One Man’s Journey: Bob Somerville 

In 2014, Bob Somerville penned one of the most unique, important, and vulnerable books in the history of the modern biblical counseling movement: If I’m a Christian, Why Am I Depressed? Finding Meaning and Hope in the Dark Valley: One Man’s Journey. As the subtitle indicates, this book is Bob’s memoir, Bob’s journey through the dark valley of depression.

Bob is a friend. I so respect his vulnerability in writing this book. Let me introduce you to my friend. His bio makes his book all the more relevant and refreshing.

Bob received his M.Div. degree from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in 1970. He served as a Senior Pastor in the EV Free Church from 1970 to 2005.

In 1977, Dr. Somerville received his Doctor of Ministry degree in Biblical Counseling from Westminster Theological Seminary. Since 1986, Bob served as a member of the Board of the National Association of Nouthetic Counselors—NANC (now the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors—ACBC). In 1989, Dr. Somerville became a NANC/ACBC Fellow—a supervisor of other biblical counselors. Beginning in 2005, Dr. Somerville served as Professor of Biblical Counseling at The Master’s Seminary.

Bob is a biblical counselor par excellence. He is the epitome of a biblical counselor. Bob supervises, equips, trains, educates, and mentors biblical counselors.

He wrote a book detailing his personal struggles with depression. This is a book every biblical counselor should read. I’ve read it several times, perhaps six times. Today I want to summarize what we all can learn from If I’m a Christian, Why Am I Depressed? Finding Meaning and Hope in the Dark Valley: One Man’s Journey by Dr. Bob Somerville.

I especially want us to ask and answer the question:

What can we learn about depression, the embodied-soul, and physiological interventions from a biblical counseling leader who suffered with depression?  

Bob’s Somerville’s Story 

Bob begins his book with these words,

“I am endeavoring in this book to write about what I experienced and what I learned in the one foray into deep depression through which I journeyed” (xi).

In his own words, Bob will describe this first depression in detail. There is another reality that my readers need to know. It’s something Bob himself could not have known in 2014 when he wrote his book: Bob would endure additional battles with depression.

On November 30, 2019, in a BCC 1514 Podcast, Bob shares with his listeners that,

“I’ve had at least two more episodes of depression since my book.”

Bob’s dear wife, Mary, describes the return of Bob’s depression. She writes in a November 29, 2017 article for the Biblical Counseling Coalition (Lessons From the Dark Valley of Depression, By Mary Somerville):

“Now fast forward 6 years from 2009. Bob was back into living the same lifestyle as before—over-loading his life with ministry (which he freely shares), when I fell and broke my leg and the trauma of it all resulted in sending his body into another bout of severe depression. Two-and-a-half years have gone by and he is just now seeing the darkness lift—truly a stubborn darkness!”

“We now see that Bob’s schedule left no margin for rest and his body was stretched to the limit, so that when something traumatic happened his nervous system was unable to handle it. His adrenals gave out from excessive stress, producing ‘adrenal fatigue’ as we have now learned. The adrenals regulate the nervous system and are responsible for the fight or flight response. They produce cortisol—the most important anti-stress hormone in the body. Adrenal fatigue occurs when the amount of stress exceeds the capacity of the body to compensate and recover, oftentimes producing anxiety and depression. Again!”

Anyone with an ounce of empathy can feel the pain that Bob and Mary experienced with these multiple bouts of depression.

Based upon Bob’s book, Mary’s BCC blog post, and Bob’s BCC podcast interview, we can piece together something of a timeline of Bob’s battles with the “stubborn darkness” of depression.

• 2009: Bob’s first episode of depression.
• 2014: Bob writes If I’m a Christian, Why Am I Depressed
• 2015-2017: Bob’s second bout of depression, which he (and Mary) endure for two-and-half-years.
• November 29, 2017: Mary writes in the BCC blog about Bob’s first and second battles with depression.
• 2018?: Sometime between 2017 and 2019 (when Bob is interviewed on the BCC podcast), he endures a second bout of depression.
• November 30, 2019: Bob shares in his BCC podcast interview about his three episodes of depression.

Bob Describes His First Battle with Depression (2009) 

With courage and vulnerability, Bob vividly describes his first episode of severe depression.

“How well I remember sitting in the emergency room on the morning of August 12, 2009, wondering if I would be committed to a psychiatric ward. It seemed that morning that I had literally lost my mind. I was thinking wild, bizarre, and crazy thoughts, including those of suicide, and I could not sit still. I had experienced yet another sleepless night. But how did I get here? Allow me to tell you my story” (15-16).

