Shanthi K V

Level 2 –
Module 1
Certificate
Course in
Christian
Counselling

BOOK REVIEW
 Effective Biblical Counselling – Larry Crabb
Book Review

I. Aim of the Book:

1. To provide a counselling model which can be gracefully integrated into the functioning
of the local church by promoting obedience and character growth among the
believers in the body of Christ.
2. It emphasizes helping Christian believers grow and mature in their ability to worship
and serve our Triune God by becoming more like Christ and help that believers who
are struggling with their superficial and impersonal in their practice as a Christian
Community both at home and corporately must be addressed by the local body. This
also aims to remove the false assumption that believers care for one another and train
believers to become true, selfless and effective counsellors.
3. Aims to help believers achieve both spiritual and psychological maturity, which in turn
leads to obedience and character growth as believers of Christ.
4. To understand the importance of crucial needs and keeps Scripture as the ultimate
authority in the counselling process for Christian believers.
5. To provide practical help for Christians who want to be more effective in ministering
to their suffering brother and sisters in Christ. –

II. Structure of the Book:

1. Major Sections: Effective Biblical Counselling by Larry Crabb is systematically

organized into three major sections.
a. Theoretical Model
b. Practical Model
c. Application Model
2. Systematic Organization of the Book:
a. Part I: Theoretical Foundation: A Few Preliminaries – Chapters 1-2
Theoretical Foundation of the book lay the groundwork by exploring the basic
concepts of biblical counselling, the importance of addressing human needs
for significance and security, and the role of the church in the counselling
process.
b. Part II: Basic Concepts: What do you need to know about people in order
to effectively counsel – Chapters 3-5
This section presents a detailed model for counselling, including specific
techniques and strategies. Crabb discusses how to identify and address the
root causes of problems, rather than just treating symptoms.
c. Part III: Basic Strategy: How to understand and deal with personal
problems
The final sections focus on applying the principles and includes case studies
and real-life examples to illustrate how the theological concepts and practical
techniques can be implemented in counselling sessions.

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 d. Part III – (Chapter 6-9) summarizes the basic strategy – how to understand
and deal with personal problems. It also gives an understanding how
problems develop, what do you try to change and simple models for
counselling.
e. Part IV: (Chapter 10) teach us how to develop a counselling program in the
local church.

3. Movement within the Book: The book is thoroughly structured to guide readers from
understanding the need for biblical counselling to applying practical techniques in
real-life scenarios. Introduction, why biblical counselling, theoretical study of
different models and techniques of counselling and case studies and life examples.
4. Writing Style: Crabb’s writing style is clear and comprehensible and accessible,
making complex concepts understandable and practical for both lay people and
professional in Christian counselling. The style and aim of the book take us to the
concept of helping individuals grow in their ability to worship and serve God by
becoming more Christ-like, achieving both spiritual and psychological maturity
III. A Summary of the Book:
5. Effective Biblical Counselling by Larry Crabb is a comprehensive guide for all
Believers in Christ aspiring to be Christian Counsellor. It integrates biblical principles
with the psychological insights to provide a model for Christian counselling within the
local body of church. The following is the summary of the book:
a. Chapter 1: The Goal of Counselling: This chapter helps the counsellors to
make understand the counselee to understand the biblical route to deep
abiding joy as we learn to abide in Christ. It takes us from the core self-
achievement of happiness that led to be desperate throughout our life to how
to surrender ourselves to abide in Christ and enjoy all the peace and
happiness in fellowship with the Triune God. This chapter helps us to
understand how to attain the spiritual and psychological maturity through
abiding in Christ’ right hand.
b. Chapter 2: Christianity & Psychology: Enemies or Allies? This chapter deeply
analyse and summarise the integration of secular psychological theory into
Christian Counselling. The relationship between Christianity and Psychology
has been a topic of considerable debate. Some view them as enemies -
Enemies Model, believing that the two disciplines are fundamentally
incompatible due to their different assumptions, methodologies and goals.
Others (Allies Model) see them as allies, arguing that they can complement
each other and provide a more holistic understanding of human nature. This
book aims to integrate approaches seeking to harmonize the insights of
psychology with the truths of Christianity. These approaches often involve
using psychological tools and methodologies to address issues while
ensuring that biblical principles remain the guiding framework when put into
practice in Christian Counselling. Separate but Equal, Tossed Salad, nothing
but buttery (Nothing but grace/Nothing but Christ)-which appropriately
demand that every bit of Christian counselling be thoroughly consistent with
biblical revelation but throw out all psychology, including those elements
which are perhaps accidentally consistent with Scripture, Spoiling the
Egyptians (Exo. 12:38) – where God Himself allowed to do this spoiling (taking

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 from) and intended to happen and permitted them to ask the Egyptians. But
the problem is taking of multitude things which God did not intend to do is the
model where we have practice – what to take from the secular psychology to
integrate with the Christian counselling model.
c. Chapter 3: Personal Needs: What do people Need to Live Effectively: This
chapters help us to understand the crucial needs of people which we lost
after the fall in the Eden of Garden.
d. Chapter 4: Motivation-Why do we do and what we do? Chirstian believers as
Paul expressed in Romans 7 as agonizing bewilderment over his own-
behaviour and tells that he regularly found himself doing precisely the
opposite of what honestly felt he wanted to do. He observed his perplexing
pattern of behaviour and conclude that there is law at work within his being
which completely opposed his conscious and sincere intentions to live a
righteous life. There is desperation in the lives of people who feel worthless
when missing the mark of Christ like living. Also, this chapter rightly motivate
the counselees to route in Christ to look for their crucial needs met and not
searching them outside of Christ.
e. Personality Structure: Taking Apart the Watch to See What Makes It Tick:
Emphasizes the importance of Counsellors’ understanding conscious and
unconscious forces on behaviour, human needs, defence mechanisms to
protect from psychological pain and spiritual and psychological integration.
f. Part III – (Chapter 6-9) summarizes the basic strategy – how to understand
and deal with personal problems. It also gives an understanding how
problems develop, what do you try to change and simple models for
counselling.
g. Part IV: teach us how to develop a counselling program in the local church.
IV. Personalized Application or Transferable Principles of the Book:
1. Understanding individual needs where the principle is to recognize that each person
has unique needs for significance and security. Application may be taken as tailored
counselling approaches to address these specific needs.
2. Building Trust and Rapport with the Counselees: The principle is to establish a trusting
relationship, and the application will be spending quality time to getting to know the
individual, listening actively and showing empathy and creating an environment
where the counselee feel safe and comfortable sharing their struggles.
3. Integrating Scripture in Christian Counselling: This is an important step in Christian
counselling model and the counsellor should not hesitate to use the scripture
reference when needed and use it appropriately addressing the core issue and
focusing to resolve it.
4. Transferable Principles what we learn from the book is he holistic approach where we
can club both spiritual and psychological aspects to help in our counselling models.
5. Community Support: The support of the local body of church for additional support
and involve in small groups, seeking mentorship and participating in other church
activities etc.
6. Goals & Accountabilities: Every Christian Counsellor have to learn to set a clear and
achievable goals and provide accountability for spiritual and personal growth as we
counsel them.

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7. Some of the take aways in the book is practicing individual counselling and get to
know about Group Therapy and Church programs that can be applied as additional
support