Eric L. Johnson is the Founder and Scholar-in-Residence at the Christian Psychology Institute, Author-in-Residence at Sojourn East, and Senior Research Professor at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Eric established the M.A. in Christian Counseling program at Houston Christian University, where he served as Professor of Christian Psychology for five years, following over 30 years of teaching psychology and counseling. Since his retirement from Houston Christian University, Eric has been working to establish the Christian Psychology Institute as a national center for training and certification in Christ-Centered Therapy.

Eric has made significant contributions to the field, including editing Psychology & Christianity: Five Views, and co-editing Evidence-Based Practices for Christian Counseling and Psychotherapy and Marriage: Its Foundation, Theology, and Mission in a Changing World. He has authored over 60 peer-reviewed journal articles and chapters, and collaborated with Joshua Knabb on Christian Psychotherapy in Context.

Eric’s notable works include Foundations for Soul Care: A Christian Psychology Proposal and God and Soul Care: The Therapeutic Resources of the Christian Faith, which together outline a framework for distinctly Christian therapy. Currently, he is developing a Christ-centered model of therapy that integrates many evidence-based strategies.

Eric also founded the Society for Christian Psychology, a division of the AACC, and has 25 years of experience in pastoral counseling. You can find him online at ericljohnson.org, where he shares insights and developments in Christian Psychology and therapy. He’s married to Rebekah, and has two children and three grandchildren, all of whom he treasures. His interests include hiking and bike riding.

Pastor Dan Broyles has been an active church leader, community organizer, and family advocate for over 20 years. He is a licensed marriage family therapist whose focus is to end the stigma of families within the church seeking counseling. An eye-opening peer counseling class illustrated the devastating divide between the loving church he had grown up in as a pastor’s son and the mental health community. The gap between spiritual health and mental health surprised Dan, and he began to wonder if, instead, one could compliment the other. This idea would become the foundation for his professional work.

Dan went on to earn his Bachelor’s at Grace University in 1997, double-majoring in Counseling and Theology. In his studies, Dan focused on the church’s need to address people’s deepest pain. Issues such as child abuse, sexual trauma, and mental disorders were rarely discussed in his church community instead of primary focuses of care. Pastor Dan would later earn his Master’s in Human Studies and Family Development at California State University, Northridge, putting himself through school as a social worker for Los Angeles County.

As a social worker, Dan specialized in helping victims of child abuse, a focus that would eventually lead him into working with Connect 2, doing trauma training for orphanages housing victims of sex trafficking in Haiti. Dan also co-founded the Santa Clarita Valley Human Trafficking Task Force, with which he served 5 years. For his work, Los Angeles County awarded Pastor Dan the first-ever Kathryn Barger Commitment to Service Award.

Dan now serves as the care pastor for Valencia Hills Community Church, and hopes that Saga will help bridge the gap between his two worlds. Due to his tireless work with children and families, he serves as a director on the Saga board, whose aim is to bridge the divide between the church and the mental health care community.

As the founder of Better Shepherds, Jonathan Badgett is dedicated to empowering non-licensed caregivers, including pastors, chaplains, and lay counselors, with clinical insights and therapeutic skill. To that end, Better Shepherds has partnered with the Christian Psychology Institute, where Jonathan serves as CEO and editor of CPI Publications. Together, CPI and Better Shepherds are developing credentials in Christ-Centered Care for licensed and non-licensed caregivers.

Jonathan is also Chair and CEO of the Cornerstone Foundation, a 501(c)(3) private foundation working to fill the gaps in Christian caregiving. Over 20 years of pastoral ministry and counseling in different parts of the country, Jonathan witnessed firsthand the shortcomings in Christendom’s clinical, educational, and pastoral caregiving systems. His passion is to see churches, Christian nonprofits, and caregivers working together to offer biblically rooted, Christ-centered, scientifically informed care for “the least of these.”

During his time serving as a pastor and pastoral counselor on New York’s Long Island, Jonathan developed his specialization in complex traumatic stress disorders in adult survivors of chronic childhood abuse. He is the author of a treatise in theological anthropology, Mirrors of Self: Human Personhood in Christological Perspective, as well as the forthcoming Better Shepherds: A Call to the Church and Those Who Lead. Jonathan and his wife, Alison, have four children.

Same-day Registration Table Opens

Light refreshments & networking opportunity

CROSS YOUR HEART CONFERENCE BEGINS

Caregiver Track Topic: Discerning Christ’s Work of Renewal
Description: Breakout tracks for pastors, therapists, and lay counselors will offer a unique opportunity to identify challenges in their respective professions. Participants will be encouraged as they discern Christ’s work of renewal in the midst of institutional decline.
Pastor Track: Jonathan Badgett
Therapist Track: Eric Johnson
Lay Counselor Track: Dan Broyles

Break (Live-stream will resume after 10 minutes)

LUNCH ON-SITE (Livestream will resume at 1:00 PM)

Topic: Fresh Opportunities for Christian Caregivers
Speaker: Eric (CPI), Jonathan (Better Shepherds), and Bjorn Bjornsson (Saga)

BREAK (Live-stream will resume after 20 minutes)

Caregiver Track Topic: Learning to listen, value, and care for one another
Description: Participants will return to their original breakout rooms for an opportunity to respond in frank dialogue around the challenges of collaboration. Special emphasis will be placed on identifying solutions and next steps for the local community of Christian caregivers. At the conclusion of this breakout, presenters will pray in preparation for a time of personal renewal through corporate encounter with Christ.
Pastor Track: Dan Broyles
Therapist Track: Jonathan Badgett
Lay Counselor Track: Eric Johnson

CONFERENCE CONCLUDES