Marriage Counseling
Comments OffI’ve had three new clients today, all couples seeking marriage counseling. Marriage and family therapy is a large part of what I do, but I haven’t posted anything on the subject yet. Below are some random thoughts about marriage counseling: this may be the beginning of a series on marriage issues. People come for marriage [...]
Bipolar Disorder in Children
Comments OffThe Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry heralds new treatment guidelines for children with bipolar disorder. So far, I’ve not been able to find a copy of the guidelines, just an article about them. I do have some problems with what I’ve read so far: to begin with, the guidelines were [...]
Addiction
Comments OffContinuing the series on Christian counseling: Adrian Warnock wrote a short post on Addiction. My thoughts are below. A common question dealing with drug or alcohol abuse/addiction goes something like this: is addiction a disease, a disorder, or sin. I liked what Dr. Warnock had to say; “There is definitely an element of choice at [...]
Counseling and Change
Comments OffNote: Adrian Warnock writes about the ability to change. Below are some of my thoughts on change. Can people really change? Usually, the question is asked during marriage counseling. What he or she really wants to know is “Is my spouse capable of change?”. If I didn’t believe people were capable of change I wouldn’t [...]
Depression
Comments OffDavid Wayne (the Jollyblogger) asks if depression can be a “good thing“? He then answers in the affirmative. Citing the fictional example of Adrian Monk (the defective detective) and the real life examples of Soren Kierkegaard and Charles Spurgeon, David believes there may be something gained in working through one’s depression. David also writes, “I [...]
Criticism of Christian Counseling
Note: I started to delete this post. It just seemed like too much of a rant. I’m not comfortable ranting (at least in public). Over the years, when people find out I’m Christian counselor, I’ve been accused of: 1) not being a real Christian, 2) not being a real counselor, 3) in general, just getting [...]
How Do You Measure Success as a Pastor?
I first wanted to write a blog as a means of increasing communication with my church members. In fact, I wrote about that in my first post (here). I had spent about two weeks reading other pastor blogs, looking at church web sites that incorporated blogs, generally getting an idea of what I wanted to [...]
Christian Counseling: Aspects of People’s Problems
Comments OffIn the day-to-day business of having a counseling practice, I don’t think a lot about theories of counseling. Graduate school forced me to look at various questions: what is the core of the personality, how does it develop, and how do the characteristics of one’s personality effect one’s life? After grad school, as an associate [...]
Personality Tests and Inventories.
Adrian Warnock, Proverbial Wife, and Parableman all posted their thoughts on personality types a few months ago. My thoughts can be summed up in a line by Adrian, “In some ways this is largely harmless and may even be of some use in our understanding ourselves…”. Just a few things that weren’t covered. Tests and [...]
JOLLYBLOGGER – a weblog for jolly beggars: Review of “Shattered Dreams” by Larry Crabb
Comments OffJOLLYBLOGGER – a weblog for jolly beggars: Review of “Shattered Dreams” by Larry Crabb I’ve not yet read Crabb’s book; so this will be a short post. David Wayne’s (the Jollyblogger) review has stirred my interest. If Crabb, in Shattered Dreams, is calling for a view of God as intrinsically holy and worthy of worship, [...]
