Accede!
Thoughts and Encouragements for Wounded Helpers Joined to a Healing God
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Articles of Relevance to Christian Counseling

This website has been created as a platform for the exchange of information on christian counseling.
A guiding principle is that Jesus came into our 'valley' in order to re-unite us with Himself and with the heavenly Father. Another is that Jesus did, what He saw the heavenly Father do (John 15:19-20). Living from Him, I want to align myself with what I - subjectively - see God the Father do; both in my own life and in the life of those with whom I am in contact.
From that, I have come to write the following series of tentative articles (yes, some do overlap):

The articles are presented in the following categories (some articles in more than one category):

  Relationship with God, our goal in life
  Connectedness, bonding and joy
  Development and attachment/bonding
  Recovery and growth
  Pastoral care / counseling (general)
  Blessing

All articles open in a new window. Via alt-tab you can easily return to this index.

Relationship with God, our goal in life
 o What is our Ultimate Life Goal - on the role of intimate connectedness with God as our ultimate goal and life fulfilment as well as the ultimate source for healthy living;
 o Living as Children of the King - righteousness, peace and joy: keys to pastoral care and healthy living from Romans 14:17;
 o The great love of God - Learning to experience His love and to live as children of a loving heavenly Father is often not an 'easy job'!;
 o Three Stories, Central to the Christian Life - a short article about three essential stories the Bible tells us in various forms;
 o The holy Name of the God Who was there, Who is there and Who will be there Adobe Acrobat Document – God's holy Name in the Old Testament reveals so much about Who He is and about the way He wants to be with us... (added: 2009-09-12)
 o True Worship - ever experienced the awe and wonder of standing before the Almighty?
 o Mary's Amazing Story Adobe Acrobat Document - what Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, experienced in her encounters with Jesus (PDF file; to be read with Adobe Reader - see above);

Connectedness, bonding and joy
 o Living as Children of the King - righteousness, peace and joy: keys to pastoral care and healthy living from Romans 14:17;
 o The Priestly Blessing: God's Shining and Proud Face;
 o Abundance of Life and Joy - on the way out from the valley of pain and depression; (new: 2008-06-13)

Development and attachment/bonding
 o Family Life and Personality Development - some notes on how we were meant to grow up and develop;
 o Connectedness and Attachment - some observations (a.o. by development psychologists) - Part 1. and Part 2.;
 o Attachment: Key to Healthy Living through Adequate Affect Regulation - how all kinds of psychopathology can be traced back to a lack of affect regulation skills that arise from insecure or broken attachment;
 o A Developmental Model of Girls and Women Adobe Acrobat Document - by Donna Emmanuel (with thanks to the copyright owner: Phillips Graduate Institute) (PDF file; to be read with Adobe Reader - see above);

Recovery and growth
 o Life Renewal - by a renewal of our mind, or...? (added: 2009-09-12)
 o Wounded Healers - only through acknowledging our own weaknesses and welcoming God's work in our own lives, can we be devoted to serve God and others in humility;
 o The Centrality of the Cross - at the Cross, Jesus carried the penalty of all our rebellion against God, all iniquity, etc. As such, it is the basis for God to do justice and yet be grace-full to us. This essay explores what that means for people who have suffered severe abuse and for the counseling practice;
 o Précis of Joseph Pieper's book: On Hope - by John W. Fawcett of Pastoral Care Ministries
 o Some Notions on Shame... - that awfully nagging feeling; with some significant references;
 o ... and Some Notions on Dignity - quite the opposite;

Pastoral care / counseling (general)
 o Pluriformous and multi-colored christian counseling - a variety of approaches and views (PDF document PDF file; to be read with Adobe Reader - see above);
 o The Centrality of the Cross - at the Cross, Jesus carried the penalty of all our rebellion against God, all iniquity, etc. As such, it is the basis for God to do justice and yet be grace-full to us. This essay explores what that means for people who have suffered severe abuse and for the counseling practice;
 o I thought... - a poem;
 o Listening to Multithreaded Life Stories - applying insights from active listening and narrative therapy to help people put away old defence mechanisms, such as trying to be "in control" through keeping distance, and build up confidence and connectedness in stead;
 o A Narrative Context for Conversations with Adult Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse Adobe Acrobat Document - by Frank Baird (with thanks to the copyright owner: Phillips Graduate Institute);
 o Inner Parent, Adult and Inner Child: A brief review of Transactional Analysis in a Biblical Pastoral context (new: 2009-08-20);
 o Layers and the role of attachment in mental and social-emotional processing
– Part I: A unifying model .pdf document
– Part II: Recovery from painful experiences .pdf document
– Part III: Attachment pain and addictions .pdf document (new: 2009-04-20)
– Part IV: The quest for a consistent life story .pdf document (new: 2009-11-24);

Blessing and affirmation
 o Blessing - a Brief Introductory Bible Study on an Often Undervalued Christian Mandate;
 o The Priestly Blessing: God's Shining and Proud Face - how science and the Bible agree on what we need;
 o Helping by Blessing - working together with God on healing and restoration; see also The memory problem and Walking in the Shadows, the first two chapters of Téo van der Weele's book From Shame to Peace - both at the site of Importantia, the publisher;
 o Blessing nonverbally - a powerful language!;

Suggestions welcome!

I encourage you wholeheartedly to send me any of your ideas, comments, experiences or other input that might be of interest to Christian counselors and pastoral workers. I may then decide to publish these with your consent, or to amend the material that is already here according to your comments.

More information

More information is available from the editor of this site, André H. Roosma, reachable via e-mail: andre.roosma@12accede.nl.

Thanks for your interest!
©  André H. Roosma, Accede!, Zoetermeer, NL, 2002-09-05 / 2009-11-24; All rights reserved.