“Couples Counseling: Beloved by Research Geeks and Relationship Freaks”

Dr. Jennifer Ripley is a licensed clinical psychologist and Associate Professor of Psychology at Regent University. She is the founding director of Marriage Ministry Assessment Training and Empowerment (MMATE) at Regent. Ripley is the author of numerous professional articles and book chapters on topics such as: marriage and family relations, relational assessment, and spirituality/religiosity and marriage. She is also quite accomplished in the area of application of technology to teaching. Ripley served as the program chair for Division 36 (Psychology and Religion) at the 2006 American Psychological Association convention.

"Transforming Love and Forgiveness in Clinical Practice"

Dr. Fred DiBlasio is a licensed clinical social worker and Professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. He is a noted author, researcher and therapist. Internationally recognized for his pioneering work in the clinical use of forgiveness, he published early articles on forgiveness that presented some of the first empirical research on the therapeutic use of forgiveness. His work in forgiveness treatment has received attention in national newspapers, such as the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, and magazines like Psychology Today, and has been featured on ABCs 20/20 program and Good Morning America. DiBlasio serves on the board of the International Forgiveness Institute, and the editorial board for Marriage and Family: A Christian Journal. He was awarded Social Worker of the Year (1998) by the National Association of Social Workers (Maryland).

Dr. Diane Langberg is a licensed psychologist and founding director of a multi-disciplinary group practice, Diane Langberg and Associates in greater Philadelphia. She is also the founder of The Place of Refuge, an inner-city, non-profit trauma and training center, also in Philadelphia. Langberg is an Associate Professor of Practical Theology at Reformed Episcopal Seminary, and an Adjunct Professor at Westminster Theological Seminary. She has served as the Chair of the Executive Board of the American Association of Christian Counselors and was the recipient of the AACC "Caregiver Award". Langberg is an internationally known author and lecturer on sexual abuse/recovery and Christian counseling.

"Body and Relationship: Theological and Psychological Foundations of the Person"

Dr. Paul Vitz is a Professor of Psychology Emeritus at New York University, and Professor of Psychology/Senior Scholar at the Institute for Psychological Sciences in Arlington, Virginia, a new program devoted to training professional psychologists in a way that integrates Catholic Christian concepts and contemporary psychology. Vitz is the author of numerous articles and books; his most recent books being Faith of the Fatherless: The Psychology of Atheism and The Self: Beyond the Post-modern Crisis. His currents interests are in the topics of fatherhood, the nature of the person, the psychology of virtue and of forgiveness, and psychology and its relationship to art.

Dr. Everett Worthington is a Professor of Psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University and a licensed clinical psychologist in Virginia. He has published over 20 books and 200 articles and scholarly chapters, mostly on forgiveness, marriage, and family topics. He has four new books, Handbook of Forgiveness (Brunner Routledge, 2005, August), a collection of reviews of research from the top researchers in the world; Forgiving and Reconciling: Bridges to Wholeness and Hope (InterVarsity Press, 2003), a Christianoriented account of his own method of helping people forgive; The Power of Forgiveness (Templeton Foundation Press, 2005) a collection of quotes on forgiveness within a narrated essay on finding the treasure of forgiveness in the ruins of relationships; and a revised edition of Hope-focused Marriage Counseling (InterVarsity Press, 2005). He directed A Campaign for Forgiveness Research (www.forgiving.org), a non-profit organization that supports research into forgiving and works to build a field of studying forgiveness scientifically, from 1998-2005. He tries to be a bridge-builder between Christian and secular, academic and lay, research and practice communities; and considers his mission as "to bring forgiveness into every willing heart, home, and homeland."

"Apart From This Nothing" (Text: Luke 5:15-16)

Dr. Christopher Hall is a Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies and Dean of the Templeton Honors College at Eastern University in Philadelphia. He is the author of numerous books and professional journal articles, has served as senior editor and editor at large of Christianity Today, and is the associate editor of the Intervarsity Press series, Ancient Christian Doctrine and Ancient Christian Texts.