STAFF PROFILES

“God’s Workmanship For His Good Works.”  |  Imperfect Photography by Imperfect Evangeline  |  (Eph 2:10; 1 Cor 15:10).

Clinical Supervisor

Dr. Ronnie Eng

Baby ICHTHYSroe Logo

Dr. Eng is a Christian psychologist, biblical counselor, and clinical supervisor whose expertise is in delivering Biblical truth through evidence-based practices.  He has been invited to speak on the bio-psycho-social impact of spiritual health, and vice versa, by organizations around the world, including as a moderator and panelist with the Trauma Research Foundation.  His presence in the field is one of proactive leadership: serving on the board of the Institute of Christ Conforming Conjoint Education, Discipleship & Therapy (ICCCED+T); a non-profit for children, couples, and caregivers.  He has also served on the board of the American Counseling Association (ACA) in New York as President.

 

As a practical theologian, his research on evidence-based practices that nurture faith from/for God through love for Him and our neighbors was published in his first book, “Faith Working Through Love: Biblically-Grounded, Trauma-Focused, Evidenced-Based Practices for Holy Matrimony.”  He has also focused his efforts on developing resiliency, hardiness, and other protective factors that strengthen high-performing individuals (across all stages of development) in the context of international marriages and families (at different points in the family lifecycle).  This has given him insight into how to support missionary organizations by conducting assessments and counseling international workers to prepare them for the field, as well as build capacity in churches, parachurch organizations, and Biblical counseling centers through facilitating group resiliency workshops for both leadership and members.

 

Dr. Eng’s own personal pursuit to understand and serve people of all cultures has led him to live in Africa, America, and Asia; revealing God’s mustard seeds of hope for clients seeking:

  • individual growth (healing of complicated grief, impulse control, and behavioral/process addictions with stressor-related sequelae from acute single-incident PTSD or chronic complex developmental, inter-generational, or racial trauma—including internalized oppression),
  • personal fulfillment (unconventional breakthroughs over high-performance expectations for gifted toddlers/children, early or 2nd career crises for adults, and chronic stress for corporate executives, sports athletes, and pastoral leaders), and
  • relational satisfaction (healthy interpersonal dynamics among partner/family caregivers through development and communication of forgiveness, reconciliation, or compassion satisfaction). 

 

He first began motivating infants/children (ages 2-4) diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) through play therapy in the 1990s and met his wife while guiding adolescents with neurodevelopmental disorders through expressive arts with Hope for New York nearly 20 years later.  They currently partner as trauma healing group facilitators certified by the Trauma Healing Institute, but their greatest collaboration has been encouraging their then 1.5-year-old to learn how to worship Jesus Christ in 5 languages, as well as recite entire passages of Scripture (ESV!) so well that she began teaching it to her infant sibling (who began reciting entire psalms as well as sang and played on the piano Nothing but the blood of Jesus at age 4).

 

* As with other staff, Dr. Eng does not receive a salary for his services but instead contributes 100% of the proceeds to make clinician development and member services accessible to everyone in the ICHTHYSroe community, when they are in need, according to their desire to grow in God’s purpose for them (ESV, Acts 20:35).

Published Books

Practical Theology

  • Volume I: Faith-Filled Neighbors (Essays by a Westminster Scholar)
  • Volume II: Faith-Filled Counselors (Essays by a Westminster Scholar)

Counselor Formation

  • New York State of Mind, Volume I: Clinical Formation & Implementation (From the Desk of a Christian Licensed to Counsel)
  • New York State of Mind, Volume II: Clinical Assessments & Treatments (From the Desk of a Christian Licensed to Counsel)
  • Office of the Christian Psychologist, Volume I: Preparation and Approach (Practices of a Missionary in the Field)
  • Office of the Christian Psychologist, Volume II: His Context, Their Conditions (Lessons from a Missionary in the Field)

Couple Counseling

  • Faith Working Through Love: Biblically-Grounded, Trauma-Focused, Evidence-Based Practices for Holy Matrimony (Researcher Edition)

