A Theology of Christian Counseling supplies the doctrinal foundation beneath Jay Adams's nouthetic approach. Rather than beginning with technique, Adams works through the great heads of systematic theology, the doctrine of God, creation and the nature of man, sin, redemption, sanctification, the Holy Spirit, and the church, and draws out what each one means for the counseling room. His thesis is that counseling is inescapably theological, and that a counselor's doctrine of sin and salvation will shape every conversation whether he has examined it or not.

This volume is written for pastors, biblical counselors, and students who want their counseling grounded in Scripture rather than borrowed from secular psychology. It is widely assigned as a seminary text and serves well for careful reading alongside Adams's more practical works. Counselors who have learned methods without understanding their theological warrant will find the reasoning supplied here, and readers come away better able to apply doctrine to real cases of guilt, suffering, and habitual sin.