliefs and values."



"The publication of this excellent volume marks a developmental step in the maturation of Christian engagement with and reflection on quality provision of counseling and psychotherapy services. The editors and authors represent knowledge of best practices in alleviating human distress in a number of key areas, particularly related to preventing and assisting troubled marriages, and we can hope that the movement they seek to inspire will flourish."



"I love this book for all sorts of reasons. It is edited by some of the most gifted and insightful people I know. The chapters illustrate a variety of treatment approaches as well as diverse ways of gathering evidence to support those treatments. I also appreciate how thoroughly this book reflects wise collaboration between researchers and clinicians, and among early-, mid-, and late-career psychologists. This volume is timely and essential, reflecting both Christian wisdom and prevailing professional standards."



"[T]his volume is a major contribution to a field of inquiry that, while still in its infancy, promises to have enormous implications for future work in Christian counseling and psychotherapy."



"This book . . . makes a meaningful contribution to the clinical efforts of those with Christian worldview beliefs and commitments by establishing a foundation of reasonable evidence."



"The concept of evidence-based practice is continually evolving and needs to be applied more systematically to a Christian context. In this volume, top researcher-clinicians come together to provide the state of the art of evidence-based practices for Christian counseling and psychotherapy. It is both broad and deep, and represents a significant advancement in the field of Christian counseling. I highly recommend it for lay counselors, graduate students and seasoned clinicians alike."