CCEF

No matter what the circumstances, death shakes us to the core. It seems so wrong, and it is! We long for comfort, but we don't know where to look. Can God really help when we are overwhelmed with grief? With compassion and biblical wisdom, Paul David...

You know the feeling your mind keeps spinning around and around with the same worries, problems, and fears. You feel like you can't breathe. Some days your anxiety is so overwhelming that it's hard for you to believe that anyone, even God, could help...

Depression makes so many things hard. Things you used to take for granted: a good nights sleep, having goals, responding to someone's love, looking forward to the future. Is there any hope and help for those who are struggling with depression? Edward T...

Forgiving someone who has hurt you is one of the most difficult tasks anyone ever faces. In fact, it is so hard that most people avoid it at all costs. But when we don't forgive, we pay the price of bitterness that affects all of our relationships. Is...

What makes you angry? Sometimes it's small things: traffic jams, a waiter's mistake, or a friend's inattention. And sometimes it's big things: betrayal, injustice, meanness, violence, oppression, selfishness, and lying. How do you deal with your anger?...

Fear and anxiety are chronic struggles for many people that are only intensifying and increasing. Best-selling author Edward T. Welch shares the comfort and peace of Jesus in fifty brief readings for those who wrestle with fear. A Small Book for the...

When your child is anxious, it's easy to get anxious too. You want to help your child regain a sense of peace and safety, but how can you? This world is big and scary, and sometimes our worries get big too. Julie Lowe, a skilled family counselor with...

You started out telling each other everything. Time flew by when you were together. It all seemed so easy then. But now it seems like there's nothing to say. The intimacy and trust you once enjoyed are gone replaced by bickering, long silences, and...

The kids are hungry, dinner is late, everyone's tired and on edge, and then it happens—you lose control and blow up at them again. Is losing control with our children inevitable in our busy world? Or is there a better way? Learn from William P...

Prickly, defensive, nasty, volatile, withdrawn, miserable...aren't there days when you feel surrounded by difficult people? How do you cope? You can try avoiding them, gossiping about them, or giving them a piece of your mind. But wait! Don't your...

Everyone has their own style of dealing with conflict. Some people try to win at all costs and will do or say anything to get their own way. Others hate conflict and will do or say anything to avoid or end it. Sadly, neither fighting nor avoidance leads...

The event occurred in the past, possibly many years ago, but you still carry it with you wherever you go. Some days the memory keeps replaying over and over again in your mind. You feel angry, jumpy, maybe even guilty or ashamed. You want to move on...

You've tried to stop more times than you can count. Now you've given up. Can someone who can't "just say no" really change? There is hope—if you are willing to look deeper than your addictive behavior. Edward T. Welch helps you face what fuels...

Are you having suicidal thoughts and feelings? Perhaps you are convinced that life is not worth living. Your life seems hopeless, like a black hole with all love, hope, and joy sucked out. David Powlison describes the various reasons you might be...

If you have an angry child you are most likely worn out, confused, and looking for answers to questions like these: How can I restore sanity to this chaos? How can I prevent these anger storms in my child? Why does this rage seem to explode out of...

Arguments. Betrayal. Inattention. Some of the reasons that relationships shatter. Anger. Confusion. Hurt. Frustration. Some of what we feel when a relationship falls apart. We all have experienced how hard relationships can be in this broken world...

As a chronic fatigue sufferer, life as you once enjoyed it has ceased. Fatigue can be brought on by a myriad of physical, emotional, or spiritual issues. But, whatever the cause, your entire world is now affected by your diminished physical strength...

Is a personal God really involved in our suffering? And if he is, what in the world is he up to? Why would a good God allow suffering in his world? William P. Smith addresses these and other hard questions by reflecting on what the Bible teaches about...

Your cancer diagnosis comes as a surprise and not a pleasant surprise. It is a hard and threatening jolt. Perhaps you are still in shock. Still trying to wrap your mind around the new reality of your diagnosis and what it means for your present and...

