Biographical Information for John Trent, Ph.D.
Dr. John Trent is President and Founder of StrongFamilies.com, a ministry committed to building strong relationships in these stressful times. Dr. Trent’s main focus includes writing and speaking at retreats, conferences, business settings, churches and seminars across the country. In addition to building family teams, Dr. Trent regularly speaks to corporate America on teambuilding, recruiting and retaining outstanding employees.
Dr. Trent is a Best-Selling and Award Winning Author…
Dr. Trent has authored and co-authored more than a dozen, award winning and best-selling books, including the million selling book, The Blessing. As of 2004, there are combined, more than 2,300,000 copies of all his adult and children’s books in print, in nine different languages.
As a writer, Dr. Trent has been nominated for the ECPA’s Gold Medallion Award for excellence in writing 17 times, winning 14 Silver Medallions and 3 Gold Medallion awards for excellence in Christian publishing. To put that fact into perspective, in the twenty years since the ECPA has given out these publishing awards, out of the more than 1000 authors nominated for this award, Dr. Trent ranks tenth in the list of those nominated most for the Gold Medallion awards. Some of the books Dr. Trent has written include The Blessing (Gold Medallion winner for excellence in Christian publishing and a Platinum Award for selling one million copies), The Gift of Honor (Gold Medallion finalist), The Language of Love (Angel Award winner as the top family life book of 1989 and a Gold Medallion finalist), Love is a Decision (Gold Medallion finalist), The Two Sides of Love (Gold Medallion winner), Home Remedies (Gold Medallion finalist), The Hidden Value of a Man (Gold Medallion finalist), and Leaving The Lights On – all co-authored with Gary Smalley. He has also written LifeMapping (Gold Medallion finalist), Seeking Solid Ground, A Love for All Seasons, (Gold Medallion Finalist) Go the Distance, (Gold Medallion Finalist), The Making of a Godly Man Workbook, Choosing to Live the Blessing, The Light of Home (also a Gold Medallion Finalist in 2003), The Dad’s Everything Book for Sons and The Dad’s Everything Book for Daughters, and his newest books, HeartShift: The 2 Degree Difference and Leading From Your Strengths for Ministry Teams and Leading From Your Strengths for Small Groups. His latest book is The 2 Degree Difference (the story of how making small changes changed everything for one man), Breaking the Cycle of Divorce, and his soon to be released book, Chasing Skinny Rabbits.
John has also written seven books for children. One to help children recognize how valuable they are called, The Treasure Tree (Gold Medallion winner), a second on dealing with childhood fears, called, There’s a Duck in My Closet!. Then, there’s “I’d Choose You!” (Gold Medallion Finalist) which puts the concept of the “blessing” in childhood language Spider Sisters, based on the special bond between sisters. Dr. Trent has also written The Two Trails, (the sequel to The Treasure Tree) The Black and White Rainbow, (Gold Medallion Finalist) teaching children about forgiveness, and his latest book for children, “Super Hero Swamp!” – a fun way to teach children about how “super” they are – and the strengths God has given them that they can use to help and serve others.
In addition to writing books, Dr. Trent has also written numerous articles for both professional and popular publications, including being a contributing columnist for Christian Parenting magazine for five years and a current columnist for the AACC (American Association of Christian Counselors) main magazine.
Church and Community Seminars
Dr. Trent has conducted his “StrongFamilies in Stressful Times Seminar” in churches across America. For example, over the past seven years alone, Dr. Trent has spoken to over 60,000 people in over 65 major cities across our country. In addition, he has spoken to over 550,000 men at Promise Keepers conferences in stadium events across the United States. Dr. Trent has also served at two churches as their family pastor (Northwest Bible Church, Dallas, Texas and Scottsdale Bible Church, Scottsdale, Arizona), and has served on the Board of Elders at his home church, Scottsdale Bible Church.
Corporate Speaking
In addition to Dr. Trent’s speaking at marriage and family conferences, Dr. Trent has spoken extensively to corporate America. For example, Dr. Trent has been a main platform speaker at two YPO (Young President’s Organization) Universities, including the South American Family University in Brazil in 2004. In 2005 he was invited to speak at YPO’s prestigious Global Leadership Conference (GLC) in Washington, DC. Dr. Trent has also spoken at a number of YPO chapter events across the country as well. Some of the companies or organizations that Dr. Trent has done keynote or team-building conferences for include Chic-Fil-A, Interstate Battery Company, Prince Engineering, Media Arts Corporation, Northwestern Insurance, The Walt Disney Corporation, Universal Studios, The United States Army, The United States Coast Guard Academy, The United State Marine Corps, and many, many more.
Radio and Television
John has been a featured guest on radio and television programs like “The Opra Winfrey Show, AM Northwest,” San Diego’s “Morning Spotlight,” Cleveland’s “Morning Exchange,” Dallas’ “Good Morning, Texas!,” Dr. Jim Dobson’s Focus on the Family, Dr. Charles Swindoll’s, Insight for Living, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, The 700 Club,” “The Art of Family Living,” “The Chapel of the Air,” Drs. Meier and Minirth’s “Talk to the Doctors” program, “Life Perspectives,” Moody Broadcasting’s “Prime Time,” Family Life Radio’s “Parent Talk,” Dennis Rainey’s Family Radio, The Chuck and Jenni Show on Familynet, and many, many more.
Education
Dr. Trent earned his B.A. in Psychology and Religion at Texas Christian University in 1974. He attended Dallas Theological Seminary where he received his Th.M. Degree in New Testament Greek in 1978. For his doctoral work, he did his class work through the North Central Texas Federation of Colleges and Universities (a consortium program now disbanded of North Texas State University, East Texas State University, and TWU in Denton, Texas), and received his Ph.D. May 12, 1984, majoring in Marriage and Family Counseling and minoring in Psychology. For his internship, Dr. Trent spend a year working in the psychiatric unit alongside Drs. Paul Meier and Frank Minerith at B.B. Owen Memorial Hospital (now a Baylor Hospital) in Richardson, Texas, as their first intern in what was then a new in-patient unit. Dr. Trent is an adjunct faculty member at Phoenix Seminary where he has taught marriage and family ministry courses. Dr. Trent also teaches at professional meetings for groups like AACC (American Association of Christian Counselors), CAPS (Christian Association for Psychological Studies), AMFM (American Marriage and Family Ministry), and has taught special sessions at schools and universities like Bethel Seminary, Azusa Pacific University, Liberty University, and many more.
Family
Dr. Trent has been married to his wife, Cynthia, for 29 years. They have two daughters, one in college and one in high school, and they live in Scottsdale, Arizona.
