Lies My Therapist Told Me: Why Christians Should Aim for More Than Just Treating Symptoms

Winner of the 2025 ACBC Book of the Year "Few books combine theological precision with practical wisdom as skillfully as Lies My Therapist Told Me." ― Jonny Ardavanis "Dr. Gifford is an incredible resource." ― Allie Beth Stuckey "Lies My Therapist Told Me is a worthwhile, thoughtful read." ― The Gospel Coalition From beloved Christian counselor, professor, and podcaster Greg Gifford comes a bold and balanced critique of the mental health establishment. Too many people are caught in a vicious cycle of visiting every doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist, and therapist in their area only to find frustrating labels and numbing medications at the end of each path. Rather than eradicating anxiety in the same way vaccines conquered smallpox, the mental health establishment has seen the number of diagnoses and prescriptions skyrocket on its watch. How did we get here? And does Christianity have any answers for this mental health crisis? In Lies My Therapist Told Me, Dr. Greg Gifford delivers the definitive Christian critique of secular psychiatry and psychology. With encouragement, humor, and conviction, Gifford: • Debunks mental health myths such as “the body keeps the score” and “addiction is a disease.” • Offers biblical insights and solutions for struggles like anxiety, narcissism, OCD, and Binge Eating Disorder. • Points to Christ and the power of the Gospel as the all-sufficient answer for our fears and frailties. This book brings clarity where secular therapy has created confusion, and offers hope even for those struggling with the hard cases. Through deep research, biblical teaching, and the inspiring stories of real counselees, he shows why we can’t blame the past―or even a diagnosis―for our bad behavior, and why our society’s growing unhappiness is not primarily a medical issue. With a foreword by Todd Friel of Wretched Radio, this book is a must-read for counselors and counselees alike. You can read all the mental health research in the world, but you still won’t learn God’s answers for winning the battles in your mind. Lies My Therapist Told Me is a powerful, cutting-edge argument that the supernatural wisdom of the Bible is truly enough for every need.