David P. Herding-Counseling The Depressed Person-

Author: David P. Herding
Title: Counseling The Depressed Person
Publisher / Editor: 
Format: PDF
Size Of File: 672 KB
Pages: 90.

Description:

While there is an abundance of existing literature written on the subject of counseling depressed people from both secular psychological and religious perspectives, the views and methods of the Puritans on the subject are largely unknown, untapped and unapplied among contemporary Christians. Even though depressed moods and traits have been in existence since the fall of mankind, many secular psychologists and Christian counselors still do not rightly understand its origins, causes and cures and are too quick to medicate the problem or resort to self-help methods. But the ancient Biblical principles documented and applied by the Puritans for the diagnosis and cure of depression have proven to be what sufferers really need and desire. Therefore, the general intent is to put the topic of counseling of the depressed to the test by examining the historical writings and counsel of
Puritan writers against that of their current counterparts, namely the secular psychological methods, and how these modern methods fall short in dealing with a syndrome of depression.In particular, the Puritan foundational theories of diagnosing a pattern of depression and the theological themes they used for cures of such situations are examined and thoroughly documented. Finally, these methods of the Puritans are considered for the current culture and how the diagnosis, causes, cures and prognosis can all be rightly and widely applied to those who are chronically depressed in the contemporary church.