DALLAS—Since his youth, David Livingstone Henderson desired to become a physician. All the while God was developing in him a deep passion for imparting the spiritually and emotionally healing truth of the gospel. During his psychiatric rotation of medical school, God told him, “You can do both.”

 

Now holding Criswell College’s new Hope for the Heart Chair of Biblical Counseling, God has added yet another dimension to Henderson’s call: teaching others to biblically minister spiritual and emotional healing as well.

 

Henderson was awarded his doctor of medicine credentials in 2004 from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, and completed his general psychiatry residency in 2008 at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. As a doctor, he is able to help people with physical illness, but as a psychiatrist and a Christian, he is able to serve people in all areas of “dis-ease”—mental, emotional, physical and spiritual.

 

Married to Angela and a father of two young children, Henderson served on staff at the Meier Clinic in Dallas from July 2008 until March 2010. While there, he co-authored a book with best-selling author and clinic founder Paul Meier: “Finding Purpose Beyond our Pain: Uncover the hidden potential in life’s most common struggles” (Thomas Nelson). 

 

In March this year, he began his own private practice. Then the opportunity at Criswell was opened to him. “In essence, it’s as if God dropped it into my lap,” he remarked.

 

For more than a year, Criswell College was looking and praying for the right person to fill the vacancy as head of their counseling department. Lamar Cooper, interim president at Criswell, said, “We have had a hard time finding a qualified person who also is a believer and who could sign our statement of faith.” 

 

Cooper learned about Henderson from faculty member Barry Creamer who had interviewed Henderson on “Live from Criswell,” a regular program on radio station KCBI-FM.

 

“Barry told me, after he had him on his show, that I really needed to meet this young man because he was so outspoken and took an open stand for Christ and the gospel,” he explained. 

 

After an interview, Cooper believed Henderson was the right man for the job. He said, “David is a board-certified psychiatrist who believes that Christ is the most important component in meeting a person’s spiritual and mental needs.”

 

Henderson is excited about developing a program that provides Criswell’s counseling students with a three-pronged basis for ministry.

 

He explained that his first goal is to develop a foundation of biblical truth for the Criswell students. 

 

“If you don’t have that underlying foundation, there are a lot of [counseling] theories that sound good and may actually work in some situations, but may discount the Word of God as ultimate truth. Here at Criswell we have a number of professors who are really passionate about imparting truth.”

 

Second, Henderson believes a solid understanding of human behavior, “why we do what we do,” will help students excel in their ability to help others grow deeper relationships with Christ and with other people.

 

Henderson noted that psychiatrist and counselor roles differ in that psychiatrists are equipped to investigate possible biologic sources of mental and emotional distresses. He said, “Some suffering comes from an underlying biologic condition. We have medications that can help some people improve their quality of life. We do our community a disservice if we ignore these potential tools in our efforts to restore people’s mental health. I will encourage counselors to keep their eyes open for these individuals, so I will be able to offer that added perspective as people counsel and do therapy.”

 

The third area of focus in preparing Criswell students to counsel biblically is one that Henderson believes is essential to a true helping ministry: compassion for those who are hurting and suffering. “It is very difficult, and it comes only with experience,” he said.

 

Named after missionary, physician and explorer David Livingstone, Henderson’s life was somewhat shaped by that positive role model for compassion and serving. He grew up in northern New Jersey in a solidly Christ-centered home.

 

“I am so thankful for the godly influence of my parents and siblings. My older brother, who is a physician and committed to Christ, had a big influence on me. My older sister prayed me into existence. My younger sister just finished seminary in Chicago at Trinity. I come from a very strong background.”

 

Henderson trusted Christ as his savior in his childhood, and continued steadily on a path of bold faith. As a young adult he preached his first sermon in New York’s Times Square, and often was involved in open air evangelism in New Jersey.

 

Henderson said his faith was challenged while in his psychiatric residency at the University of South Carolina.

 

“The difference I see between being a Christian psychiatrist and just a psychiatrist is that as Christians our calling is to relieve suffering. As a psychiatrist, my calling is to relieve suffering, but as a Christian that is not my highest calling. Our highest calling is to live, serve, obey, and worship Christ, and suffering enables us to grow in that,” he said.

 

That “Christian” distinctive of looking for God’s purpose in our pain was the impetus behind the book “Finding Purpose Beyond Our Pain.” He said, “Any pain we experience in this life—no matter how heinous—we can, through the power of the Spirit, set that pain apart for a purpose.” 

 

Also, Henderson believes that certain types of pain common to every man are “in and of themselves consecrating.” Covered in the book are the universal struggles of injustice, rejection, loneliness, loss, discipline, failure and death, which Henderson believes can be “embraced as gifts from God.” If endured and embraced rather than escaped, the suffering equips individuals for greater purpose.

 

In addition to his private practice and his new duties at Criswell College, Henderson is an adjunct professor at Dallas Theological Seminary, moonlights as an emergency room psychiatrist at Green Oaks Hospital in Dallas, and serves as advisor to the board of directors of ROCK International, an organization that provides medical and emotional relief to traumatized children worldwide. He has lectured nationally and internationally, including presentations for the American Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association. The Hendersons are active members of First Baptist Church in Rockwall.