Often, in our busy world, our lives feel like one long to-do list. It's easy to get so busy that we don't even notice how exhausted and anxious we are. Do you find yourself saying yes to activities you don't have time for? Have you ever said, "If I...

Everyone experiences hurt in relationships, but most of the time we are able to forgive and forget. But sometimes we experience a major hurt that lingers in our minds and leads to bitterness. We feel trapped by the resulting hostility, ongoing broken...

Are you a single adult who sometimes feels isolated, vulnerable, and alone? Like everyone else you want to be known and understood; you don't want to feel invisible. You want to be included and cared about. You don't want to be lonely; you want to be...

If you're struggling with a sexual addiction of any sort, you understand that feeling of being trapped, out of control, and afraid of being found out. No matter what you try, it seems impossible to break free from the lure of illicit sexual thoughts and...

If you are a single parent, you already know you have one of the hardest jobs in the world. Trying to be both dad and mom breadwinner, cook, chauffeur, comforter, dishwasher, homework helper, disciplinarian, nurse, and role mode can wear down the...

Do you feel like you're failing as a mom? Are you plagued by a sense of inadequacy and feel like you're constantly missing the mark?These feelings describe mom guilt—a surprisingly common experience for modern moms. Counselor Lauren Whitman helps...

Chronic pain is different from other kinds of physical pain because it doesn't stop. It is daily, unrelenting, soul-wearying pain for which there is no end in sight. Can you still experience God's grace and help even in the midst of never ending pain?...

How many times have you tried to change a behavior only to find yourself doing the same thing again? Do these phrases sound familiar? "There I go again!" "I've had this struggle for years, and I just can't seem to win." "I do okay for awhile, but then I...

You are bored or stressed or hurt. Something is hard in life and you want a break. What do you grab for that you hope will protect, soothe, and comfort? Whatever it is—shopping, overeating, drinking, drugs—promises relief, but never delivers...

Anger...fear...despair...guilt...shame...when your marriage is broken by adultery, the core struggles of your heart are revealed. But although you and your spouse may be experiencing many of the same emotions, you are standing on opposite sides of a...

The pain of divorce has many different faces: the end of your hopes and dreams for your marriage; a life full of unwanted changes; and the daily struggle with a mixture of grief, fear, guilt, and anger. Is recovery possible? Winston T. Smith, using...

You spend your days (and maybe nights) helping someone else. If you are a caregiver for someone who is chronically ill, you have already discovered there is a need to be more compassionate, thoughtful, and sacrificial than you ever anticipated. But, to...

Do you dread family get-togethers and try to avoid your extended family whenever you can? When you see your family, do you sometimes regret the way you talk and act? Why is it so hard to get along with the people we grew up with? Childhood hurts,...

Every honest Christian knows the need for change. But how to get there? How do you move forward from struggles both big and small? And how does our faith in God impact our everyday thoughts, feelings, and actions? This six-session small group resource...

You married someone you trusted, and now you are facing unpredictable anger or outright physical abuse. This is betrayal at its worst. Most likely you are numb, scared, confused, and paralyzed. How do you take a step when you are so afraid? Edward T...

ECPA Top Shelf Cover Award 2023It's easy to lose heart in a world where many things can and do go wrong. Life is difficult, and there are struggles within and without, but we can take heart the Lord is with us. He hears our cries for mercy. He knows our...

Who should you date? You might be drawn to someone who is fun, good-looking, and interested in the same things you are, but even more important than what's on the surface is what someone is like inside. But how can you find that out? What should you...

Are you wrestling with questions related to your singleness and wondering what God is up to? You have dreams and desires that seem to be unmet, and you feel unsettled and long for something more. Author Jayne V. Clark shares her journey of...

You don't want to make a big deal out of it. Isn't everyone else already talking about sex? Yes, they are talking, and their words are shaping your child's understanding right now. In a culture that glorifies casual sex, kids will only learn to think...

If you are experiencing financial difficulties, you might be feeling anger, discouragement, fear, or even panic. There are many reasons people struggle financially-job loss, unexpected expenses, poor decisions-but, whatever the reason, money troubles...

