Prepare to Be Healed

With this 109-page volume, what you read is what you get. It seems to say, “On your mark, get set . . .” but leaves the “go” to others. This isn’t about how to gain emotional strength, but how to prepare to get it.

The obvious need for this volume cries out. Both mental health professionals (such as Day, a licensed marriage and family counselor) and ecclesiatical counselors (such as Holzpfel, a former bishop and institute director) often decry the lack of preparation people bring to the counseling session. The cliché “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make ’em drink” is apt; people come for counseling but are not always prepared to accept or to implement the help offered.

Still, the sheer simplicity of this volume might leave some disappointed. The two authors alternate in presenting chapters which explain why people might need professional counseling, how to find it, and how to prepare to take the advice and assignments given. Their advice is sound and thoroughly grounded in gospel principles, but it may leave the reader standing on the starting line wondering where to go once the starting gun goes off.