Reneau Peurifoy holds a master’s degree in counseling and attended Fuller Theological Seminary. He is the author of several books including "Anger: Taming the Beast", "Anxiety, Phobias, and Panic: Taking Charge and Conquering Fear", and "Overcoming Anxiety: From Short-Term Fixes to Long-Term Recovery". His books have been translated into German, Spanish, Hungarian and Portuguese. Reneau has been a guest speaker for a variety of organizations such as the Anxiety Disorders Association of America (ADAA), the nation's primary organization for anxiety-related problems and the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT). He has also been a guest on numerous radio and television shows.
As a child, Reneau was fascinated by nature and animal behavior as he helped his parents raise chickens, rabbits and other small animals along with pet dogs and cats. This resulted in his earning a BA in biology along with math and chemistry minors. During this time his interest in animal behavior began to shift to an interest in human behavior.
Upon receiving his BA and teaching credential, Reneau taught science at the secondary level for two years in the U.S. and then another two in Japan. Upon returning to the US, he returned to school and earned his masters in counseling. After a three year internship, he began private practice as a Marriage and Family Therapist specializing in anxiety disorders. In 2000, he retired from twenty years of private practice to teach at a local college. Sixteen years later, in 2015, he retired from teaching to return to his love of writing. Throughout this time, his science background has continued to fuel an interest in the research that was being done in the field of emotions and human behavior.
Reneau’s books have continued to see success in the general book market, and recently, he created a YouTube channel that features information and tools people can use to manage their emotions more effectively. Now, however, his desire is to write about what he has learned from a Christian perspective. “Why Did God Give Us Emotions” is his first effort. As part of his new focus, Reneau was recently ordained as a minister and now sees a limited number of clients with anxiety-related problems as a pastoral counselor.