Many of the ills of our society can be traced to the sense of worthlessness that afflicts so many people today. If we only understood in the depths of our being how valuable we are in the eyes of our Creator, we could learn to obey Christ s commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves. Priest and counselor David Fontes marries the best insights of psychology with those of the spiritual tradition of the Orthodox Church to point the way toward this understanding.

The author, Fr. David Fontes, was born in California. During his college years he developed a strong personal relationship with God and wrestled with whether he should become a priest or a psychologist. He ended up becoming both an Orthodox priest and a licensed clinical psychologist. Along with years of pastoral care for others, he has counseled thousands of state employees through the Employee Assistance Program and hundreds of patients in his private practice.