Book Review: Confident Identity, by Matt Pavlik

A good resource for counselors

For those who are not aware, there is a branch of ministry that is known as pastoral counseling. This is completely different from the way most people would view counseling, psychology, and therapy in modern society. Pastoral counseling is obviously based on the Bible. Confident Identity is a resource created specifically for pastoral counseling. 

Part 1 helps people look at their identity and understand the different parts of it: ashamed vs. confident, fearful vs. secure, doubtful vs. hopeful, rejected vs. accepted, and isolated and desolate vs. connected and fruitful are the areas that are specifically dealt with. Part 2 is all about discovering who you are in Christ physically, in gender, in mental and emotional settings, in general spirituality, in specific spirituality, and in personality. It also deals with using strengths that are in one's life. Part 3 talks about using who we are in Christ as we go forward in life. Our vision, concentration, and mission are all a part of this.

I liked this book as a resource. One aspect of my ministry going forward will be pastoral counseling, so having resources on that aspect of ministry will be huge for me. The charts, diagrams, and supplemental materials are good resources. I think that the formatting of this book could have been condensed a bit more. It's a rather tall book like a textbook, while it probably could have been brought down to a more convenient size to carry and use. But for all of these reasons, I give this book a respectable 3.75 stars out of 5.

WHERE TO BUY THIS BOOK:

https://www.amazon.com/Confident-Identity-Christian-Strategies-Discover/dp/0986383155/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1517412648&sr=8-2&keywords=confident+identity

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THIS BOOK:

Pavlik, Matt. Confident Identity: Christian Strategies to Forget Who You Aren't and Discover Who You Really Are. Dayton, OH: New Reflections Counseling, Inc., 2017.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL: I received a complimentary copy of this book through the Book Crash book review program, which requires an honest, though not necessarily positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.