
For more than 40 years, CCEF’s Journal of Biblical Counseling has provided a forum for the development of clear thinking and effective practice in biblical counseling. We do this by publishing articles that faithfully bring the God of truth, mercy, and power to the issues that face pastoral ministries of counseling and discipleship.


JBC Archive Now Included with Individual Subscriptions
CCEF is pleased to announce that the JBC Archive is now available for all Individual Subscriptions! The Archive, which includes all previous issues (over 1,100 articles) is now digital, fully-searchable, and integrated into our website. With the online Archive, new issues will be set up automatically in the upgraded format and become part of the Archive immediately. All articles will also be linked to other relevant content on the CCEF website.
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JBC Vol. 36 · No. 1 Articles
by J. Alasdair Groves
In this editorial, Groves notes that we are at the two-year mark with COVID and the griefs that have come with it: burnout, depression, conflict, anxiety, and a hundred other struggles. His concern is for those in ministry who are exhausted from the additional pressures they have shouldered and are finding it hard to hold on to the hope of the gospel.
by Samuel J. Alex, Esther Liu, and Michael R. Emlet
Together, these authors make a biblical case for why we need to take a person’s cultural heritage, more specifically their ethnicity, into account in counseling. As biblical counseling grows worldwide, and our communities become more diverse, our counsel must be attuned to a person’s cultural context so we can apply relevant gospel care.
by Laura Andrews
There are times when stepping back to impose distance in a difficult relationship is a godly choice. But Andrews notes that some people have trouble doing this because they feel intense pressure to immediately fix relationships when there is strife.
by Lauren Whitman
In this article, Lauren Whitman describes what is commonly referred to as mom guilt. She examines four common roots that give rise to these feelings of failure which invade and damage a mother’s perception of herself. And she shows how God offers the means of escape.
by Edward T. Welch
This is a must-read for those who know they are prone to blunder during sensitive times in people’s lives. What helps and what harms when someone experiences deep suffering? Welch urges us to shape our care for hurting people with compassion and humility.
Purchase the digital edition of the Journal of Biblical Counseling Volume 36:1.
$5.00
Purchase the print edition of the Journal of Biblical Counseling Volume 36:1.
$10.00
About the JBC
For more than 40 years, CCEF’s Journal of Biblical Counseling has provided a forum for the development of clear thinking and effective practice in biblical counseling. We do this by publishing articles that faithfully bring the God of truth, mercy, and power to the issues that face pastoral ministries of counseling and discipleship.
Our late senior editor David Powlison wrote, “CCEF works and prays to restore Christ to counseling—and to restore counseling to the church. The Journal of Biblical Counseling serves this mission as a publishing ministry of CCEF. We believe that true, life-explaining insight into people necessarily involves thinking Christianly. Loving, lasting help necessarily involves practicing ‘counseling’ as one aspect of consciously Christian ministry. The deeper you gaze into what actually goes wrong with people—the weight of our sins and sorrows—the more clearly you see that Jesus Christ is essential to making it right.”
Journal articles cover a broad range of biblical counseling and methodology topics. Many are written by CCEF faculty including Ed Welch, David Powlison, Michael Emlet, Julie Lowe, Todd Stryd and others. We also welcome articles from other authors, pastors, and practitioners in the field.
David Powlison was the senior editor of the JBC from 1992 until his death in 2019.

Editorial Staff
Senior Editorial Board: Michael R. Emlet,
J. Alasdair Groves, and Edward T. Welch
Managing Editor: Kimberly Monroe
Developmental Editor: Lauren Whitman
Consulting Editor: Michael Gembola
Assistant Editor: Brandon Peterson
Proofreader: Bruce E. Eaton