Building Bridges: Biblical Counseling Activities for Children and Teens

“It is impossible with a few words to capture the love, wisdom, and practical helpfulness that splashes across every page of Building Bridges. If you are a parent and you want to know how to love and be God’s tool of change in the lives of your children, you should read this book. If you are a teacher, children’s counselor, or in children’s or youth ministry, this book is absolutely essential for you. As a father of adult children, I read Building Bridges with gratitude for the many that it will help, but also with sadness that I didn’t have it when our children were young. We cannot lose another generation of vulnerable children, made in the image of God, to the evils of life in this broken, groaning world, and for this reason, I enthusiastically commend Building Bridges to you.”

“‘Tell me about your problems,’ rarely gives us access to children because words can elude them when emotions are complicated. Julie has given us creative and engaging means of drawing out a child's heart.”

“Counseling children and teens provides unique challenges to even the most gifted biblical counselors. Children and teens think and operate differently than adults, and connecting with them and understanding what lies within their hearts requires distinctive skills. Building Bridges is here to help. Julie Lowe has provided an excellent resource to explain the why, what, and how of connecting the truths of Scripture with the hearts of children and teens. Counselors, teachers, parents, Sunday school workers, and youth ministry workers will all benefit from the wealth of knowledge and tools in this work.”

“What a treasure Julie has given to the church and to parents in her latest book, Building Bridges. With the conviction that every child is an image bearer of the living God, Julie offers practical exercises, tools, and methods to draw out your child in conversation. In a culture that is quickly forgetting the art of conversation, Julie draws our gaze back to Scripture and shows us Jesus’s heart for children. I am confident this book will bless and impact many families for the kingdom of God.”

“Truth be told, children and adolescents who are struggling with life often leave parents, teachers, youth ministry staff, and counselors mystified. Julie Lowe understands this and has written a book that is intended to fill in the gap between the theologically profound and the how-to practical. Building Bridges grounds the process of counseling children in a model that is not based on behavioral modification language but on the language of the gospel. Parenting, after all, is the most challenging form of discipleship that there is. Building Bridges provides the reader with a pattern of entering and exploring the life of a child and in that context winning their trust, providing hope to their heart, and offering a pathway to change.”

“Building Bridges fills a profound gap in biblical counseling literature and is by far one of the most informed, thoughtful, and practical guides I have ever read on counseling children and teens. Lowe’s creativity in transitioning the riches of biblical counseling and theology into a practical form that helps counselors effectively draw out the hearts of some of our most cherished is unmatched. As a practitioner of almost twenty years, this book serves as a much needed and appreciated gift!”

“Now and again, an exceptional book comes out that will prove to be a classic on a topic. Julie Lowe’s Building Bridges is bound to become a classic biblical counseling resource for helping children and teens. Julie packs gospel-centered, grace-saturated truth in every chapter and ends the book with a trove of helpful exercises and worksheets. Pastors, youth and children’s workers, and parents should get a copy, read it, and deploy the wisdom from its pages.”

“For those of us who sometimes feel a bit lost in knowing how to winsomely connect with and get to know the hearts of the children we counsel, Julie Lowe has given us a very helpful resource. Building Bridges is full of extremely useful ideas and activities for gaining entry and speaking God’s truth into the lives of hurting children. Anyone who wants to grow in their skills in counseling children will want a copy of this book.”

“This book is as theologically rich as it is practical. Julie takes great effort to be biblically sound in her approach to counseling and also takes just as much effort to give detailed examples of practical exercises to engage children. For any parent or youth worker that's struggling to reach a specific child or student, this book will be a great resource.”