Depression

I wish I had come up with this quote: “The definition of insanity is doing the very same thing over and over and expecting a different result.”  Why do we do that?  What is it within us humans that takes us back to the same painful choices again and again? In the year 700 BC,…

I’ve devoted much of my recent writing to helping you understand the more subtle – even “unintentional” – ways that shaming occurs.  I would be remiss, though, to not commit space in my writings to address the more obvious forms of shaming.  I wrote my blogs for the person who has been overtly shamed through…

Shame is internalized more than it is learned.  It evolves from a chronically unmet need, into a false belief, into an altered self-image.  This will develop in uniquely different ways in the lives of individuals who have been exposed to the very same environment.  For some, it may create internalized shame that is acted out…

Allow me to share one of the most meaningful quotes I’ve ever heard: “We teach what we know, but we reproduce who we are.”  I teach this principle in my counseling practice nearly every day.  I’ve tried to engrain it into my adult children ever since the day I first heard it.  I strive to…

Most of us have asked God in a thousand ways, “What is your will for my life?”  Bottom line:  God cares more about who you are than He does about what you’re doing.  But you may be asking yourself, what about all the good and bad things I’ve done in my life?  And what about…

I can’t even begin to tell you the number of counseling clients I’ve met over the past decade who have sincerely confessed to me something like this: “I’ve always thought I was a Christian.  But, if I really am, why do I still struggle with so much shame and doubt deep inside me?  I thought…

Fear and discouragement attack everybody.  They affect those who have public, visible roles in God’s work.  But they also affect those of us who have less prominent yet just as significant roles in the eyes of the Lord. Every Christian has a calling.  And fear of some sort wants to discourage us and interrupt that…

SECOND IN A SERIES OF SIX BLOG POSTINGS  The Melancholy – sometimes referred to as the “black” temperament because it is often tormented with black moods – inclines the individual to spend a great deal of time ruminating in their mind.  Dwelling on past hurts and failures.  Visualizing experiences of rejection and criticism.  Replaying messages…

If you’re struggling with depression, chances are you’re searching for answers as to why you’re feeling that way. Wading through sadness, lack of interest, shame, low energy, and everything else that comes with depression is hard. You’re tired of it. But you’re not sure what else you can do. As research has shown, it’s certainly…

God is in the business of restoration.  It is through the work of His spirit within us that we are brought back to wholeness.  Nothing that has occurred in our past is allowed to have sovereign reign in our life when we summon the God of the universe for assistance.  Those parts of our lives that…