You are More than What you Weigh: Improve Your Self-Esteem No Matter what Your Weight is a helpful resource for those struggling with an eating disorder, whether it is anorexia, bulimia, or over-eating.

Although this book is written from a secular perspective rather than a Christian counseling perspective, it provides a well-balanced approach to the multi-dimensional chaos of an eating disorder. It does this by addressing ten different dimensions of the total personhood. These ten types include the:

1. Physical self
2. Intellectual self
3. Emotional self
4. Social self
5. Psychological self
6. Spiritual self
7. Sexual self
8. Assertive self
9. Stress/Relaxed self
10. Career self

Rather than another manual to just read through, this book is more of a workbook for a person to work through, with numerous exercises and though provoking questions. Within the book, it provides example answers for the workbook questions as they are listed. However, for those wishing to work on their own, the book also provides a CD-ROM that can be loaded onto a computer so that a blank companion work book can be printed out. Printed out and punched with three-ring binder holes, this workbook is an excellent resource to add to regular counseling a person may be involved in for their eating disorder.

For those that have a Christian approach to counseling and recovery, these exercises are easily blended into Scriptural truths and approaches. A counselor may take the workbook questions and also add verses and/or Scriptural principles that may be of relevance to that particular section.

Client and Counselor alike will find this a valuable tool to use throughout the counseling process.

Click here for Melissa's blog

Posted by True Hope Counseling at 01:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I enjoy challeging myself and reading books that take me out of my comfort zone as a counselor. This means that I purposefully read books that don't always back up the counseling model that I approach within my office. In fact, may times I search out books that are against Christian counseling, just so I can know what the "other side" is saying.

When I picked up Blame it on the Brain? Distinguising Chemcial Imbalances, Brain Disorders, and Disobedience, by Edward T. Welch, I honestly thought it was going to be another book about why Christians should rule out the use of medication and psychology when dealing with issues such as depression and anxiety.

What I found instead was a refreshing approach that was well-balanced and well-thought out by the author. Instead of crticizing Christian Counselors as blaming all mental illness on the brain and therefore hiding behind that as an excuse for sin, this author clearly stated that there are physical and chemical dimensions to our brains that can cause clients to struggle with certain things. Mr. Welch specifically addressed Alzheimers, brain trauma, schizophrenia, ADHD, depression, alcoholism, and homosexuality within the context of the book.

In addressing each of these issues the main approach the author took was two-fold: Distinguish between spiritual and physical symptoms and address each one accordingly.

Mr. Welch then went on to admit that the physical symptoms often weaken the mental and emotional state of a person, thereby making that person more prone to sin, but the fact remains, no matter what is influencing or affecting us, we are still accountable for sinful behavior. This applies to any person, whether they are suffering from brain trauma, dementia, or severe mental illness. The author contends that although the brain may be weak, the spirit man is still very much alive and it is on that part of the person that counselors must help a client focus on---after physical symptoms have been addressed.

Summed up, phsyical complications are never an excuse for sin.

This was an incredibly well written book and one that will prove very beneficial to my library as a counselor. The two-fold model that Welch introduces for working with people strugging with mental illness or other brain disorders is something I will now incorporate into my counseling office. This same model can also be used by chldren of parents with dementia, parents of chldren with ADHD, and even friends of those who have mental illness and addiction issues such as alcoholism.

Posted by True Hope Counseling at 04:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)