“Iron sharpens iron, as one person sharpens another.” This line from Proverbs 27:17 summarizes both why author Raymond Lee Williams wrote An Introduction to Chaplaincy and Evidence-Based Practices and what it aims to do for its readers.

Williams has spent more than thirty years in the ministry. By the grace of God, those years include eight units of Clinical Pastor Education (CPE) which is a process toward becoming a Professional Chaplain. Those experiences showed him that one of his ways through his own Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Military Sexual Trauma (MST) is to help others to flourish despite life’s challenges. So, he wrote An Introduction to Chaplaincy and Evidence-Based Practices to guide readers in answering for themselves “What do I do when I feel like I am in a dark place? —and then, in turn, to support others. His book will help readers explore what matters most to them as well as reveal the true meaning of ministry (serving the community): that we all have the capacity to serve even in our grief and lost, hurt, pain, scars, suffering, and trauma.

Perfect for healthcare providers, pastors, and the general population, the book dives deep into Williams’s personal experiences to help readers remember they are not alone and to offer a road map through real life encounters and concrete examples of how to move forward and no longer just survive trauma but thrive in life with the use of ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy), MI (Motivational Interviewing), and PST (Problem-Solving Therapy), all which are EBP’s. These methods open the avenue for people to unburden oneself through talking.