In its relatively short history the field of counselling and psychotherapy has grown like an unattended garden. Scattered throughout are a few blossoms of rare beauty, but the weeds have grown too. Some once-healthy plants have been crowded out by newer varieties or aggressive intruders, and a few grafts and mutations have been added to complicate the collection.

Using a somewhat similar analogy, Roger Hurding has given a history of the ‘roots and shoots’ that have grown in what looks like a therapeutic weed patch. The author has provided a rich and valuable guidebook that enables readers—both professional counsellors and novices—to make their way through the diverse species, to identify the major roots of each type of therapy, and to evaluate the health and usefulness of the numerous varieties of therapeutic treatment.

The purpose of this hefty (464-page) volume is stated in the beginning. The author has ‘written a book which seeks to trace the development of today’s counselling and psychotherapeutic practice from the soil of the Enlightenment and the ensuing growth of the secular psychologies. It is argued that the rise of these “listening arts” has, to a large extent, rivalled and, at times, taken over the caring ministry of traditional Christianity. And yet, the tree of pastoral care is still there—crowded but not choked, hemmed in but not stifled’ (pp. 9, 10).

To accomplish his goal, Hurding divides the book into two parts. The first, ‘The Rise of Secular Psychologies’, identifies the historical roots of pastoral care, gives a definition of counselling (‘that activity which aims to help others in any or all aspects of their being within a caring relationship’), and analyses the major trends of behaviourism, psychoanalysis, humanistic psychology, existential psychology, transpersonalism, and some of the newer therapies. Part two, ‘Christian Reaction and Response’, summarizes and evaluates the major Christian approaches to counselling, shows how they often build on the insights of secular systems, and ends with the author’s own conclusions about what we can learn from Christ, the wonderful counsellor.

The chapter on sinkers, swimmers and strugglers gives a good example of Hurding’s insightful analyses of psychotherapeutic diversity. The church, he maintains, has always been susceptible to the prevailing psychology of its environment, but we respond to secular trends in different ways. Some people flounder in the waters, swallow the secular waves, and sink into the psychology of the times leaving hardly a trace of their Christian distinctiveness. Anton Boisen in the United States, Leslie Weatherhead in the United Kingdom, and the early leaders in the Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) movement are identified as theological individuals who assimilated their thinking into the psychological culture.

In contrast, swimmers are those who strike out boldly against the flood and swim vigorously away from trouble that might come from involvement with psychology. Jay Adams, Paul Vitz, William Kilpatrick, and other recent ‘anti-psychology’ writers take this position. So, in one sense, did O. Hobart Mowrer, one-time President of the American Psychological Association. Highly critical of Freudian theory, Mowrer proposed a somewhat religious approach to therapy, even though he rejected most of orthodox Christianity.

The strugglers are described as ‘brave souls’ who ‘have proved fit enough to engage in dialogue’ and who ‘find themselves swimming more confidently in the continuing stream of orthodox pastoral care, refreshed by insights shared with their new companions’ (p. 212). Hurding, I suspect, would like to be identified with this group, but he lists three other modern examples: theologian Thomas Oden, psychologist Malcolm Jeeves from St Andrews University, and (I was delighted to note) somebody named Gary Collins.

It was interesting for me to read Hurding’s summary and critique of my own work. I felt he was accurate, precise, fair, and sensitive in his analysis. Other better known and more influential thinkers in this field probably would share my conclusion that this volume gives valid, useful overviews and critiques of individual counsellors and their methods.

At times the book gets verbose and the author takes a while to get to his point. The book title, Roots and Shoots, is not very descriptive and the several diagrams are not always clear or helpful. These are minor criticisms, however, and they might be expected in a book that attempts to summarize such a massive amount of complex material in a concise and clear way. As a whole, Hurding’s work is well documented, clearly written, graciously irenic, and free of the polemic and harsh condemnation that characterizes so many books—including Christian books—in this field.

Best of all, perhaps, is the author’s clear biblical perspective and firm evangelical orientation. These basic assumptions do not get in the way of the excellent summaries and sensitive critiques of counselling approaches, but Hurding’s consistent Christian point of view makes this work especially valuable to pastors, Christian counsellors, and church lay people.

In a concluding section the author summarizes what his work has attempted to do:

Arguing from a biblical theology and anthropology, including a comprehensive view of general and special revelation and the permissibility of both inductive and deductive reasoning where they accord with scriptural insight, we have sought to lay out an assumptive basis for Christian methodologies of therapy. In turn, albeit briefly, we have examined the model of Christ with respect to the aims and methods of counselling, declaring that there can be no one biblical approach but rather a spectrum of styles that vary with the counsellor, client and the precise counselling situation. In other words, God is not to be tied to any one methodology. It is we who categorize and, in our enthusiasm, threaten to narrow the field of divine activity … (pp. 404–405).

Christian counsellors ‘draw from the same repository of wisdom and knowledge within the created order as do the secular systems’, Hurding concludes, but Christians nevertheless have a distinctive calling. Ours is the challenging task of ‘bringing something of God’s love and remedy to needy men and women’. To do this, believers need to think carefully about their assumptions, aims and methods in the light of biblical anthropology.

As an overview and evaluation of these counselling assumptions, aims, methods and theories, this book is first rate. It is difficult to find in North American bookstores but I have ordered copies from England for my students to read. Like any person who takes the time to study this book carefully, my students surely will profit from the experience.

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