Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Defined
From the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH): Obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD, involves anxious thoughts or rituals you feel you can’t control. If you have OCD, you may be plagued by persistent, unwelcome thoughts or images, or by the urgent need to engage in certain rituals. You may be obsessed with germs or dirt, so [...]
Depression, Counseling, and Medication
(A disclaimer: I am not a physician and cannot prescribe any medications. But I collaborate with doctors on a regular basis regarding the patients we are mutually treating and I have no shortage of opinions on the subject.) Major depressive episode has been called the “common cold of mental illness” because it is estimated that [...]
Marriage Quiz
Howard Markman and Scott Stanley are two of the leading researcher on the subject of marriage. Their Relationship Dynamics Scale can be found here. (If you haven’t already, check out Stanley’s book on Christian marriages – A Lasting Promise : A Christian Guide to Fighting for Your Marriage). Markman and Stanley identify 4 behaviors that [...]
Marriage Myths
Five common myths about marriage, according to Bill Dougherty: 1) It’s foolish to get married without cohabiting. 2) It’s best to wait to get married when you are financially secure. 3) If a marriage gets rotten it never gets ripe again. 4) If your marriage fails your children really want you to find another romantic relationship because they want [...]
Can People Change?
Which is it? Can people change or not? The answer depends on how one defines success or change. We can talk about sexual preference (whom do you desire) or sexual behavior (who do you actually have sex with) or sexual identity (how do you view or describe yourself). If sexual orientation is defined solely in [...]
Alphabet Soup
People seeking a counselor can be easily overwhelmed by all of the abbreviations and credentials on a counselor’s business card. All do essentially the same thing; each comes with a different type of training and a different set of underlying assumptions about how best to provide counseling. Let’s start with the title. A psychologist is [...]
Integrating Psychology and Christianity
Basic Assumptions. The counselors I work with have worked together to compare ideas about the integration of psychology, and marriage and family therapy with biblical theology. Counselors recognize that Christian counseling must first start with a Christian who has been brought to new life in Christ. Prior to our conversion we were dead in our [...]
Divorce and the Economy
According to this New York Times article fall and winter are the “high seasons” for divorce. I can’t say that I’ve seen that in my counseling practice. I do know that September and January are noted around our offices as the time for divorced parents to take one another back to court to redefine the [...]
Give Thanks
The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail [...]