Bob then describes waking up one morning “to be confronted by my wife” (16).

“It was Mary’s birthday when she said to me, ‘I think you’re in depression.’ I thought, I couldn’t be in depression! I’m a counselor who has helped dozens of people in depression! No, that’s not something I’ll ever deal with (16, emphasis in the original).

But Bob, loving and respecting his wife, realized that he needed to “check it out.” So he started reading Ed Welch’s book, Depression: A Stubborn Darkness. Bob then writes, “When I got to chapter 2, I said, ‘This is me and I’m depressed! How did I get here?” (16).

Bob read all of Welch’s book. A colleague in biblical counseling provided counsel. “But things did not get better immediately. In fact for the next two months my feelings got progressively worse, culminating in that morning in the emergency room” (16).

Bob Shares Some Background: The Dark Night of the Soul 

Bob then writes, “Allow me to give some further background” (16). The summer before his depression, he experienced a herniated disc. It led to surgery, strong pain meds, complete bed rest for two months, and the loss of fifty pounds. He then shares,

“Subsequently I found myself in severe depression—the dark night of the soul. When the fall semester came I couldn’t teach. The counseling professor was in depression!” (17, emphasis added).

Bob Shares Further About His Depression 

In Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling, Bob elaborates on his first battle with depression:

“Welch quotes the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders which he says is the caretaker of the technical language for depression. It states that if a person experiences five or more of the symptoms during the same two-week period and this represents a change from previous functioning the person is in a “major depressive episode.” I had all nine symptoms. It was a deep dark pit, a true stubborn darkness” (420).

Being a biblical counselor, Bob sought biblical counseling.

“I sought counsel from the lead biblical counselor in our church who was encouraging me in all the biblical responses to depression, but still it engulfed me to the point that I became non-functional. I had no feelings whatsoever, even of being saved—the worst of all, to not be able to sense God’s saving grace. I had constant thoughts of suicide. Everything was black and hopeless. I truly believed that I would never preach or teach again. (I had been a pastor for thirty-five years prior to becoming a professor.) (420, emphasis added).

Bob then shares another account of his ER visit.

“The depression became so severe that I was taken to the hospital completely out of touch with reality. After receiving a combination of psychotropic drugs in the emergency room that morning it appeared by that afternoon that I had come back to normalcy. However, within a few days the effect wore off and there was a need for further medication. We sought counsel from a respected biblical counselor/doctor who advised us that medicines were in order. My colleagues concurred. They saw that this was not the result of sin which had spiraled downward, as Job’s comforters had assumed, but a matter of response to the pain medication and the impact of what had transpired physically primarily but exacerbated by what was going on emotionally as well. Reluctantly I took the medicine for a six-month period along with seeking to learn and grow spiritually from the situation. The medicine helped stabilize me so that I could think rationally and apply biblical principles to my situation. My experience has given me a much deeper empathy and understanding for those who suffer in this way than I ever had before” (421, emphasis added).

Then Bob provides a personal summary of his recovery process.

“While the physical issues—the back problem and the level of serotonin in the brain, were being addressed through physical therapy, rest, and the anti-depressant medications, the issues of the soul were being addressed with continued biblical counseling and pursuing God through His Word, biblically-based books, and prayer. Our family was very supportive, as well as our church family, ministering to us with calls, cards, meals and prayers. The recovery was a gradual process over a period of six grueling months” (421, emphasis added).

Lessons from Elijah: Physiological Causes and Physiological Interventions 

In, If I’m a Christian, Why Am I Depressed?, Dr. Somerville next (in Chapter 3) turns to “Lessons from the Life of Elijah.” It is here, and, frankly, throughout his book, that Dr. Bob frequently highlights physiological interventions for depression.

In assessing contributing factors to Elijah’s depression in 1 Kings 17-19, Bob includes phrases like “physical and emotional exertion” (52), “fatigue and response of isolation and despair” (54), and “physical and emotional exhaustion” (55).

Somerville then asks, “How did God handle his servant’s depression?” (55). God provided physiological interventions: “rest and physical nourishment” which Somerville describes as “tokens of His grace” (55). Astutely and compassionately, Somerville recognizes how our Ultimate Soul Physician provides embodied-soul care.

“God gave His servant physical rest. The Scripture says that Elijah lay down and slept. It doesn’t say that God judged him for his depression and asking to die” (55).