Creative Arts Therapy

  • Therapeutic Curiosity, Volume I: Discovering Matters of the Heart (50 Questions to Unravel Poetry of “Mr. E”) Workbook
  • Therapeutic Curiosity, Volume I: Exploring Matters of the Heart (50 Questions to Unravel Poetry of “Mr. E”) Journal
  • Therapeutic Curiosity, Volume I: Treating Matters of the Heart (50 Questions for the Poetry of “Mr. E”) Manual
  • Therapeutic Curiosity, Volume II: Exploring Matters of Loss & Life (50 Questions to Unravel Poetry of “Mr. E”) Journal
  • Therapeutic Curiosity, Volume II: Discovering Matters of Loss & Life (50 Questions to Unravel Poetry of “Mr. E”) Workbook
  • Therapeutic Curiosity, Volume II: Treating Matters of Loss & Life (50 Questions for the Poetry of “Mr. E”) Treatment Guide

Relevant Education

Regent University; Virginia Beach, VA.

Ph.D. in Counseling & Psychological Studies; Concentration in Trauma & Crisis Counseling.

  • Published: Faith Working Through Love: Biblically-Grounded, Trauma-Focused, Evidence-Based Practices for Holy Matrimony.”
  • Research included: “Covenantal Theology to Nurture Inter- and Intra-Personal Posttraumatic Growth for Families of International Workers with High-Performing Toddlers, School-Age Children, and Adolescents.”
  • Received Ph.D. Merit Award with support from Dean of Counseling and Psychology School.
  • Guest-lectured in doctoral-level classes on Biblical conceptualizations of inter-generational grief and loss in family systems:
    • God’s Final Word: Speaking of Dying with His Word
    • Family-in-Christ Theology: Efficacy & Efficiency as Family Systems Therapy
    • Salvation & Satisfaction: A Biblical Clinician’s View on Crisis Intervention
    • Therapy in Theology: Sifting and Using Grains of Truth by God’s Common Grace

GPA: 3.94 / 4.00.

 

Nyack College, Alliance Graduate School of Counseling; New York, NY.

Master of Arts in Mental Health Counseling; Honors with Distinction.

Advanced Electives: Marriage & Family Therapy.

  • Researched and wrote: Reformed Play Therapy for Reforming Kids (A Play on Reality Play Therapy).
  • Achieved a perfect score of 115/115 on Counselor Competencies Scale – Revised (CCS-R) © from clinical site supervisor holding Ph.D. in Health Studies/Therapeutic Recreation & Leisure Studies.
  • Passed National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination (NCMHCE) on 1st attempt.
  • Recognized with the CECE Achievement Award from the Dean for comprehensive understanding of clinical concepts.
  • Received Christian & Missionary Alliance Grant for service in the marginalized community.
  • Presented Biblical re-interpretations to masters-level students:
    • Culture, Language, & Cognition: Stages of Human Development as a Child of God
    • Biblical Marriage Counseling: Family-in-Christ Theology! vs. Family Systems Theory?
    • 1 Body of Many Members by 1 Holy Spirit: Group Therapy for Professional Helpers
    • Ming-Duck’s Family Voyage: A Little Village Missionary’s Travels in the Chan Dynasty
  • Developed clinical interventions:
    • ADJUST Model for overcoming Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES)
    • INSIDE→OUTSIDE Framework for managing psychosocial stressors
    • OCD-3 Intervention for restructuring intrusive thoughts
    • VICTIM→VICTOR Approach for remediating chronic trauma

GPA: 3.98 / 4.00.

 

Westminster Theological Seminary; Glenside, PA.

Master of Arts in Counseling.

Advanced Electives: Worship Theology, Counseling Abusive Marriages.

