Bonding with God
- World Religions
- Counseling, Grief & Mental Health
- Publisher: Baker Academic (Baker Publishing Group)
- Published: 2026
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Publisher's Description
In Bonding with God, Victor Counted uses the attachment framework to explore how we develop psychological bonds with God, what sustains those bonds, and what can erode them, leading to a crisis of faith. As we navigate questions of identity, meaning, and purpose, the role of faith in offering support and guidance becomes crucial. Yet the emotional and psychological aspects of religious experience are often overlooked. Counted fills this gap by showing how a caregiving faith can foster resilience and spiritual transformation. Bonding with God is a fascinating read that challenges traditional notions of religion and spirituality and invites us to examine our own connections with God. It is a valuable resource for mental health professionals and students training for ministry or caring professions who seek to understand how individuals form, maintain, and navigate emotional bonds with God. Counted's interdisciplinary approach, combining psychology and theology, makes this book an essential resource for anyone interested in the intricacies of human attachment and the power of faith to shape our lives.
Endorsements (6)
“This book is a delight to read. It is a psychological exploration of a central relationship in many people’s lives—their relationship with God. Bonding with God offers much more than just an academic and theoretical exploration, however; it offers a journey for the heart, filled with meaningful case examples, qualitative research insights, and thoughtful reflection questions. It also is written in an easy-to-read way and with the type of heartfelt, relational style it describes. I highly recommend this cutting-edge book.”
“Bonding with God is an inspiring, intriguing, and intellectually inventive advance on Kirkpatrick’s and Granqvist’s takes on attachment to God. Victor Counted grounds his guidance to students and lifelong learners of psychology, to people in the pew, and to religious seekers and strugglers in caregiving faith that sees God as a loving caregiver and inspires us to be caregivers also. The thought is generative, and the stories are engaging. It speaks to people secure in their faith, the religious ‘dones’ (those struggling to disaffiliate from religion), and the religious ‘nones’ as well. It’s both a helpful and an exciting read.”
“If you are looking for a book on attachment theory and its implications for our relationship with God, this is it. Through intriguing qualitative research, case study examples, and experiential exercises, Counted draws from the best of attachment science to introduce his unique concept of caregiving faith and its implications for our relationship with God and others. Highly recommended for researchers, clinicians, and anyone interested in going deeper in their understanding of what it means to have a transformative relationship with God.”
“This book is so badly needed and so important. For an increasing number of people in contemporary society, ‘God’ is an experiential reality or nothing. As Victor Counted shows here, attachment theory provides a valuable approach to understanding the experience of God and the twists and turns through which a relationship with God is likely to go. This book is also an important pastoral resource. Those providing spiritual guidance need a conceptual framework to help them make sense of people’s spiritual journeys. Counted, having done important research on attachment processes in religious life and also being a committed Christian with considerable pastoral experience, is ideally placed to develop an integrated understanding of the spiritual journey from the dual perspectives of attachment theory and Christianity.”
“Bonding with God is a masterful blend of psychological insight and spiritual depth. Victor Counted invites readers into a transformative journey that explores how our attachment to God shapes our faith, resilience, and relationships. Few scholars write with such clarity of thought and compassion of heart. This is an essential read for anyone interested in the intersection of psychology, theology, and spiritual formation.”
“What is it like for believers to ‘bond with God’? The author provides a compelling account of this aspect of the spiritual life through a masterful use of attachment theory and other key psychological concepts. This is an exceptional and accessible work of applied psychology of religion. The author intersperses, among his theory and research, informed reflections, anecdotes from real spiritual journeys of people who shared their stories with him. In so doing, he brings to life the contours of a ‘caregiving faith’ to poignantly illustrate how a Christian’s relationship to God unfolds in interaction with God and others.”
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