Coping With Anxiety’s Effects
Understanding your symptoms of anxiety in connection to its emotional, physical, and spiritual components allow you to take a more holistic approach to your healing.
Toxic or Just Difficult?
When a Christian finds herself interacting with a person who truly fits the definition of toxic I’ve proposed, it can be difficult to know how to interact. I get the question often asking if it’s even ok for believers to set emotional, time or material boundaries in a relationship, especially one that you’ve determined is toxic. My short answer is not only do I think it’s ok, I believe it’s the most loving way to behave in relationships. Let me explain.
Avoid or Allow?
What I’ve observed in working with my clients is that most women react in one of two ways when they feel disconnected, lonely, or isolated. The first is to Avoid. The second is to Allow.
Image and Identity Part 3: Source of Identity
We turn to Jesus as the source of our identity. He’s our anchor.
Image and Identity Part 2: Need to be Redeemed
Our worth and value are inherent in our being made in the image of God. It was given to us. It isn’t earned. We need a redeemer.
Image and Identity Part 1: Imago Dei
We find our identity in being made in the image of God.
Forgiving Me
Forgiving yourself for sins, poor choices, or the ways you’ve caused others pain is certainly hard. It’s scary to forgive yourself, but you’re worthy of forgiveness.
Forgiving You
Forgiveness, and choosing acceptance rather than resentment, brings freedom. Freedom from resentment, bitterness, and anger. Forgiveness allows us to choose again. It allows us to develop other tools, like healthy boundaries to provide a sense of emotional and physical safety. It allows us to integrate our trauma into our lives and not let the trauma or unforgiveness rule our behavior anymore.
Acting As If
“Intentionally act like the person you want to become.” Mel Robbins
This quote from author and motivational speaker Mel Robbins, is a beautiful way to explain a type of cognitive behavioral therapy called behavior activation. It’s not a new idea, but is a powerful way of creating change from the outside-in.
Dealing with difficult relationships
Strategies to help you deal with those difficult relationships in your life. Get clear on expectations and ask yourself why you are triggered by the other person's behavior.
Responding To Tragedy
One sign of emotional growth is learning to respond rather than react. We choose how we want to respond to a situation rather than allow an unfettered reaction. One of the most important ways to do this is to allow some time to pass between the event and the response.
disordered eating & the holidays
If you struggle with disordered eating, the holidays can be tricky. Food is often a central part of holiday gatherings, and the expectations associated with holiday meals can often cause an uptick in feelings of anxiety, overwhelm, and loneliness.
Releasing Control
Routine helps us feel in control. It gives us a sense of predictability that is comforting. We all, children and adults alike, thrive when we know what we can expect. Not knowing what the future holds creates uncertainty that can be very scary and cause anxiety.
Mental load
Planning, organizing, scheduling, maintaining, remembering, preventing, and reminding. These are all parts of our mental load that have little to do with our actual physical tasks.
Holiday dread?
Holiday dread? Holidays have a lot of inherent pressure built in. There’s build up to a particular moment or day, not to mention all the memories associated with holidays, often both joyful and painful. The emphasis on gratitude during the holiday season can also be difficult for many when they’re grieving the loss of a loved one or experiencing current pain in their life.
unconditional, redeeming love
When God says, “I will forgive them for leaving me and will love them freely”, He means it. Don’t sit in the feeling that comes when you leave. Recognize your sin, get up, turn toward Him, and accept the forgiveness and acceptance that was already given to you by God through Jesus. Do it a hundred times a day if you must. He’s waiting with his unconditional, redeeming love.
trauma basics
Many of us have unprocessed pain resulting from traumatic childhood experiences. These experiences have shaped us and our belief system, our view of others and how relationships function. If we never process these events, we miss a great opportunity to heal, grow, and experience more abundant, joyful relationships.
Not quite depressed, but a long way from hopeful
Discouragement can come when we feel we aren’t measuring up in some way. It can come when others have let us down or hurt us. It can come in many forms and from various sources.
Wise Anger
The emotion of anger itself is neutral. It’s part of human experience to feel angry just like it’s part of human experience to feel happy. But when our alarm bell is triggered with the emotion of anger, what happens next?