  • Received Community Builder Award for online groups leadership.
  • Concentrated coursework on:
    • Expressive art/play therapy for children & adolescents
    • Multiple intelligences in social psychology
  • Developed ministry expertise on:
    • Personal calling
    • Restoring pastoral care
    • Workplace ministry: Corporate program development
    • Preventative measures for compassion fatigue: On-fire vs. burnout
  • Researched clinical topics including:
    • Casting All Your Co-Morbidities on God: A Biblical Counseling Approach to Co-Morbid PTSD, Substance Abuse, and Depression
    • Caring for the Faint-Hearted Afflicted by MORSHIP: An OCD Case Study
    • Ministry to a Stroke Victim: A Case Study on Compassion Fatigue
  • Designed clinical interventions:
    • 10+ Expressive Arts Activities for Child/Adolescent Counselees 5+ and Older
    • Play Therapy Interventions for Counselees 10+ and Older
      • “Not Too High, Not Too Low, God Made Me, Just Right to Go!”
      • “Too Dark To See, But You are the One Who Contends For Me!”
      • “Practice, You Practice; We Progress, He’s Perfected!”
    • CARE Model for professional outpatient treatment of adults with complex clinical co-morbidities
    • Man-PRIDE Framework for addressing church abuse and spiritual oppression in the home
    • PRAYER Approach of practical steps to foster collective accountability for reconciliation in families suffering Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)

GPA: 3.89 / 4.00.

 

New York University; New York, NY. Stern School of Business. College of Arts & Sciences.  Bachelor of Science with two majors in Finance as well as Management Information Systems, and a minor in American Literature (Narrative Storytelling, Playwriting; completed coursework for 2nd undeclared minor in Communications).  

  • Earned Alumni Merit Scholarship for Academic Excellence; Founders Merit Scholarship for Community Service, and WSTA Award for Professional Achievement.
  • Concentrated coursework on:
    • Nonverbal communication (kinesthetics, paralinguistics, and proxemics)
    • Organizational communication (conflict resolution, group dynamics, and negotiation)
  • Wrote narrative fiction exploring:
    • Complex developmental dynamics and relational trauma
    • Code-switching for professionals from marginalized communities
    • Complications from acculturation

 

Stuyvesant Specialized High School; New York, NY.  

  • Regents Diploma.  Concentrations: Architecture; Creative Writing (Poetry, Short Stories).
  • Advanced Placements: Calculus; Physics. 
  • Wrote narrative fiction exploring:
    • Intergenerational trauma
    • Cultures and worldviews
    • Existential considerations

Specialized Training

Missionary Care for Couples/Families

Trauma-Informed Care for Families/Communities

Trauma-Informed Care for Individuals

Leadership / Advocacy

Thought-Leadership: Topical Workshop Content Creation

Marriage & Family

  • Learning How to Be a Man from the Perfect Man
  • Learning How to Treat My Bride from Our Bridegroom
  • Learning How to Be Children of God from Children of God
  • Neurodevelopmental Disorders: How to Teach Small Kids to Talk Big (Words Like Immeasurably)
  • Neurocognitive Disorders (NCDs): Remembering Those Who Forget You

Trauma- and Stressor-Related Issues

  • Intergenerational Reconciliation: Healing from the Trauma of Internalized Racism
  • Running From Lions, Running as Lions (It’s a Catch-Proverbs-22 without the Lion of Judah)
  • Stress: Taking (and Carrying) Your Spouse’s Last Straw 
  • Idle, Faint-Hearted, Weak, or All of the Above
  • Our Victimization?  His Victory!  A Tale of Two Cities

Anxiousness

  • INSIDE-OUTSIDE Agoraphobia: Biblical Interventions to Open the Door of Faith
  • Social Anxiety Disorder: What a Shame! Who’s to Blame?
  • Panic Disorder: Panicking about Panic 
  • Conditioned Stimulus +Unconditional Love Unconditioned Stimulus = No Unconditioned Response 

Complicated Grief & Bereavement / Depression 

  • Thanatology: Family-in-Christ Theology vs. Family Systems Theory
  • Case Studies of Disenfranchised Grief in Parental Loss (Traumatic, Nonfinite, and Ambiguous)
  • New Mercies Through the Mourning: Living in Long Dying Trajectories

Obsessive Thoughts and Compulsive Actions/Avoidance

  • MORSHIP: Combatting Man-Oriented, Strange High-Intensity Perfectionism
  • OCD: Biblical Counseling through Thinking, Following, and Processing God’s Word 
  • Perfect Proportioners, Taboo Thinkers, Contamination Cleaners, and Haphazard Hoarders 

Bipolar Disorders

  • The Buoy and the Anchor: Tossed Like Waves
  • The Spiritually Blind vs. the Spiritually Deaf 
  • Black Light: The Dark Side of Mania (A Matthew 6 View of Bipolar Disorder)

