Articles
Postpartum Depression: What It Is and How to Treat It
Postpartum depression (PPD) is a disorder that women develop after giving birth. The symptoms can include feeling sad, anxious, and exhausted, making it difficult for the mother to take care of herself and her child. PPD can emerge right after birth but commonly emerges one to three weeks after delivery. Often, women who experience PPD have never experienced another form of depression. A lack of understanding and experience with PPD can be a barrier to seeking help. Because of this, many new moms feel that these symptoms are their fault, or they are weak or inadequate moms. This is not true. [...]
Practical Strategies for Overcoming Anxiety
Pain is a universal experience that we all face at one point or another. It speaks a language that we all come to know and understand. Regardless of the places we’ve been or the people we’ve encountered, our experience of pain informs our lives by shaping our thoughts and behaviors. For some, it produces dysfunction to the extent that it disrupts what God intended for us to experience and distracts from God’s goodness. Yet, God in His faithfulness, has provided the power to overcome and the peace to endure, in the person of Jesus. Without God, it is easy for us [...]
Anger in the Bible: Help and Healing for Anger Issues
If we ask the question, “What does the Bible say about anger?” we might first be thinking about anger as a negative thing, and in many cases, it is. It doesn’t take much to think of an example of sinful anger. But it might be helpful to think of anger as simply one of a range of human emotions. It can be healthy or unhealthy, righteous or sinful, but it can also be redeemed and used by God for good. Human emotions are no stranger to God. He created our capacity to experience them, and Jesus experienced emotions when he walked the [...]
Group Therapy Vs. Individual Therapy: A Christian Counselor Explains
Sometimes it takes an outsider viewing your insides to help you be the best you can be. – Mike Holmes “Welcome, come on in, and get to know me better,” says the ghost of Christmas present, expressing a basic human need. I believe all humans need others to enter their lives and know and be known. The evidence seems to be everywhere – human beings have always lived in groups. We all need persistent relationship, a deep sense of purpose, and positive reciprocal interpersonal bonds. If most of our interpersonal connections are derogatory the result will be that we gain a [...]
How to Keep Nighttime Anxiety From Disrupting Your Sleep
Anxiety is the body’s response to real or perceived stress. Unlike worry, however, which is typically centered on a specific issue, anxiety is more of a generalized feeling of dread about what may lie ahead.Nighttime anxiety is no different than daytime anxiety, but it can seem worse at night because you manage to avoid it during the day when your mind is busy with other matters. It appears to surface at the end of the day when things quiet down and there are no more daytime distractions to deal with.The typical scenario is that you feel tired and climb into bed hoping [...]
Healing for the Soul: Addressing Trauma, Overcoming Shame
Scripture describes God’s Word as alive and powerful. Sharper than a two-edged sword, it is dynamic to distinguish the nuances between soul and spirit. It is discerning enough to denote what emerges from our spirit that is made new when we confess Christ as Lord and Savior. For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. – Hebrews 4:12, NIV As believers in Christ, our soul is in the process of being continually transformed. Hearing and [...]
Keeping Promises to Yourself: Stress Eating Over the Holidays
The holidays are such a joyous occasion. For a day or two, you can feel the magic of Christmas as you honor Jesus’ birth with traditions. You spend time with your family, watch your favorite movies, and recreate family dinners. However, the holidays can feel like a trap for someone who struggles with stress eating. The weeks leading up to Christmas may have been spent with worry about making ends meet, gift-giving, menus, extracurricular events, working overtime, and keeping the family healthy. Maybe you shrug on Halloween night when the candy comes out and decide that you will not think about [...]
Figuring Out Physical Intimacy After Infidelity
Few things can damage a committed relationship more than infidelity. The closeness that a couple cultivates can be shattered through an affair, regardless of the length of that affair or whether it was an emotional or a physical one. One of the main areas that is affected in the relationship is the couple’s intimacy. Their emotional, spiritual, and physical intimacy can suffer damage, and it takes a lot of work to rebuild that broken trust.Why intimacy after infidelity is hard.Physical intimacy with someone, particularly sex, requires vulnerability. One spouse puts themselves out there by initiating and expressing their desire, and they must [...]
Parental Codependency: Understanding and Breaking Free
Codependency is not just related to substance abuse relationships, it now includes the emotional connections of dependence on anyone in a relationship. Parental codependency is when a parent feels that they have an intense feeling of being responsible for their child and an excessive need for approval. This creates an unhealthy relationship with the child. The codependent parent tends to exercise an overabundance of control. This makes the already complex relationship between parent and child more complex. These relationships become harmful and can lead to unintentional abuse. These relationships have little to no boundaries. What are the causes of parental codependency? [...]