Faith-Based ACT for Christian Clients balances empirical evidence with theology to give mental health professionals a deep understanding of both the "why" and "how" of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) for Christians. The new edition includes updated discussions in each chapter, more than 20 new and updated exercises, and new chapters on couples and trauma. The book includes a detailed exploration of the overlap between ACT and the Christian faith, case studies, and techniques that are explicitly designed to be accessible to both non-Christian and Christian (including evangelical Christian) counselors and therapists. Chapters also present the established research on Buddhist-influenced mindfulness meditation and newer research on Christian-derived meditative and contemplative practices and lay a firm theological foundation through the use of engaging biblical stories and metaphors.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Christian Clients: A Faith-Based Workbook, Second Edition, is an indispensable companion for mental health professionals and their clients. The new edition includes updated discussions in each chapter and more than twenty-five new and updated exercises. The workbook offers a basic overview of the goals of ACT, including concepts that overlap with Christianity. Chapters devoted to each of the six ACT processes include biblical examples, equivalent concepts from the writings of contemplative Christians, worksheets for clients to better understand and apply the material, and strategies for clients to integrate a Christian worldview with ACT processes. Each chapter also includes several exercises devoted to contemplative practices and other psychospiritual interventions.

The Compassion-Based Workbook for Christian Clients integrates contemporary research in clinical psychology on compassion-based approaches to shame with a Christian worldview, offering a wide variety of strategies for Christians to better understand and combat shame and negative self-judgments. Chapters lay out a four-step process to help clients let go of unhelpful thinking patterns that lead to shame, experience God’s compassion on a deeper level, and extend this compassion to themselves and others. Readers will find a wealth of Christian-sensitive experiential exercises, journaling assignments, biblical examples, and case examples throughout the workbook. Audio recordings for several guided meditations are also provided to help Christians practice the strategies offered in the workbook.

Contemplative Prayer for Christians with Chronic Worry presents an eight-week approach for working with recurrent worry. Each chapter offers an introduction for the week, goals, techniques, and homework. Six free audio recordings are also available to download for use when practicing the guided meditations. Clinicians and their clients will find that the workbook helps them explore ways to lessen daily worries through contemplative prayer. Relying on scriptural support, the contemplative Christian tradition, and psychological science, clients will learn how to sit in silence with God, trusting in him during moments of uncertainty, worry, and anxiety.

Christian Psychotherapy in Context combines theology with the latest research in clinical psychology to equip mental health practitioners to meet the unique psychological and spiritual needs of Christian clients. Encouraging therapists to operate from within a Christian framework, the authors explore the intersection between a Christian worldview and clients’ emotional struggles, drawing from sources including both foundational theological texts and the “common factors” psychotherapy literature. Written collaboratively by two clinical psychologists, an academic psychologist, and a theologian, this book paves the way for psychotherapeutic practice that builds on Christian principles as the foundation, rather than merely adding them to treatment as an afterthought.

For the first time ever, three pioneers in the field of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) present an edited volume that outlines how the core ACT processes can be applied to religious and spiritual care approaches. If you are a clergy leader or pastoral counselor, people struggling with difficult situations or life traumas frequently turn to you for guidance. And while you’re passionate about helping, you may be unprepared for counseling people with certain mental health challenges. On the other hand, if you are a psychotherapist, you may need guidance in supporting your client’s religious belief system in therapy. In either case, this book presents a powerful road map to help you provide the best care. In this book, you’ll find a complete overview of ACT, as well as strategies for integrating ACT and issues related to spirituality. You’ll also learn how the core processes of ACT—such as commitment to change and values-based living—can be seamlessly tied into spiritual and religious counseling, no matter your faith or therapeutic background. By teaching you how to fuse conceptual psychological and spiritual principles, this book will provide you with the tools needed to enhance your counseling skill set.

"In all my years studying personal growth, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is one of the most useful tools I've ever come across, and in this book, Dr. Hayes describes it with more depth and clarity than ever before."-Mark Manson, #1 New York Times best-selling author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck Life is not a problem to be solved. ACT shows how we can live full and meaningful lives by embracing our vulnerability and turning toward what hurts. In this landmark book, the originator and pioneering researcher into Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) lays out the psychological flexibility skills that make it one of the most powerful approaches research has yet to offer. These skills have been shown to help even where other approaches have failed. Science shows that they are useful in virtually every area--mental health (anxiety, depression, substance abuse, eating disorders, PTSD); physical health (chronic pain, dealing with diabetes, facing cancer); social processes (relationship issues, prejudice, stigma, domestic violence); and performance (sports, business, diet, exercise). How does psychological flexibility help? We struggle because the problem-solving mind tells us to run from what causes us fear and hurt. But we hurt where we care. If we run from a sense of vulnerability, we must also run from what we care about. By learning how to liberate ourselves, we can live with meaning and purpose, along with our pain when there is pain. Although that is a simple idea, it resists our instincts and programming. The flexibility skills counter those ingrained tendencies. They include noticing our thoughts with curiosity, opening to our emotions, attending to what is in the present, learning the art of perspective taking, discovering our deepest values, and building habits based around what we deeply want. Beginning with the epiphany Steven Hayes had during a panic attack, this book is a powerful narrative of scientific discovery filled with moving stories as well as advice for how we can put flexibility skills to work immediately. Hayes shows how allowing ourselves to feel fully and think freely moves us toward commitment to what truly matters to us. Finally, we can live lives that reflect the qualities we choose.

Faith-Based ACT for Christian Clients balances empirical evidence with theology to give mental health professionals a deep understanding of both the "why" and "how" of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) for Christians. The new edition includes updated discussions in each chapter, more than 20 new and updated exercises, and new chapters on couples and trauma. The book includes a detailed exploration of the overlap between ACT and the Christian faith, case studies, and techniques that are explicitly designed to be accessible to both non-Christian and Christian (including evangelical Christian) counselors and therapists. Chapters also present the established research on Buddhist-influenced mindfulness meditation and newer research on Christian-derived meditative and contemplative practices and lay a firm theological foundation through the use of engaging biblical stories and metaphors.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Christian Clients is an indispensable companion to Faith-Based ACT for Christian Clients. The workbook offers a basic overview of the goals of ACT, including concepts that overlap with Christianity. Chapters devoted to each of the six ACT processes include biblical examples, equivalent concepts from the writings of early desert Christians, worksheets for clients to better understand and apply the material, and strategies for clients to integrate a Christian worldview with the ACT-based processes. Each chapter also includes several exercises devoted to contemplative prayer and other psychospiritual interventions.