Breakout Sessions

Access notes for the keynote sessions by clicking HERE

Breakout Session #1

Discerning Your Counselee's Spiritual Condition

Practical Tools: Proverbs 7 and Addiction Counseling

Randy Roberts

Oliver Underwood

Notes will be posted HERE prior to the conference.

Your counselee attends church every Sunday, participates in a small group, and serves faithfully at your church. And yet, professing to be a believer, he tolerates and indulges in habitual sin. As a biblical counselor, your decision to proceed with counseling is contingent upon whether or not your counselee is a genuine believer. But how can you be sure of this if you cannot see his heart? This session with explore how, through the use of Scripture, you can help your counselee discern their spiritual condition and call the to surrender to Christ and walk in renewed obedience to Him.

This session is meant to walk individuals through the practical wisdom that Solomon offers in Proverbs 7 to help us understand the nature of the human heart and how the course of this world entices and ensnares. It will also provide practical steps to help counselees set up wise boundaries to avoid naively placing themselves into unneeded circumstances of temptation and vulnerability.

The Heart of Parenting

#RUHooked: Social Media Addictions

Darryl Jacobsen

Jonathan Smith

Notes will be posted HERE prior to the conference.

This session will focus on the pivotal stages of parenting, aimed at helping parents foster spiritual maturity in children. From establishing discipline during early childhood, to nurturing character building in adolescence and developing discernment in teenagers, each stage of parenting comes with its own challenges. This breakout session will focus on the "3 Ds" of parenting (Discipline, Discipleship, and Discernment) and look at how God's Word can guide us as we navigate common struggles as parents and counselors.

Technology can be addicting and take us away from our focus on becoming more like our Savior. We all struggle with spending too much time on our phones. This session will explore what we need to know to use technology in a way that honors Christ, and how parents can help the next generation avoid bad habits online.

Practical Counseling Diagrams (In-Person Only)

Helping Your Counselee Pursue Righteousness

Kerry Heath

Nancy Williams

Notes will be posted HERE prior to the conference.

Diagrams can be an incredibly useful tool in counseling. They can bring a visual impact to scriptural concepts you want to teach your counselee and help them remember and apply what they are learning. In this session, learn how to unpack and teach several common diagrams for practical application, including diagrams on anger and anxiety.

This session will look at how you can use Romans 1:16-32 to see the decline of righteousness in a counselee's life from the the things they tolerate, excuse, or minimize. You will also learn how to help your counselee build guard rails so they can walk in righteousness for lasting change.

Breakout Session #2

Addressing Heart Idolatry in Marriage

Emotions through a Biblical Lens

Koby Orr

Nancy Williams

Notes will be posted HERE prior to the conference.

In this session, we will be exploring the foundational biblical counseling concept of heart Idolatry and how it specifically applies to marriage. We will define heart idolatry, establish why it is important to understand within the covenant of marriage, and look at how understanding their individual heart idols can move a couple from working against each other to ministering to each other.

In today's culture, we often depend on feelings when making decisions, navigating relationships, and as we live everyday life. This session will help us see how we need to change our thoughts, actions and desires so that our feelings follow a correct biblical lens.

The Impact of Technology on Parenting

Presenting the Big Picture and the Big Battle

Jonathan Smith

Cal Bauer

Notes will be posted HERE prior to the conference.

Technology is everywhere, and it is hard to keep up with the latest trends. What do you need to know to stay current and to help those around you who may be struggling with screen addictions? This session will explore these questions and the impact all this technology has on parenting, educating, and raising kids to be more like Christ.

This session will look at how you can present the big picture of Scripture to give your counselee a framework of God's plan of redemption and collect data on their understanding of Scripture. Within this big picture, the big battle for believers is the battle within between the Spirit and the flesh. Learn how to use Romans 4-8 to help counselees recognize this internal spiritual battle and fight their sin through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Body Dysmorphia: What Image Do You Worship? (for Women Only)

Counseling Those Who Identify as LGBTQ+

Darcy Pearson

Pastor Jon Walker

Notes will be posted HERE prior to the conference.

When you look in the mirror, how do you see your body? Are you ever satisfied with your appearance or does the reflection in the mirror control your thoughts, words, actions, attitudes and mood? Our culture fixates on the outward form, and some women obsess about a body part to the point of dwelling on its imagined defects for hours each day. The world labels this problem as Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD), a "disease" with no cure. In this session we will explore how the Bible labels this problem as idolatry, and how the gospel offers tremendous hope for the struggler to change for the glory of God.

How do we be wise, compassionate and biblical in our counsel towards those in our lives who identify as LGBTQ+? What unique factors do we need to consider or questions should we be ready to answer? Most of us want to be truthful and loving, but how do we do that? What matters most in that conversation? Our hope is that this session provides a solid and practical foundation for how we care for those who identify as LGBTQ+ that we can take into any setting. This session is a reprise of a breakout session offered at the 2021 PNW Biblical Counseling Conference.