You know you're in love Ð you always want to be together, and you think about each other all the time Ð but does that mean you're ready to get married? How do you decide if your relationship is strong enough for marriage? William P. Smith gives you a...

Is a life-threatening illness, a major life change, or just plain old age forcing you to face your own mortality? Probably, like most of us, you'd rather not think or talk about your own death. But ignoring your death won't stop it from...

Someone you know and love has died. You feel the emptiness and sorrow of loss. That alone is extremely hard. But suicide adds many other painful reactions to the heartache that death brings. Common reactions are feelings of anger, guilt, betrayal, and...

Are you living under a cloud of guilt that you can't seem to shake no matter what you do? Do you feel guilty about everything, all the time? We all have different ways of dealing with our guilty feelings, but none of them work for very long. Timothy S...

Does your child do and say things just to be liked and accepted? Constantly talk about what others think and say? Go from one relational drama to the next? These are all warning signs that your child is feeling the weight of peer pressure. Paul David...

If we're honest, most of us can remember eating more than we need. More often than we might care to admit, we finish a meal knowing we've had too much. Why do we push the limits of our food consumption? Does God have anything to say about this struggle?...

Everyone feels better some days than others, but some people struggle with exaggerated and unrestrained mood swings. These kinds of mood swings have come to be known as mania, manic-depression, or bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder is confusing and...

Based on principles from their book, How People Change, Paul David Tripp and Timothy S. Lane have created this study guide to be used, along with the corresponding, facilitator guide and video seminar, in church-wide training, small group, Sunday...

Your spouse was unfaithful. Those four words don't begin to do justice to the horror you are experiencing. Rage, fear, grief, and even numbness are all normal responses to the shock of betrayal. The pain of betrayal is like touching a hot stove. Your...

"If we're in love, what's wrong with having sex before marriage? And even if we're not, isn't everyone else doing it? Why should we be the only ones who wait?" Have you ever thought or said things like this? If your answer is yes, you have a lot of...

What started as an innocent diet has turned into a monster. You eat too little. You eat too much. You restrict. You binge. Some days you wish you could just forget about food. Can someone like you ever learn to eat normally? Edward T. Welch describes...

Many teenagers are not navigating adolescence successfully. Often, even though they have material things, the latest electronics, and spending money, they can be stressed, unhappy, and feel directionless. For an increasing number of teenagers, their...

Sexual assault is an invasive event of traumatic evil. You were victimized, and now you are suffering. Whenever sexual abuse occurs, love is not part of the equation. Rather, the perpetrator uses power, domination, and control to injure innocent victims...

Who should pay the bills? Do the laundry? Work outside the home? Stay home with the kids? For many couples, answering these questions is difficult and frustrating. How do you decide which family responsibilities belong to you and which belong to your...

Jax’s Tail Twitches helps families learn to turn to God when something important goes wrong and frustration turns to anger.It’s a big day for the Squirrel family—the acorns are finally ripe, and it’s time to collect them for...

The damage you suffered may have been done in one terrible moment or over time. But the healing and the restoration will unfold at your pace, at a human pace. It unfolds as part of your story, and it unfolds over time. As a vulnerable child, instead of...

What does it take for lasting change to take root in your life? If you've ever tried, failed, and wondered what you could do differently, you need to read How People Change. In the book, biblical counseling experts Timothy S. Lane and Paul David Tripp...

A Small Book about a Big Problem by biblical counselor and psychologist Edward T. Welch guides readers to look carefully at how their anger affects them and others through short, daily meditations. In a fifty-day reading plan journey, Welch unpacks...

The turmoil women experience after having an abortion is sometimes called "post-abortion syndrome." But you don't need a technical term to describe what you are feeling. The guilt, regret, depression, and grief are the honest struggles of a woman who's...

How do you blend two separate families into one household? Family traditions, values, interests, and parenting styles are often so far apart that simple questions like, "Who takes out the trash?" or "Where shall we go for Christmas?" can quickly become...

What if your human parents were violent, deceptive, cold, or even just occasionally disappointing? Can their failures keep you from understanding God's love and having a growing relationship with your heavenly Father? Some say that you can't know God's...

