Is your church prepared to care for individuals who have experienced various forms of abuse? As we continue to learn of more individuals experiencing sexual abuse, domestic violence, and other forms of abuse, it's clear that resources are needed to help ministries and leaders care for these individuals with love, support, and in cooperation with civil authorities. This handbook seeks to help the church take a significant step forward in its care for those who have been abused. Working in tandem with the resources and videos found at churchcares.com, this handbook brings together leading evangelical trauma counselors, victim advocates, social workers, attorneys, batterer interventionists, and survivors to equip pastors and ministry leaders for the appropriate initial responses to a variety of abuse scenarios in churches, schools, or ministries. Though the most comprehensive training is experienced by using this handbook and the videos together, readers who may be unable to access the videos can use this handbook as a stand-alone resource.

Something Has to Change...You can't put it into words, but something is happening to you. Your stomach churns, your heart aches, and the tension in your marriage is making you feel weary and a little crazy. The constant criticism, disrespect, cruelty, deceit, and gross indifference are eroding your confidence and breaking your spirit. What can you do to stop the cycle of destruction and restore hope for the future? For any woman caught in an emotionally destructive marriage, licensed clinical social worker, relationship coach, and marriage counselor Leslie Vernick offers a personalized path forward. Based on decades of experience, her intensely practical, biblical advice will show you how to establish boundaries and break free from emotional abuse today. Learn to: * Indentify damaging behaviors * Gain the skills to respond wisely * Utilize tools that promote healthy change * Stay safe * Understand when, why, and even how to leave * Recognize that God sees and hates what is happening to you Trying harder to be a perfect fantasy wife won't help fix what's wrong with your marriage. Now initiate some changes that can. "Women in an emotionally abusive marriage do not need another book on how to have a good marriage; those books rub salt in raw wounds. No, they desperately need this book so that they can diagnose just how bad their marriage is and then, with Leslie's clear expertise, develop a plan that will either begin to turn their marriage around...or give them a wise route of escape." -Dee Brestin, author of Idol Lies and The Friendships of Women

Leslie Vernick, counselor and social worker, has witnessed the devastating effects of emotional abuse. Many, including many in the church, have not addressed this form of destruction in families and relationships because it is difficult to talk about. With godly guidance and practical experience, Vernick offers an empathetic approach to recognizing an emotionally destructive relationship and addresses the symptoms and the damage with biblical tools. Readers will understand how to: Reveal behaviors that are meant to control, punish, and hurtConfront and speak truth when the timing is rightDetermine when to keep trying, when to get outGet safe and stay safeBuild an identity in Christ

This practical and thorough resource will help countless individuals, families, and churches view abuse from God's perspective and understand how vital it is for victims to embrace His freedom from the physical, emotional, spiritual, and generational effects of emotionally destructive relationships.

Experience the Blessings of an Imperfect Marriage. We all-at one time or another-have the opportunity to act right when our spouse acts wrong. There are no perfect marriages or perfect spouses. We know that having a good marriage requires effort and hard work. Yet we often don't know how to continue to love when we are angry, hurt, scared, or just plain irritated. Nor are we sure what that kind of love is supposed to look like. Should we be patient? Forgive and forget? Do something else entirely?
Acting right when your spouse acts wrong will not necessarily guarantee a more satisfying marital relationship, nor will it automatically make your spouse change his or her ways-although both could occur. It will, however, help you see how God is stretching you in the midst of your marital difficulties, teach you to respond wisely when wronged, and lead you into a deeper relationship with Christ as you yield your will to his plan for your life and learn to be more like him.

Learn to convert your "head knowledge" to "heart knowledge" using a practical, easy-to-remember model called T.R.U.T.H.! Reinforce your daily devotions with this applied learning system and you'll gain new perspective on Troubles; cultivate a better Response to trials; banish Underlying idols; embrace the Truth of Scripture; and develop a faith-building Heart response! 224 pages