An important goal in every client’s healing is to see themselves as God sees them - as loved and valued and a precious member of God’s family. This Gospel identity in Christ creates both a humility and the ability to have grace for themselves and others as they grow in this understanding.

Many clients “know” God loves them intellectually, but their experiences in a broken world of loneliness and pain obscure and often block their sense of God’s love for them, leaving them feeling wounded and inadequate. Using their own resources, they have developed strategies to help them avoid or strive to overcome this sense of worthlessness, such as looking for others’ approval or achieving success in their career and/or relationships. Ultimately, these strategies fail to meet their deepest needs and longings, often leading to anxiety, depression, broken relationships and troubling behaviors that bring them to counseling.

How can we help these clients experience God’s love in a fresh way? How can we deepen their intellectual understanding (their minds) of the gospel to include their bodies and emotions? This month’s toolkit will give some ideas for guiding a client to a personal experience of Christ’s presence with them.