[featured-image link=”null” link_single=”inherit” single_newwindow=”false” alt=”christian counseling”]123rf.com[/featured-image] I recently completed an interview for several of my graduate students about my perspectives on the integration of faith and counseling. I think my answer to one of the questions is something some of my readers might appreciate. Question: How do you distinguish between secular counseling, Christian counseling, pastoral counseling,Continue reading ““Christian” and “Counseling””
Category Archives: RELATIONSHIP STUFF
What Is Your Destiny?
[featured-image link=”null” link_single=”inherit” single_newwindow=”false” alt=”What is Your Destiny?”]123rf.com[/featured-image] What Is Destiny? People have always lauded me for my transparency and authenticity. It probably seems like searching intensely for ultimate truth is my destiny. But I feel like I just realized at any early age that I’m terrible at hiding my emotions, and terrible at actingContinue reading “What Is Your Destiny?”
The One Thing You Need To Do To Succeed
[featured-image link=”null” link_single=”inherit” single_newwindow=”false”]123rf.com[/featured-image] I’ll bet there’s something in your life you deeply want to do but you’re afraid you can’t. Or afraid you’ll fail. Or you don’t know where you’ll find the time. Or you’re afraid people will laugh at you. And they may. Or you’re afraid you’re just dreaming and being stupid. OrContinue reading “The One Thing You Need To Do To Succeed”
7 Ways to Fight the Stigma of Mental Illness
[featured-image link=”null” link_single=”inherit” single_newwindow=”false” alt=”mental illness”]123rf.com[/featured-image] [This topic was requested by one of my regular readers, that is, one of the people who receive this blog via email.] I have been stunned by the ignorance I have encountered since the 2011 suicide attempt of my daughter. Some people said she just did it to getContinue reading “7 Ways to Fight the Stigma of Mental Illness”
“The Sky Is Not Falling!”
[featured-image link=”null” link_single=”inherit” single_newwindow=”false”]image ©Disney Corporation, 2005[/featured-image] If the line that we see the world not as it is but as we are is true (and I’m convinced it is), there are a lot of dark, fearful, negative, cynical people in the world who look around them and see only despair, only things to fear,Continue reading ““The Sky Is Not Falling!””
How to Listen Well
[featured-image link=”null” link_single=”inherit” single_newwindow=”false” alt=”listening man — how to listen well”]123rf.com[/featured-image] In my last post I gave you four reasons why you’re probably a bad listener. At the time of this writing that post has had over 40 shares! I promised you I’d follow up with a post on how to listen well. I hopeContinue reading “How to Listen Well”
Why You’re Probably a Bad Listener
[featured-image link=”null” link_single=”inherit” single_newwindow=”false”]123rf.com[/featured-image] What is Listening? When I talk about “listening,” I do not mean passively allowing speech to enter your ear canal so that you can respond to it according to whether or not you agree, or with your own stories and perspectives. That’s just hearing, and hearing is biological. But listening is a humanContinue reading “Why You’re Probably a Bad Listener”
Why the Race Dialogue in America is Going Nowhere Fast
[featured-image link=”null” link_single=”inherit” single_newwindow=”false” alt=”dialogue — two men arguing”]123rf.com[/featured-image] Foreword: This piece speaks of “black America” and “white America.” Someone has recently read the piece and observed that though these two groups are far from monolithic, I write here as though each group has a single point of view. Though I recognize this, and obviously I cannotContinue reading “Why the Race Dialogue in America is Going Nowhere Fast”
How Education Does (and does not) Matter
[featured-image link=”null” link_single=”inherit” single_newwindow=”false” alt=”excellence and education”]123rf.com[/featured-image] Someone said to me recently, after reading my bio attached to a syllabus I had prepared, “Do you think we (she’s a professor as well) come across as egotistical with all the stuff we put in our bios? Should we just teach and let it speak for itself?”Continue reading “How Education Does (and does not) Matter”
The Explanation Trap
[featured-image link=”null” link_single=”inherit” single_newwindow=”false” alt=”explanation”]123rf.com[/featured-image] All three of my jobs — pastor, professor, and therapist — require me to explain things. I explain constantly. Explanation is a critical part of teaching. A teacher who is unwilling to explain will not be very effective. But explanation, at some point, and often insidiously, crosses over into defensiveness.Continue reading “The Explanation Trap”
Temp Arbor 