⏱️ Estimated Reading Time: 2 min read
On today’s Equipping You in Grace show, Dave talks with Jenn Chenn about the DSM, what that term means why it matters, and how Christians should think about it from a biblical worldview, along with how biblical counselors can help those with mental disorder diagnosis, how the doctrine of suffering helps us process our issues, and Jenn’s new book, Biblical Counseling and Mental Disorder Diagnosis (Shepherds Press, 2024).
What You’ll Hear on Today’s Episode
- What the DSM means and what it aims to do, and why Christians should care about it.
- The main difference between the DSM and ICD and any similarities between the two.
- How Christians should think biblically and theologically to interpret what is happening to those who come to us with needing care from the Word.
- How do we minister to those who might have a medical component to their problems.
- How Christians should think through mental health and mental illness and the differences.
- How the Fallen Condition Focus from Bryan Chappel can help Christians to biblically diagnose people’s issues.
- How the biblical counselors can provide help and hope to those given mental disorder diagnosis.
- How the biblical doctrine of suffering helps us to process our issues.
About the Guest
Dr. Jenn Chen is ACBC certified and has taught biblical counseling at seminaries and universities. With a Psy.D in Clinical Psychology and an MA in Marriage and Family Therapy, Jenn was formally trained in psychotherapeutic evidence-based practices and held a faculty appointment as a clinical instructor at UCLA. After a life-changing encounter with biblical counseling, she returned to school for her MABC and now practices biblical counseling.
Subscribing, sharing, and your feedback
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Thanks for listening to this episode of Equipping You in Grace!
Dave Jenkins is happily married to his wife, Sarah, and lives in beautiful Southern Oregon. He is a writer, editor, and speaker who loves Christ, His people, the Church, and sound theology.
Dave serves as the Executive Director of Servants of Grace Ministries and the Executive Editor of Theology for Life Magazine. He is the Host and Producer of the Equipping You in Grace Podcast and a contributor to and producer of Contending for the Word.
He is the author of The War of Worldviews: Truth, Lies, and the Battle for the Christian Mind (Theology for Life, 2026), Contentment: The Journey of a Lifetime (Theology for Life, 2024), The Word Matters: Defending Biblical Authority Against the Spirit of the Age (G3 Press, 2022), and The Word Explored: The Problem of Biblical Illiteracy and What To Do About It (House to House, 2021).
You can connect with Dave on Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, YouTube, or subscribe to his newsletter.
When he is not engaged in ministry work, Dave enjoys spending time with his wife, going to movies, sharing a meal at a favorite restaurant, or playing a round of golf with friends. He is also a voracious reader, particularly of Reformed theology and the Puritans, and is often found working through a stack of new books from a wide range of Christian publishers.
Dave earned his M.A.R. and M.Div. from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary.