Shame is the experience of feeling unacceptable, less than others, or different. Children often experience the sting of this particular sense of failing to measure up. Whether this heavy feeling comes from internal or external pressures, children need...

As humans, we are prone to insecurities, fear of failure, and regrets which we try to hide and cover up, resulting in isolation from both those around us and God. Through fifty devotionals, counselor Edward T. Welch shows us how God speaks with...

When our children experience a traumatic event, we can feel powerless to help. We fear getting it wrong or reminding them of the hurt. Or we miss important cues that signal a child is in distress, leading us to address problematic behaviors with...

"It's normal." "Everyone does it." "Nobody gets hurt." These are some commonly held beliefs about sexual fantasy and masturbation, but are they really true? Are sexual fantasies and masturbation harmless ways of dealing with sexual frustration? Marriage...

Paul David Tripp's best-selling book, Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands, opened the eyes of thousands of men and women within the church to how they can be part of the change process in others' lives. This interactive small group resource is based on...

Your last relationship didn't work out, and you got hurt and maybe you also hurt someone else. Now what? Perhaps you are thinking about starting over with someone new, but you're nervous and wondering if you are really ready for another relationship...

A friend feels rejected. A counselee is angry. A church member's child is ill. You want to help, but where do you begin? Author and counselor Michael R. Emlet outlines a model of one-another ministry based on how God sees and loves his people primarily...

You know how anxiety and fear feels your stomach drops, your neck tightens, your whole body tenses but do you know what to do when anxiety fills your days and troubles your nights? You've probably already tried a few strategies, like denial or working...

Cling to life-changing truths anchored in Scripture with Heart of the Matter, a CCEF daily devotional containing 366 selections. This devotional will reorient your day, lifting your eyes toward God through brief messages of gospel hope. Change that goes...

Safe and Sound by best-selling author David Powlison guides readers to see the normality of their struggles with themselves, the world around them, and the powers of darkness. Counselors tend to be interested in what they can easily describe:...

Zoe’s Hiding Place invites children to remember the Lord is near whenever they are anxious and afraid.Zoe is worried about a class trip to the art museum because the last time they went, the group left her behind. She’s afraid that might...

Every one of us is a potential addict. In a pressure-filled world, the prospect of instant escape can be exhilarating. No matter the object-drugs, alcohol, food, gambling, or sex, just to name a few-addictions lure us. They extend the promise of...

Is someone you love struggling in the grip of opioid addiction? Is the person you once knew now obscured by a fog of half-truths, unfamiliar behaviors, and outright lies? As the opioid crisis in the United States intensifies, thousands upon thousands of...

Long before you decided to adopt, long before your child was born, God planned to put your adopted child into your home. Your child is an amazing gift from God, but nurturing an adopted child also brings unique challenges. Understanding your adopted...

Gwen Tells Tales helps young readers see how God always accepts us when we confess and repent—and he gives us the humility to speak the truth when it’s hard.Gwen Raccoon is embarrassed when she gets a failing grade on a math test. But...

Something Scary Happened helps children process their feelings after experiencing a trauma and provides comfort through the story of a little lamb named Miles. Miles is a happy little lamb until something bad happens. All of a sudden, Miles feels like...

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is one of several neurodevelopmental disorders that can cause developmental deficits or differences in brain processing that impair a person's functioning in many different settings. ASD in the United States is estimated...

Good and Angry, a groundbreaking book from David Powlison, shows readers how anger is more than a problem to solve. Anger is our complex human response to what we perceive as wrong in a complex world, thus we must learn how to fruitfully and honestly...

With the help of Gus Loses His Grip, children will discover how to turn to Jesus for help when they are tempted and want something too much.Gus, a raccoon who loves all things sweet, learns what happens when you want something too much. After eating all...

Buster’s Ears Trip Him Up teaches children how to turn to the gospel which comforts and sustains us through failure—and turns our focus away from ourselves and toward others. Buster was sure he was the fastest bunny in the meadow. But during...

