Articles
In Your Feelings: A Guide To Understanding Emotions
Robots, commandeered by computers and codes, used to be central to science fiction films, hinting at the mystery of an unknown future. Nowadays, those same elements of technology are a regular part of our lives and worlds. Machines mimic many of our daily seen and unseen tasks and processes. The difference between humanity and our tech toys is that we were made in the image of a perfect God and loving Father. However, because of our sin, we are not perfect ourselves. Advancements abound all around us, but a robot does not experience the complexity of emotions as does the human [...]
Avoidance Anxiety and Its Affects on Your Life
Avoidance anxiety results from trying to avoid those things that cause you to be uncomfortable or fearful. When facing fears, a person experiences anxiety. Avoidance anxiety is a disorder that a person experiences when they know they are facing a situation they don’t think they can overcome. As the person tries to avoid the situation and the anxiety it causes, they may exhibit behaviors that affect how they interact with others. Being overwhelmed by anxiety can lead to extreme measures to avoid the situation. Rather than trying to understand the fear and overcome it, some may choose to completely avoid any [...]
Breaking Down and Dealing with Catastrophic Thinking
Sometimes, not only do things not go according to plan, but they go quite wrong. When that happens, you have a choice about what you’re going to do next. You can either give in and let go of what you’ve been working hard toward, or you can stay focused and come up with another plan to keep things going. In big things as well as in daily life, we are faced with choices like these and must decide how we will respond to those crises, hopefully avoiding catastrophic thinking. There is a way of thinking that can undermine a calm and [...]
Four Different Types of Attachment Styles in Relationships
Beginnings are important. However, beginnings do not necessarily determine endings. With our lives, our beginnings matter, too. Just like a good story, there can be plot twists that change everything. What this means for us is that even a rough start to our lives does not mean the ending cannot be good and transform the entire experience. We are deeply vulnerable from our earliest days. None of us has a choice about where we are born, or the family and situation into which we are born. Some of us are born or adopted into loving, stable, and nurturing families, while others [...]
How to Cope if You’re a Highly Sensitive Person
Have you ever heard someone say of another person “They’re too sensitive?” Maybe that other person was you, and you found the characterization to be unfair or a little simplistic. It’s common nowadays in popular media and through anecdotes that people share to say that people are more sensitive now than in the past. The truth is that there isn’t any evidence that backs up the claim that people are more sensitive today than in years gone by.What can be said is that in our time, there is both an increased willingness to acknowledge the sensitivities of others, as well as a [...]
Overcoming Anxiety and Insecurity in Your Personal Development Journey
Most humans want to see fruitful outcomes in life. We are created like the Father to want what He wants, though we may express it differently. Despite this abiding desire, life presents boulders that can obstruct not only our view but also disrupt our progress toward the future we’ve envisioned. Personal development can help. Daunted and overwhelmed, we sometimes abandon the pursuit, clouded by discouragement and cluttered by life. Dreams from God often loom larger than what we feel is possible with limited resources. We feel like we lack strength, time, finance, or other human help. Yet, the Holy Spirit pokes [...]
Healing the Divide: Understanding And Addressing Insecure Attachment
From our youngest years, we have been informed about the danger of talking to strangers. Parents, teachers, and other care-giving adults caution us against the risks of harm that might come from beyond safe circles. However, the myth of stranger danger doesn’t always convey the other side of our experiences with abuse and neglect. Either way can produce insecure attachment. Too often, it is in our own homes and families that we encounter traumatic incidents that shape our childhoods and shift the trajectory of our lives. Wounded, we drag our trauma and its accompanying shame into other experiences and relationships as [...]
Discernment, Discipleship, and Direction: Types of Spiritual Coaching
The spiritual life must not be lived in isolation. It is a call to the community as much as it is the salvation of your soul. Throughout history, people have looked for spiritual guides, and many shared their wisdom in written form. You can receive great benefits from spiritual coaching. The care of your mental health and spiritual health are both important to your overall health. There are many ways to receive spiritual guidance in your life. You may want to find someone to act as a spiritual coach in your life. When you want to reach out to another person [...]
Relationship Advice: Garbage In, Garbage Out
Nearly every day doing counseling I run into people who need relationship advice because of issues they are having. Today, I received a note from a client (that I will paraphrase): I have been in this relationship for almost four years and the communication has not been great at all. I feel like I cannot talk to him. I feel like he manipulates the situation…He lies a lot, and he thinks that I feel like I’m always right, but this is not true, I don’t feel I am always right. It feels like a defense mechanism. I am not an angel [...]