4MAT REVIEW INSTRUCTIONS
The 4MAT Review is a way of responding to readings, lectures, and life experiences that
requires you, the learner, to interact with new ideas on several levels.
Write a 4MAT Review on
McMinn, M. R. (2011). Psychology, theology, and spirituality in Christian counseling (Rev.
ed.). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House. ISBN: 9780842352529
In preparing your 4MAT Reviews, use each of the 4 sections listed below with corresponding
Level One headings in current APA format:
1. Provide a title page including only your name, the paper title (referring to the book title), and the institutional affiliation.
2. Summary: After introducing the name of the book and author, summarize the book in approximately 2 pages. Be appropriately concise but also be adequately complete in your
ideas. Prove that you comprehend the main ideas by writing a clear and succinct
summary. The summary is not a commentary or listing of topics but rather a discussion of
the core ideas (main ideas) in the entire book. If you miss the main ideas, you lack an
understanding of the complete message of the book. The summary provides the
foundation for the rest of your 4MAT paper. Cite the book in-text at least once per
paragraph and include page numbers for direct quotations.
3. Concrete Responses: Be vulnerable. In approximately 1 page, write about a personal life episode that this book triggered in your memory. Relate your story in first person,
describing action and quoting exact words you remember hearing or saying. In the
teaching style of Jesus, this is your own parable, case study, or personal connection to the
main ideas of the book. Your comments in this section need to be clearly tied to main
points from the book, not tangential ideas. Connect your comments to the main points for
the reader.
4. Reflection: This section is a short critique or evaluation of the author’s main ideas; include positives/negatives and strengths/weaknesses. You should consider new
questions that arose for you in response to what you have read and explore concerns,
implications, etc. Provide this critique in approximately 1 page (sometimes additional
length may be needed to provide an adequate critique).
5. Action: What are you going to do about it? Develop action steps based on the core points of the book. This section must be a description of how the main ideas will affect your
counseling. What professional changes will you implement and share with others? Be
precise in summarizing your action steps and clearly connect your action steps to main
points from the book. This section must be 1 page or less.
6. You are also required to create a references page; on this page, you must provide the complete reference citation for the book in compliance with current APA standards.
Note: Use quotations strategically and sparingly; in a paper this size, do not use longer (block)
quotations.