Commendations from Mental Health Professionals

In my forty-five years of work as a psychologist, I rate Dr. Dan Montgomery in the top 1% of professionals I have known in the mental health field. Dan is a brilliant theorist in the area of counseling and therapy.

In his COMPASS THERAPY book, Dr. Montgomery adds to the impressive and growing list of Self Compass books that well integrate Christian perspectives with psychological theory and practice in an easy to read, thoughtful, and compelling manner. This book provides Compass Theory tools for counselors, therapists, clergy, and people interested in self-help to understand and deal with a wide range of personality, behavioral, emotional, and relational challenges.

(Dan Montgomery’s) actualizing therapy is intended to be the final therapy, combining all theories of known value -- a supersystem, if you will, of the best of all known theories and procedures. I believe an eclectic system of this type will eventually be the therapeutic system of the future...a step in the direction we must eventually go to really become a profession based on science.

What I most appreciate about Dan and Kate Montgomery’s Christian Personality Theory is that they refuse to serve us either reductionist psychology or simple minded theology. The result is a work that is multifaceted, like the human person, like Christian faith. And just because it is multifaceted it is wise and helpful in manifold ways.

COMPASS THERAPY: CHRISTIAN PSYCHOLOGY IN ACTION makes a very important contribution to counseling and how the Christian faith and psychology can work together to bring healing into people’s lives. Dan Montgomery uses a wide range of techniques including role-playing and imaging, which are helpful and empowering to the client.

I love the systematic and creative thought that went into Dr. Dan and Kate Montgomery’s Christian Personality Theory. I am fascinated by the Self Compass. It has an intuitive resonance and it synthesizes what we know about the human psyche, its pitfalls and redemption. The growth orientation of the Compass Model offers a transformation mindset that can benefit any reader. Well done!

Dr. Dan Montgomery's Compass Model of personality is easy to understand and yet contains a profound understanding of the underlying elements of human personality. It will surely be of much help to anyone who wishes to deepen their knowledge of the relationship between psychology and spiritual wholeness.

The Montgomerys have done it again. In this elaboration of Compass Theory into a full-blown theory of personality, they have combined a solid understanding of the Judeo/Christian faith with the best in multi-dimensional theorizing about human personhood, resulting in CHRISTIAN PERSONALITY THEORY: A SELF COMPASS FOR HUMANITY. I am particularly impressed with how their Compass model insightfully assumes that healthy personality is, itself, an achievement that results from a process of facing and overcoming pathological tendencies and extremes. This parallels the Christian understanding of salvation, a process that begins with redemption from the fall, and ends with discipleship yearning toward perfection. Health and wholeness, from the Compass point of view, is possible because of an inner Spiritual Core—often termed the Imago Dei; the image of God in every human being.

TRUSTING IN THE TRINITY: COMPASS PSYCHOTHEOLOGY APPLIED suggests that there is a profound ontological ‘map’ of the whole of human experience seamlessly woven into the person of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Pastors, churches, and Christian counselors will discover, perhaps for the first time, the therapeutic relevance of the divine Trinity as well as its criterion for an orthodox theology. Compass Psychotheology provides an invaluable tool for the complex and often fractured network of identity, intimacy, and community that can be healed and empowered when interfaced with the life of the divine Trinity.

In COMPASS PSYCHOTHEOLOGY: WHERE PSYCHOLOGY AND THEOLOGY REALLY MEET, Dr. Dan and Kate Montgomery present a dynamic paradigm for understanding the human predicament while at the same time outlining a strategy for intervention leading to growth. This is a thoughtful study based on a strong commitment to the authority of Scripture with a recognition that a personal, redemptive, actualizing relationship with the Triune God is essential for wholeness.

Dr. Dan and Kate Montgomery integrate their counseling method with a thoroughly biblical Trinitarian theology and the result is insight that can transform our life and our relationships. TRUSTING IN THE TRINITY: COMPASS PSYCHOTHEOLOGY APPLIED is a wide-ranging, intelligent, and provocative study that is clearly written. I recommend this book to all who want to take their faith and their soul seriously.

The Church of the 21st century desperately needs pastors and pastoral counselors who are psychologically educated and spiritually discerning to address the complex emotional and psychological needs of today's congregants. As a practicing psychologist and seminary professor training men and women for ministry I have found Dr. Montgomery's work beneficial and practical. In his latest book, PASTORAL COUNSELING & COACHING: COMPASS THERAPY IN CHURCHES, Dr. Dan Montgomery provides pastors with both a biblically-based and psychologically sound perspective on human growth and behavior, as well as practical techniques for effective therapeutic intervention. Readers will find case studies, visual models, and excellent resources. This is definitely a book which will help pastors and pastoral counselors find more satisfaction in pastoral counseling. I commend Dr. Montgomery for his contribution to the field of pastoral counseling and highly recommend his Compass Therapy Model as a framework for a pastoral care ministry.

Dan and Kate Montgomery’s ability to write winsomely makes this book a good read, but it is more than that. In THE SELF COMPASS: CHARTING YOUR PERSONALITY IN CHRIST, you will see yourself, and what you see will make you want to change by drawing closer to God and applying God’s Word to your life.

Dan Montgomery’s Christian personality theory is innovative and biblically sound.

Dr. Dan Montgomery’s Christian personality theory demonstrates a good understanding of the human person's proper resting place in the embrace of a transcendent God. This is no New Age influenced waffle clouded in a mystique of blurb, but a useful tool for all those who seek to address personality issues and quench their innate spiritual thirst with the living water which truly satisfies. Well done!