Somerville further recognizes that at times physiological interventions need to precede heart interventions.

“God gave sleep first. Sleep refreshes the mind and body and is definitely a gift. Sometimes the physical factors need urgent attention before the inner causes of the depression can be addressed” (56, emphasis added).

Bob describes how God gave Elijah physical nourishment, and explains how God ministered to the physical needs of the embodied-soul of His depressed child.

“Here we see God, the great counselor, addressed Elijah’s physical needs first. There is a definite connection between the mind and body. John Piper points this out when he says, ‘What we should be clear about is that the condition of our bodies makes a difference in the capacity of our minds to think clearly and of our souls to see the beauty of hope-giving truth’” (56, emphasis added).

Dr. Somerville then relates Elijah’s situation to his own battle with depression.

“What happened in my case? My body was restored with rest and nutrition, careful use of medication, detox, physical therapy, and exercise” (60).

“I had to learn that I had a new normal, and I needed to take precautions against relapse. I now have to set limits for myself in order to care for my health” (60).

Bob concludes Chapter 3 by explaining that he will use what we learn from God’s ministry to Elijah and apply it to our ministry to those who suffer with depression. And he states that,

“First we will look at care for the physical body” (60, emphasis added).

What Are the Causes of Depression? 

Wisely, comprehensively, and compassionate, Pastor Somerville writes that, “The causes of depression can be as numerous and varied as the people they affect. But they can fall into three main categories. The pressures of life, physical infirmities, and sin can all lead to depression” (69).

After discussing pressures of life, he explains, “We are vulnerable not only because of outside factors but because we live under the general curse on creation that came through Adam and the fall. Our bodies are vulnerable to disease, our hormones to malfunction, our adrenal systems can fail, and chemicals that we take to treat one illness can have bad side effects” (70).

On those occasions that depression might be related to unconfessed and undealt with sin Somerville offers a gentle chapter on “How Do I Handle My Guilt?” (95-108). He encourages us to “turn from willful sin” (98). Yet, accurately, he reminds us that depression is often unrelated to willful sin. “It is possible that you are suffering like Job” unrelated to personal sin (99).

Depression, Embodied-Souls, and Physiological Interventions 

In Chapter 6, Dr. Somerville expends a good deal of time addressing depression and the physical body. From his own experience and from Scripture, Bob understands that,

“Our bodies and minds/souls are so intertwined that one affects the other” (110).

He also understands the need for physiological interventions.

“Just as God, the Counselor, met Elijah’s physical needs first when Elijah was suffering from suicidal depression (1 Kings 19:4-8), we must examine our own physical conditions and strive to improve them in order to find relief” (110).

Pastor Somerville backs up his teaching with counsel from Martin Lloyd-Jones in Spiritual Depression:

“Does someone hold the view that as long as you are a Christian it does not matter what the condition of your body us? Well, you will soon be disillusioned if you believe that…. You cannot isolate the spiritual from the physical for we are body, mind, and spirit. The greatest and best Christians when they are physically weak are more prone to an attack of spiritual depression than at any other time and there are great illustrations of this in the Scriptures” (111, emphasis added).

Bob also supports his teaching about depression, embodied-souls, and physiological interventions from the Apostle Paul.

“Paul compared our bodies to a clay jar (2 Cor. 4:7). A clay jar is fragile and easily broken or chipped. We get tired and ill and are subject to sicknesses and diseases that limit our ability to fulfill our responsibilities at times. The weakness of our flesh can even lead directly to spiritual depression. Therefore, we as believers are under obligation to be good stewards of our God-given bodies, not by worshipping the body but realizing that because we only have one body in which to obey the Lord, care and protection of health are essential” (111, emphasis added).

We might label this category something like Biblical Counseling and the Sacred Stewardship of the Body.

Dr. Somerville continues to support his wholistic body/soul biblical counsel scripturally.

“God brought angels to minister to Elijah under the juniper tree and to Jesus in the wilderness and then under the olive tree when his soul was grieved to the point of death. Those angels did not minister by playing harps or spiritual songs. They brought much-needed food and drink—physical refreshment. God is in favor of natural nourishment and ministry to your body” (111, emphasis added).

I hope you stopped to read and reflect on what Bob said. “Those angels did not minister by playing harps or spiritual songs.” Yes, God is in favor of soul physicians ministering to the embodied-soul.

What About Psychotropic Medications? 

Bob now answers the oft-asked question, “What about psychotropic medications?” (112)—for himself and for us.

