The Psychology of Christian Character Formation offers clergy and those preparing for ministry some of the potential riches provided by rapidly developing branches of contemporary scientific psychology of which they might otherwise be unaware. Joanna Collicutt, an experienced psychologist and theological educator, focuses on the psychology of character, virtue and spirituality. Furthermore, the psychology is not used to support training in pastoral ministry to others, but rather to support the reader's own self-awareness and spiritual growth.
Joanna Collicutt understands Christian formation as Christian communities and their members growing up into conformity with the character of Christ through the action of the Holy Spirit. This is explored in the three parts of the book: first, an exploration of the process of Christian formation that includes a detailed analysis of the character of Jesus of Nazareth; secondly some focused psychology aimed at supporting an informed self-awareness in the reader; finally - and the most lengthy section - a series of chapters devoted to using psychological insights to help cultivate the Christ-like characteristics identified in the first section.