Consider Your Counsel: Addressing Ten Mistakes in Our Biblical Counseling

“Bob has hit the nail on the head! Every biblical counselor should review this book annually. Every counselor in supervision should be required to read it. It is not a critique—it is a self-evaluation tool that will aid the counselor in maintaining biblical excellence while providing competent, consistent under-shepherding. This book is rather like the pastoral epistles focused on one aspect of ministering. This is one of those books I wish I had written. Having supervised about 300 counselors towards certification, I’ve touched on all of these issues more than once.”

“The pace at which a counselee changes is often a reflection of how skillfully the counselor models the compassion of Christ and ministers the Word of God. In Consider Your Counsel, Bob Kellemen provides wise, insightful, and practical advice to biblical counselors in ten areas where we can easily err. The concise chapters, exposition of Scripture, and questions for evaluation at the end of each chapter make this book ideal for personal or group study. The historical quotations and stories are powerful. This is a valuable resource for every counselor who wants to keep sharpening their ministry skills.”

“Drawing upon years of experience in training and supervising biblical counselors, Bob Kellemen highlights the mistakes and imbalances he has observed in both young and seasoned counselors (including himself!) in order to provide a ‘supervision in writing’ for his readers. In so doing, he implicitly demonstrates the growth and development of the biblical counseling movement over time. Particularly helpful are his reflections on the relationship between the sufficiency of Scripture and the competency of the biblical counselor.”

“Good counselors should know how to evaluate our counsel and learn from our mistakes. In his latest book, Bob Kellemen does exactly that. Pulling from a deep well of experience, he works through ten common mistakes biblical counselors can make. Through it all, Bob’s heart for others shines through. Never the stern or austere judge, he serves as a loving and patient guide. This brief book should be required for all counselors, new and old alike.”

“Bob Kellemen is one of the most encouraging people I know. Even when he is challenging his fellow biblical counselors regarding errors we sometimes make, he does so in a gentle and positive manner. He draws upon his decades of experience training counselors to succinctly identify ten ways in which we (and yes, that includes me) fall short of providing the loving biblical care we aspire to give. Bob supports his concerns with Scripture while also offering wisdom from historical examples of faithful soul care. This is a book I want to get into the hands of my students as they move from the theory to the practice of biblical counseling.”

“Bob Kellemen is the biblical counselor’s biblical counselor. His work in Consider Your Counsel is profoundly scriptural and transformative. It is an essential guidebook for the new and seasoned biblical counselor. The poignant questions and illustrations throughout the book offer biblical self-examination and encouragement to learn and grow into a mature biblical counselor. If you want to be an effective biblical counselor, I highly recommend this book. I will be getting the counseling team at my church each a copy of this book and we will go through it at our monthly training meetings.”