Disruptive, Impulse-Control, & Conduct Disorders 

  • Conduct Disorder: Biblical Interventions When All Else Has Failed
  • Training Impulse Control by Tasting and Seeing What is Right and True: Operant Conditioning
  • I Say I Need, But He Shows I Don’t: Classical Conditioning for Involuntary Respondent Extinction

Career Counseling

  • Jesus Christ, CEO (How to Inspire like our Chief Executive Officer)
  • Jesus Christ, COO (How to Improve like our Chief Operating Officer)
  • Jesus Christ, CFO (How to Invest like our Chief Financial Officer)
  • Jesus Christ, CMO (How to Innovate like our Chief Product Officer)
  • Jesus Christ, CMO (How to Influence like our Chief Marketing Officer)

Facilitation: Process Supervision & Skills Training Workshops

Supervision / Client Management Workshops

  • Christ the Supervisor: Biblical Supervision Roles (Teacher, Counselor, & Consultant)
  • Christ the Supervisor: Biblical Supervision Tasks (Process, Conceptualization, & Personalization)
  • With His Eyes: Overall Case Conceptualization
  • All People/Time: Biblical Modalities (Crisis Intervention, Individual Counseling, or Group Therapy)
  • Biblical Counseling Ethics: Beyond ACA Documentation & Responsibilities

Step-by-Step Case Management Workshops

  • Buy-in: the Biblical Therapeutic Working Alliance
  • Information Intake & Interpretation (CCEF Definitions: Heat, Thorns, etc.)
  • Goal Commitment (Spiritual/Physical Fruit)
  • Step-by-Step Intervention Planning and Psychoeducation: Not Missing the Trees for the Forest
  • Team Development: Support from Family, Friends, Mentors, and then Pastoral Leadership
  • Assessment: Emotion, Cognition, Volition, and Motivation 
  • Next Steps: Setting Activation Milestones & Designing Homework
  • Decisioning: Referral, Consultation, or Termination?
  • Supplemental Care and Maintenance: the There-&-Then

In-Session Clinical Competencies Workshops

  • Sympathy and Empathy: Walking Together on the Path Who is Jesus
  • Active Listening, Active Influencing, Active Loving: A John 3:18 View
  • “Yes, and…” (Proverbs 2:3 and Other Improvisation Techniques)
  • Questions, Questions, and More Questions: Openly Discriminating the Who/What/When/Where/Why
  • How to Respond: As Water Reflects the Face (Affect Reflection Skills)
  • How to Respond: What He/She Said (Content Paraphrasing Skills) 
  • How to Respond: Tying it All Together with the Third Strand (Summarizing/Analyzing Skills)
  • Focus and Refocus: Maintaining Eyes that See 
  • Alignment & Acceleration: Thessalonians Testing Everything and Holding Therapy Gains Faster
  • Careful Confrontations: Restoration by the Spirit of Gentleness
  • My Brother’s Keeper: Proactively Offering a Ministry of Rupture Repair (A Matthew 5 View)
  • Multicultural Sensitivities: All Things to All People 
  • Yours Truly, a Biblical Note on Positive Regard 

Nonverbal Communication Workshops

  • Kinesthetics: Firm in His Posture, Movement, and Expression
  • Paralinguistics: His Gentle Whisper (Tone, Volume, and Cadence)
  • Proxemics: Positioning A Person and a People in His Presence

Therapeutic Assessment Workshops

  • Saints, Sufferers, Sinners: Scavenging Seeds of Grace
  • Saints, Sufferers, Sinners: Tracking the Tough
  • Saints, Sufferers, Sinners: Contextualizing the Bad
  • ABCs of Biblical Counseling (Antecedent-Behavior-Consequence)
  • On the Lines and In Between: Descriptive Datapoints
  • The Fear of the Lord: God’s Weighted Priorities in the Biblical Fear Hierarchy
  • Transference and Countertransference
  • Do I Have Something in My Teeth? Raising Self-Awareness in the Biblical Counselor
REQUEST

Ronnie's Services

CONTRIBUTE

Educational Fund

ZELLE:

ICHTHYS.roe@
Biblicalcounselingservices.org