Emotions, Mirrors of the Heart by Catherine Haddow

This book was recommended to me by a friend from church.  She knows I suffer with depression, and that I have been reading various psychology books in order to help myself.
When the Body Says No links our psychological state to our physiological state. Emotions, Mirrors of the Heart links our psychological state to our spiritual state.

The blurb says:

Our emotions are powerful. We experience them so tangibly that they can often feel all-consuming. At one time or another, we will all have experienced what Catherine Haddow calls ‘tears, fears and sneers’ — those darker, harder emotions. We often don’t know what to do with them. Sometimes we feel helplessly controlled by them, unable to see anything other than the emotion. At other times, we try and hide them from others and from God.

In this book, you’ll see that our emotions are vitally important as they are ‘spiritual smoke alarms’ that can alert us to the state of our heart. Catherine presents her own ’tbH’ model which, when followed, helps us to understand our thoughts, emotions and behaviours in more detail, each providing vital information about  the compelling desires, flowing from our hearts. She then helps us to apply biblical wisdom to where we’re struggling, inviting God to change and transform us from the heart of the emotion — the core of our being.

This is a book that not only spoke to me now, but is one that I can see myself rereading the the future if needed.  Rather than dismiss secular methods, such as CBT, which some Christian writers are prone to do, Cather Haddow acknowledges that they are useful and have benefit, but for the Christian they do not go quite far enough - so she developed the tbH model (thoughts >> behaviours >> body >> Heart) and encourages us to allow God the freedom to transform our innermost being.

Even if you are a Christian who doesn't suffer with depression or anxiety, I would recommend this book to you, because it shines a light on ourselves whilst opening us up to God's transforming grace.

(This book isn't currently available on Amazon, but is available in paperback and ebook from 10 of Those.)