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 [...]
When You Don’t Know What to Do
People don’t know how to listen. We talk, we offer advice, we occasionally work up the courage to confront, but we seldom listen to others. Helping – sharing the burdens of others – begins with listening. Listening starts with simply being present. Don’t know what to do when a friend is depressed or anxious or [...]
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 [...]
Making a Referral: 2
The first step in making an effective referral is believing that referral is an appropriate and professional service which is in the client’s best interest. If we believe that the client is being short changed by our referring them, we will often not be effective in making referrals. The second step in making referrals is [...]
Making a Referral: 1
Nearly all helping professionals at some time or another find themselves needing to make a referral to another specialist. Whether one is a physician, pastor, or a psychologist, we sometimes find that the client’s needs and goals can best be met by someone who has special training beyond what we possess. Sometimes we discover that [...]