“After a considerable period of time, with the advice of biblical counselors and physicians, I realized that an antidepressant would help my body regain its emotional and physical balance quicker. It very gradually took effect, and when combined with everything I was doing spiritually, the depression began to lift. My thoughts and feelings finally returned to normal. I was able to bet back to teaching and off of the medication in six months (after a year of suffering). The medication was not my first or only course of action, but it was a gift of God’s grace in my case” (113, emphasis added).

Dr. Bob Somerville, biblical counselor, ACBC Fellow, Master’s Seminary Professor of Biblical Counseling, with the counsel of biblical counselors, took antidepressants for half-a-year. And God used it as a “gift of grace” in his life. I am thankful that Bob shares this with all of us.

Biblical Counsel About Physiological Interventions 

Bob then spends an extended section counseling us about depression and physical care. He notes that part of his depression recovery plan, developed in conjunction with his biblical counselor, included numerous physiological interventions (113-121).

What physiological interventions might a biblical counselor share with a person struggling with depression?

1. Have a Diet of Nutritious Food

“Part of my recovery plan was to eat nutritious meals and take supplements that would help restore my health. I tried all the natural means first” (113). “We want to glorify God in all this, even in our eating and drinking, vital components in our restoration process (1 Cor. 10:31)” (114). Physical interventions glorify God and are a significant component of a biblical counseling restoration process for people struggling with depression.

2. Get Rest and Recreation

“I needed time off from teaching to recover. My body needed time to recover” (114). Somerville then provides specific biblical counseling about sleep: medication, set aside time before bed to prepare minds, examine your sleeping environment, adjust sleep patterns (114). Bob’s biblical counsel is very practical—even including watching comedies and playing games! “My physical therapist recommended that we watch two or three comedies a week just to put my mind on something humorous. I was ready to try anything” (115). It did not work for him, but “I did play Hearts and Solitaire and we played board games like UpWords and Chinese Checkers. You need to find some form of recreation” (115).

3. Exercise

Bob is not afraid to endorse very practical physiological interventions as part of his biblical counsel for embodied-soul care for the body. “The endorphins produced from exercise give us an emotional lift. Our bodies need exercise. Get a plan for exercise and stick to it. Exercise improves our energy, endurance, and physical well-being. This comes from a medical report: The psychological and emotional benefits from exercise are numerous, and many experts now believe that exercise is a viable and important treatment of emotion disorders. A 1999 review of multiple studies found, across the board, that exercise advances the treatment of clinical depression and anxiety’” (115-116). Wisely, Bob is a medically-informed biblical counselor.

4. Live a Structured Life (116)

5. Prioritize and Organize

“Since over-commitment and overwork led in part to my situation, it was necessary to evaluate and set new priorities. Because depression can be brought on by physical and emotional exhaustion we need to avoid being trapped by the tyranny of the urgent. Create a plan for making the best use of your time” (117).

6. Accept Help from Others

“A biblical counselor from our church helped me make a plan for the ongoing care of my body to avoid a relapse into depression” (118). Note this; it is significant. A biblical counselor did not at all think that it was out of his lane to help a depressed counselee to “make a plan for the ongoing care of” Bob’s body. 

7. Rest One Day in Seven

“The best way to manage stress is to observe one day of rest every week—that is, obey the fourth Commandment. What a basic solution to a big problem!” (119). “Understanding our bodily limitations is part of taking care of our bodies that are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19-20). There is no doubt that we need to make a priority of getting the proper amount of rest. Seek to implement a plan to get the rest that you need” (119). It is spiritual to care for our physical body. We are never more God-dependent than when we admit that our body is frail and feeble and when we engage in healthy practices that steward our physical bodies.

Bob concludes his biblical counsel on physiological interventions with these words:

“Since our bodies are not our own because they have been bought with the price of Christ’s precious blood, we need to take care of them (1 Cor. 6:19-20). Taking care of that temple is a wise course of action. Then you can rest in the knowledge that you are doing all you can physically for healing to take place” (120).

“Yes, we identify with what the Apostle Paul said in his treatise on the Gospel, that he and all believers groan within ourselves waiting for a new body (Rom. 8:23). He had suffered the ill effects of bodily weakness including fear and depression as the result of ministry (2 Cor. 7:5), but he didn’t lose hope” (120).

Again, it is spiritual to care for the body. It is biblical for biblical counselors to see themselves as soul physicians of embodied-souls who engage in spiritual conversations with counselees about the stewardship of their physical bodies.

