New Criswell counseling prof: Christ is key

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.

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