My Most Influential Biblical Counseling Book
Updated: Sep 16
Finding Freedom
Of all the books I had to read while completing my MDiv with a counseling concentration, Insight and Creativity by Jay Adams was my personal favorite in the field of counseling. Of all Adams’s books, this one may stand the test of time best. Some of his other works feel a bit dated—not because they are no longer valuable, but because so much more has been written since the late 1960s and early 1970s, and the discipline of counseling has moved beyond its early engagement with Rogerian therapy.
This little volume, however, gave me tremendous encouragement when I was first starting out.
I was learning counseling from a man (Dr. George Scipione) who loved the Lord Jesus, loved His Word, and loved His people. He also had a distinctive personality that was radically different from mine. I loved him for it and was thankful for those differences, but I often found myself sitting in his classes or observing him counsel and thinking, Lord, I am never going to counsel like this.
When I came across Insight and Creativity, it freed me to be who God had created me to be. The truth could come through my personality. I did not have to counsel like my mentor; I could counsel as myself. What mattered was developing insight into the common features of a case and exercising creativity as I came to understand both the unique elements of the case and the uniqueness of myself as a counselor.
What Is Insight? What is Creativity?
When you see the title, you might assume that insight refers to some unusually gifted skill developed over many years and thousands of hours of counseling. You might similarly assume that creativity means thinking outside the box or functioning like an artist in the counseling room.
But Adams uses these concepts more specifically and more helpfully.
Insight concerns what is common across counseling cases. It is the ability to look deeply into a situation and apprehend the true nature of what the person is facing. It means looking beyond (merely) the presenting problem (and superficial solutions) to understand the underlying heart issues and identifying the ordinary, usual problems beneath the unique features of the case.
Creativity is the ability to take ordinary biblical principles and shape them into fresh forms and applications appropriate to the person in front of us and the problem he or she is facing.
In other words, counseling has a bidirectional movement: What common problem is this unique person presenting, and how can I take the common solution found in Scripture and apply it to this unique, particular person and their situation?
This dual approach allows us rightly to exegete both Scripture and the person in front of us, bridging the Scripture-to-life gap through appropriate application.
Helpful Nuggets for Beginning Counselors
Adams also writes in a wonderfully encouraging way about our lack of experience. Even when we do not yet possess extensive case experience or life experience, we can borrow the insights of those who have gone before us. By reading good pastors, theologians, and counselors—both historical and contemporary—we can benefit from the insights of others while our own personal insight is still developing.
The same is true of creativity. As we grow in the art of applying Scripture practically to distinct circumstances, we can borrow from our professors, mentors, pastors, and readings. All our growing, learning, and sharpening is ultimately for the sake of caring well for our counselees.
These simple truths were revolutionary for me when I first read them in seminary. They freed me to be a young counselor who felt as though he were merely treading water amid the massive complexities of life. They gave me the confidence necessary to roll up my pant legs and wade into those difficulties with the biblical conviction that the Word of God is sufficient to care for the uniqueness and complexity of the person in front of me.
Tolle, Lege
May you take up this little volume—roughly only 150 pages, and an easy 150 pages at that—and may you, too, grow in insight and creativity for the counseling challenges you face.
Questions for Reflection
In what ways have you felt the need to imitate another counselor rather than develop within your own God-given gifts and personality?
How well are you learning to identify the ordinary heart issues beneath the unique and complex features of your counselee’s situation?
Where might you draw down others’ insight and creativity as you continue growing in the wise and personal application of Scripture?