Even More on Biblical Counseling and Physiological Interventions 

In Bob’s interview on the BCC 1514 podcast, he continues to emphasize the wisdom and propriety of biblical counselors engaging in physiological interventions. At the 6:35 mark, he even labels this “temple maintenance” speaking of our body as the temple of the Holy Spirit.

Why is the body so important in addressing depression (and other life issues)? We need to “take into account physical aspects that the brain is an organ of the body that can become dysfunctional” (8:16 mark, emphasis added).

At the 15:50 mark of the podcast, Bob recommends the books by David and Shona Murray (Refresh and Reset). Somerville highlights their wisdom on physiological issues that stress the body, and physiological interventions that address this stress—including diet, exercises, and sleep. During the 24:30-26:50 mark in the podcast, he shares further about the books by the David and Shona Murray. “What I respect about the Murrays’s books is they have both faced this and their tremendous compassion comes through in their books.”

Curtis Solomon asked Bob Somerville, “How did your understanding of depression change after your experience?” (19:00 mark). During the 24:30-26:50 section of the podcast, Somerville responded, “My recognition of the body-soul issue increased, improved. My compassion and understanding have increased. I could never have comprehended the deep darkness of your soul and the hopelessness that you feel.”

Solomon and Somerville concluded their conversation addressing a very important question (32:47-36:27). Solomon asked, “What are some missteps we make as biblical counseling in helping people struggling with depression?” Somerville replied:

“The major misstep is missing the connection of body and soul and assuming that depression is simply a sin issue” (emphasis added).

“My thought would be that 9 out of 10 cases include physical issues like exercise, hormonal, stress, sleep, diet” (emphasis added).

“We know so little about the brain. The feelings inside my head were so ‘crazy.’ Something was going on inside my brain but we simply don’t know enough yet about the physical brain to know what is going on. In the past, I could practice Phil. 4:6-9, but in the midst of going through the depression I would go through that passage 20 times a day and sense nothing. Something was going on in my brain that was blocking the feeling of peace with God, but I needed to remember by faith that I am at peace with God” (emphasis added).

Please notice how each of Bob’s responses highlight our need as biblical counselors to address our tendency to miss the connection of body and soul and to falsely assume that depression is simply a sin issue.

Bob’s responses here align with what his wife, Mary, shares in Lessons From the Dark Valley of Depression. Notice below how Mary describes her husband doing every spiritual intervention that any biblical counselor would ever (and always) recommend…yet…something more was at work in Bob’s embodied-soul.

“He sought to fight the darkness the only way he knew—by seeking God through the daily reading of and meditating on Scripture, spending time in prayer with deep soul-searching, letting the gospel of Jesus saturate his heart by absorbing books and music of faith, talking with a biblical counselor, writing notes of encouragement and reaching out to others, all the while pleading with God for His mercy and grace for the day. And praise God for the grace God in His mercy gave to help him persevere through each grueling day! But I must also add that although these disciplines he practiced all helped to strengthen his faith in the Lord, they did not remove the depression! It continued on day after day, week after week, month after month.”

By all means, yes, practice all the spiritual disciplines. Yes. Without question.

And…realize as Mary and Bob realized that we must address the whole person.

It is spiritual to address the physical. 

Physiological interventions are spiritual. 

Biblical counselors are soul physicians of embodied-souls.

A Word from Bob (Kellemen) 

You’ve been reading Bob Somerville’s story of his struggle with depression. One of the reason’s that Bob’s story resonates with me, is that I’ve had my own struggle with anxiety. Like Bob Somerville, I have shared my story publicly—in hopes of ministering to and encouraging others. Here are some places where you can learn about my story of wrestling with anxiety:

The Counselor Sees a Counselor: My 26-Word Summary of How My Counselor Is Helping Me

I’m Never More Christ-Dependent Than When I’m Doing Deep Breathing Exercises 

Anxiety and Our Physical Bodies: God’s Care for Embodied-Souls 

Anxiety: Anatomy and Cure 

Some Words from Church History 

Bob Somerville and Bob Kellemen are not the only Christians who have ever wrestled with depression or anxiety. Here are some samplers from church history…

6 Lessons from a Depressed Puritan Pastor: Timothy Rogers 

Spurgeon’s Depression…And His Body/Brain/Embodied-Soul 

Richard Baxter on Depression, Scrupulosity (OCD), and the Embodied-Soul