Dr. Dan and Kate Montgomery's books on COMPASS PSYCHOTHEOLOGY and TRUSTING IN THE TRINITY offer a bridge-building effort to bring together the concerns of modern psychotherapy and the historic Trinitarian faith: deserves critical examination.

Through the Compass Therapy framework and the many techniques Dan Montgomery utilizes you see examples of Christ’s love coming alive in the counseling session. I appreciate his many insights and focus on healing the whole person—body, mind, emotions and spirit. CHRISTIAN COUNSELING THAT REALLY WORKS shows what good Christian counseling looks like!

What happens when classical understandings of the Trinity and the Person of Christ meet the best insights of contemporary psychology? Fresh meanings of Scripture and deep explorations of the nature and healing of human personality pour from the pages of TRUSTING IN THE TRINITY: COMPASS PSYCHOTHEOLOGY IN ACTION. Read this book and rejoice!

It is not easy to find a personality theory that correlates well with sound biblical anthropology. Dan Montgomery’s Compass Therapy provides a synthesis that allows biblically sound and theologically balanced pastoral counseling practice that does not betray the essentials of Trinitarian theology or psychological theory. PASTORAL COUNSELING & COACHING: COMPASS THERAPY IN CHURCHES is comprehensive, Christ-conscious, pragmatic and pastoral. There is room in this model for professional perception, prayer and the power of the Paraclete. This is a growth-oriented healing model that can take place in congregations as well as counseling centers.

PASTORAL COUNSELING AND COACHING: COMPASS THERAPY IN CHURCHES is full of practical wisdom for students, pastors and pastoral counselors. Through years of his own effective pastoral practice and teaching, it is clear that Dan Montgomery understands the beautiful potential of healing energy available in the pastor and care-seeker relationship. Dr. Montgomery integrates the approaches of so many esteemed counselors, from Carl Jung to Carl Rogers, along with many more contemporary theorists, in forming his own well-proven Compass Therapy approach.

In FAITH BEYOND CHURCH WALLS: FINDING FREEDOM IN CHRIST, Dr. Dan Montgomery takes the reader on a journey. It is a journey into the limitless love and unending faithfulness of God. I recommend this book for the doubters as well as the faithful. Both will find words of grace and healing.

COMPASS PSYCHOTHEOLOGY: WHERE PSYCHOLOGY AND THEOLOGY REALLY MEET offers a fascinating and creative perspective on how psychology and theology are necessary partners in understanding human nature, its vulnerabilities and the possibilities for transformation. One of the real gems in this work by Dan and Kate Montgomery is a systematic analysis of ‘personality patterns’ following DSM descriptions of the personality disorders. Attention to the pattern’s interior, its origins, cognitive self-talk, emotional dynamics, and impact on others, as well as its way of relating to God provide an invaluable tool for pastors in both congregational leadership roles and pastoral care ministries.

In CHRISTIAN COUNSELING THAT REALLY WORKS: COMPASS THERAPY IN ACTION, Dr. Dan Montgomery has given his readers the opportunity to look over his experienced shoulders as he helps people untangle their lives. He skillfully uses the Self Compass to help clients identity how their lives are constricted in unhealthy ways and how they can move forward toward more expansive forms of mental health. The author gives us examples and explanations of 25 useful therapeutic techniques that alone are worth the price of the book.

PASTORAL COUNSELING & COACHING: COMPASS THERAPY IN CHURCHES is a comprehensive approach to Pastoral Counseling. Montgomery's text is a priceless resource for students, pastors, and professionals in the field.

CHRISTIAN COUNSELING THAT REALLY WORKS: COMPASS THERAPY IN ACTION provides a practical theory and method of counseling useful in any therapeutic relationship. Dr. Montgomery skillfully explores the interaction of counseling strategies with sound biblical principles, providing tools and insights that are immediately useful. The book is worthy of a place on the counselor’s bookshelf.

I continue to really enjoy utilizing the Self Compass model and tools in all my Pastoral Counseling classes at SEU. It is such a lively and engaging synthesis of biblical and counseling insights. I’m confident a harvest of young pastoral counselors are going to find them quite helpful and fruitful on the fields of ministry.

Dan and Kate Montgomery have provided another in a series of recent books on their Compass Theory that well integrates Christian theology with clinical, developmental, and personality psychology theory and practice. Christian counselors, clergy, and laypersons would surely appreciate this thoughtful, interesting, and compelling book and theory written with clear and practical prose. CHRISTIAN PERSONALITY THEORY: A SELF COMPASS FOR HUMANITY provides an excellent example of the integration of psychology and religion from a Christian perspective and I for one will recommend it to colleagues and clients alike.

In PASTORAL COUNSELING & COACHING: COMPASS THERAPY IN CHURCHES, Dan Montgomery has created a useful tool for pastors and pastoral counselors who work within the Christian faith tradition. Encouraging pastoral workers to reclaim the Church as a ‘natural home’ for human growth and development, his Compass Therapy provides a handy schema for use by pastors and counselors to actively accompany individuals on their journey toward healthier functioning and Christ-centered living.

COMPASS THERAPY: CHRISTIAN PSYCHOLOGY IN ACTION offers both clinical and pastoral counselors a map, guide and center for helping clients sort out life and choose direction. Dan Montgomery has pulled together the best of many years of study, writing and practice with an established model of personality and interpersonal behavior. He provides a workable set of tools for the caregiving and helping process. I am glad for the wide influence of the Compass approach in counseling!

Like Martin Buber’s conception of 'I and Thou,' the Montgomery development of the 'I AM — i am' paradigm is an original idea in the History of Philosophy.