As a freedom-over-formula parenting book for moms, dads, and caregivers of all ages, Child Proof provides biblical insight and encouragement for readers who want to parent by faith. As an experienced counselor of children and families and an adoptive...

Foreword by Paul David Tripp Because children are vulnerable, they need to be protected. After more than two decades as a family counselor, Julie Lowe has seen how important it is to help parents and caregivers think wisely and biblically about the...

*Note: To access PDF versions of the activity pages from this book, please click on this link and use the password found in the back of your book to access the download. Knowing how to approach children and teens in counseling can be a challenge...

Henry Says Good-Bye helps children learn how grief and sadness are our natural response to losing something or someone important to us. Henry the hedgehog loves his pet ladybug. She keeps him company and entertains him, his family, and his friends with...

In Halle Takes a Stand, children will learn alongside Halle Hedgehog how Jesus gives us the courage to take a stand against meanness.Halle Hedgehog has a group of school friends she sits with at lunch and plays with at recess. One day, the whole group...

What makes counseling biblical? What does the biblical counseling process entail? What is the focus of each stage of the process? Lauren Whitman, an experienced CCEF counselor, addresses these questions and more in A Biblical Counseling Process, sharing...

Tomas Looks Up and Out helps children learn how God considers us and wants us to look to him for help so that we consider others too. Tomas Turtle starts his day thinking more about himself than others. Not only is he annoyed that his sister Tori's...

In Marriage Matters by Winston T. Smith, readers find a hopeful resource on the transcendent purposes of God at work in their marriages. This powerful, transformative book addresses the extraordinary way God works in the seemingly mundane moments in a...

Someone you care about has been impacted by schizophrenia. Maybe you are just coming to terms with the diagnosis and wonder what it means for your loved one, for you, and for your family. What is the way forward? How do you live with hope and compassion...

Every honest Christian knows the need for change. But how to get there? How do young adults move forward from struggles both big and small? And how does our faith in God affect our everyday thoughts, feelings, and actions? In this six-session small...

Buster Tries to Bail helps children learn how to respond with faith and turn to Jesus when worries take hold in their hearts.Buster loves racing, but the more he thinks about the upcoming competition at the county fair for who will be the fastest animal...

In Caspian Crashes the Party, children will learn about responding with faith when jealousy takes hold in their hearts.Caspian’s brother, Jax, is having a birthday party, and Caspian is jealous of all the attention and presents Jax is getting. One...

When Halle gets new braces she has trouble saying some words. This irritates her brother Henry and one day he teases her in front of their friends and really hurts Halle's feelings. Now Henry has this nagging feeling inside that he can't make go away...

In Sadie Finds Her Voice, children will learn that God is with them when they are shy and feel nervous about meeting new people, and he will help them to find their words. Sadie Bunny should be excited to stay overnight with her cousin Ivy. But instead,...

Lost ambition. Emotional numbness. Fear and withdrawal. Fatigue. Marks of what is commonly called depression. If you are one of the many people suffering from depression, there is hope and there is help—a way up when you are down. Even if you...

Tori Comes Out of Her Shell helps children remember that Jesus is always our greatest friend and sees us when we feel all alone. Tori the turtle feels all alone. She has just moved to a new pond with her family and it seems like everyone has a...

Tired of trying to win approval and escape rejection? Peer pressure, codependency, shame, low self-esteem; these are just some of the words used to identify how people are controlled by others' opinions. Why is it so important to be liked? Why is...

Relationships are messy. In this deeply insightful book by Paul David Tripp and Timothy S. Lane, readers are presented with the power of grace to redeem and restore relationships. Through straightforward language, the authors walk through the relational...

Zoe’s Time to Shine helps children learn that when Jesus is near, you don’t have to hide—you can face your friends and shine a light on them.Zoe Mouse loves to sing. She sings everywhere all the time. There is just one...

Bestselling author and counselor Edward T. Welch walks readers through the difficult task of coming alongside grieving people with genuine compassion and humility. When someone is grieving, it can be hard to know what to say or do. We want to be...