r. Adams leads both the novice and experienced
counselor through the three key counseling sessions (or stages) which are common
to the entire counseling process.

Getting Started: The First Session

What you do in the first session will set the tone for what follows--for good or for
ill. If done well, it will help the counselee to gain confidence in your minister to
him and, more importantly, in the Word of God and the God of the Word.

Breaking Through: The Turning Point

The turning point in counseling sessions is that point at which the counselor sees the
beginning of appreciable, observable change--a change of knowledge, of
understanding, of determination, of conviction, or of commitment. A turning point is
crucial because true Christian change--of the sort that pleases God--always
involves a closer approximation of the thoughts and life of the counselee to the
"ways" of God presented in the Scriptures.

Finishing Well: Termination

This final section concerns those basic issues that have to do with closing out a series
of counseling sessions--how to know when, how to do it, and how to follow up.