Comparing Adams with Backus and Chapian

Summary How to Help People Change, by Jay Adams, focuses on a counseling theory which emphasizes the vertical relationship between man and God. According to Adams, effective changes cannot occur if the client does not seek to improve his prayer life and seek to become more like Christ in order to gain perspective on their situations which surround them. Adams shares his belief that God must be central to the Christian counseling relationship and that, without room for God, the counseling will be ineffective and useless. To Adams, it is as simple as a matter of the heart involving four steps enforced by the counselor: teaching, conviction, correction, and disciplined training and righteousness. When one seeks knowledge and wisdom from biblical truths, true change can occur. Through each of the steps, a client can learn to recognize what the Bible says and grow in their daily convictions, causing them to desire to live a more Christ centered life, reaching step four which allows for discernment to come into play through discipleship with the counselor.
Telling Yourself the Truth provides strategies for someone to accept their current situation, learn their responsibility in it, and redefine the way they think and believe (Backus & Chapian, 2000). The book includes a study guide in order for a person to truly change the way they think while practicing these new concepts/ truths as they read the book. After defining misbeliefs for the reader, each chapter focuses on a different misbelief and provides concrete examples of how people often feel and methods they can use from Biblical principles which will allow them to redefine their feelings of misbeliefs.
For example, if a person dealing with feelings of anger from an unhappy marriage says to themselves, “I can’t stand it any longer” the book teaches them to understand