Dr. Kevin Chapman caught my attention several years ago with his engaging mix of psychology credentials and faith. He has been a “friend at a distance,” offering kind words and encouragement to me on the regular. I recently reviewed his brand new book, which is out this month, and my review is below.
Mastering Our Emotions by Dr. Kevin Chapman out January 14th, 2025
In Mastering Our Emotions, Dr. Chapman does something unique. He is accessible enough to tell us his favorite meal at Chick-fil-A, but do not be deceived; he stands on strong research and deep reflection.
As a Christian and a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Specialist, he provides sound Biblical and psychological words of life with creative exercises based on years of experience on the front lines.
He provides a simple yet deep description of emotions, their role, and how to have a good relationship with them rather than being mastered by them.
Additionally, most Christian books (especially from Evangelicals) nearly exclusively emphasize the role of thoughts and too heavily lean on only the rational and belief aspects of our faith. The richness of Christianity is whole-person fellowship with God—body, mind, and spirit. The author connects all three very well, not neglecting the body, our actions, our thoughts, our brains, our family and environment, or any other important facet of being made in the image of God while also in need of God’s merciful forgiveness and grace for our sin. Chapman teaches us how we can imitate Christ through adaptive behaviors.
The emphasis on discomfort tolerance is both a breath of fresh air and a challenge to our comfort-obsessed culture (and, too often, churches), which seem to imply or outright teach avoidance methods rather than when and how to face and tolerate discomfort.
Exercises like “Old Me/New Me dialogue” and “Being Brave” offer personalized and creative ways to live out Scripture and also pair with long-standing psychological science around Cognitive Restructuring, Exposure, Neuroplasticity, the nervous system, and brain health, to name a few.
Chock full of reflection questions and exercises, we are exhorted to work on setting our eyes on Christ while living in this body and world with godly discipline and discipleship. I discovered new information and exercises that I immediately put into practice personally and professionally. This is much-needed work, and the only limitation I have is being unable to get it into the hands of everyone who needs it—let’s work on that together.
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