Includes bibliographical references (page 208).

Four questions hurting people ask -- pt. 1. What's wrong? Why am I still struggling so much? -- What is causing my problem? -- pt. 2. Who can help? Four resources I can draw from -- I must help myself -- Maybe other people could help -- Only God can help -- Maybe I need professional help -- pt. 3. What will the helper do? All therapies are not created equal -- Dynamic therapy : recovery :recovering and healing our past -- Recovery movement : letting our shame go -- Spiritual interventions : being delivered from evil -- pt. 4. What can I hope for? Shepherds and specialists : resources for help -- The special gift of a Christian counselor -- The power of healing community -- What connected community looks like -- So what is our hope?

In Hope When You're Hurting, Drs. Larry Crabb and Dan Allender consider four key questions hurting people ask: What's wrong? Who can help? What will the helper do? What can I hope for? In answering these questions, Crabb and Allender shed light on the strengths and weaknesses of different counseling models. They consider the psychological, medical, and spiritual aspects of emotional pain. They examine the role of the church as a vital agent for restoration and growth.

And most important, they offer principles for finding the help you need. Hope When You're Hurting doesn't settle for easy answers. It tackles the tough questions centered around Christian counseling: Why do we draw a line between spiritual and psychological problems? What is the place of professional counselors? Why does the church seem so ill-equipped to deal with deep pain? What can it offer that counselors can't? Does It possess untapped resources for healing that can.

And should be developed? Crabb's and Allender's perspectives, drawn from each author's wealth of biblical and professional understanding, are penetrating, encouraging, and in places, fascinatingly divergent. Hope When You're Hurting will challenge and inspire professionals and church leaders alike to rethink their views on counseling and Christian community, and to cultivate new vision for the church's role in changing lives.