This will be about helping parents get through their own inevitable spiritual crises when their children are diagnosed with a behavioral or developmental disorder. Feeling guilty, blaming God, feeling as if they have failed when they need to draw on non-Christian resources, feeling as if they need to compromise their own convictions in the name of "acceptance"; all of these reactions are valid, likely, and need to be dealt with in a sensitive manner by Christian mental health professionals.

For many years, the discussion of spiritual trauma and abuse was all but forbidden within our family of churches. One of the consequences of this was that many open conversations have been happening outside of our fellowship, largely without our involvement, for better or worse. One challenge is that people "on the outside" have controlled the narrative, which has not always been helpful. This class has two sections. The first section presents a new model for spiritual trauma and abuse (called the ABC's of Spiritual Abuse) that seeks to provide conceptual clarity, room for nuance, and greater treatment utility for therapists wading into these delicate subjects. The second section considers the risks as well as the "spiritual countertransference" challenges that emerge when working with those within our family of churches. Solutions to mitigate the risk of both personal spiritual harm and professional burnout will be explored.

The word for save or saved in the Bible is "sozo" which is a much more rich word than how we understand being saved. It means to heal, save, make whole, be restored, be delivered, and or preserved. As clinicians, we are instruments of the maker in the salvation process. Jesus healed many before he saved them. In many ways, people need to be healed before they come to Christ. In this class, we will understand how the empirical clinical stages of healing integrate with the biblical view of salvation. We will also be encouraged how we as counselors like John the Baptist all prepare the way for the Lord!

The class will address research on the importance of spirituality when healing the whole person. It will focus on the Christian faith in particular, the need for Christian counselors, how Christian practices improve mental health, some questions regarding faith to include on your intake, and how to discuss Christianity to Christian and non-Christian clients who are open.

Unlike others working in mental health, Christian providers face their own spiritual, psychological, and social challenges: how to set boundaries and limits with church-members who are also clients, dealing with situations (such as abuse) that challenge their own faith, and having to keep in mind that--although they fill a unique role in the church--they still don't know everything and must not give in to the notion that mental health professionals are the avatars of the 21st century! Having each been psychologists for 40 years, the Shapiros have had to deal with all of these issues and will be able to offer advice on how to stay sane and productive for the span of an entire career.

This class will focus on using biblical and spiritual approaches toward counseling emotion using ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) and how that also overlaps with counseling sexuality. Emotion and Sexuality - how do clinicians integrate what the scriptures teach when working from a psychological lens.