Resisting Therapy Culture The Dangers of Pop Psychology and How the Church Can Respond
Let Churches Be Churches and Therapistis Be Therapists Therapy and psychiatry are good practices, but when people begin to filter everything in life through a therapeutic lens, it becomes harmful rather than helpful. Matthew Loftus unpacks how this kind of “therapy culture” can distort the Christian life. He argues that the church cannot do for people what therapy and psychiatry are designed to do. While church should be a place of healing and love for people who are suffering from mental illness, churches and their leaders should focus on what they are called to do: bringing people together to worship God. Resisting Therapy Culture provides • an understanding of the role of the church in supporting people through mental health struggles; • a deeper appreciation for the expertise and value of mental health professionals; • insight into how both therapy and the church can be good for Christians’ spiritual and mental health in their own intended ways; and • encouragement for church leaders to renew their focus on leading people in worship. MATTHEW LOFTUS teaches and practices family medicine at a mission hospital in Kenya. His work has appeared in The New York Times , The Atlantic , Christianity Today , First Things , Commen t, and Mere Orthodoxy . He is the 2025 recipient of Trinity Forum’s Michael J. Gerson Prize for Excellence in Writing on Faith and Public Life.
August 18, 2026 224 pages, paperback, 978-1-5140-1268-0 5.5 x 8.5 inches, $21.99 REL074000 RELIGION / Christian Ministry / Pastoral Resources
Insight from the Author
What are the five main things you want readers to take away from your book? 1. Therapy is a good practice but a bad culture. 2. The church shouldn’t try to do for people what therapists do; their roles are distinct. 3. The church will be a good place for people who are suffering from mental illness when it focuses on the unique mission that God has given it. 4. There is a lot of misinformation about mental health that makes people less emotionally healthy when they believe it, especially around agency, attachment, and trauma. 5. Having a healthy perspective on suffering allows us to understand recurring issues related to mental health.
CHURCH AND CULTURE
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