Worth the Work: Healthy Habits and Practices for Good Sleep
by Lisa Green, LPC-MHSP, Executive Director There are many daily practices that support our health and wellbeing- both physical and emotional- but few can impact our health as profoundly as sleep. For something that we spend a quarter to a third of our lives on, sleep can be a real struggle for many
WHEN HYPERCOMPETENCE FAILS US
By Amber Steffen, Communications & Design Summer often brings a different rhythm – travel, home assignments, teammates gone for extended stretches, a shift in pace as life around you slows down. (I don’t know about you but extreme heat means recognizing I’m just not capable of doing
Trauma Panel Discussion
FROM OUR CLINICAL TEAM AT OLIVE TREE COUNSELING CENTER We’re wrapping up our trauma series with an insightful panel discussion from our team of clinicians at Olive Tree. You’ve heard from them in writing, but we hope you’ll take the time now to listen to them share together from their wealth o
Secondary Trauma
by Susan Butler, LMFT, LPC There’s one more aspect to our trauma series that is particularly relevant to cross-cultural workers. Secondary trauma is “the emotional distress resulting from indirect exposure to trauma” (source) and as you might expect, it shows up more commonly among workers who
Developmental Trauma
by Corinne Gnepf, LCMHC, NCC The previous articles in this series on trauma discussed what trauma is, how it affects the brain and the body, how it shapes our view of self and the world, and how it may impact our faith and trust in God. Today, we are turning to traumatic experiences that take [&hell
Trauma Doesn’t Affect Us All the Same
by Amber Goodloe, LPC “Trauma is not what happens to you, but what happens inside you as a result of what happened to you.” — Dr. Gabor Maté Last month’s article beautifully explained this quote; we may all go through traumatic experiences, but we will not all be traumatized by them
TRAUMA 101: The Brain and Body Remember What the Mind Forgets
By Nick Steffen, LMHC, Pastoral & Clinical Counselor This is the first of our series on understanding trauma, and we hope this will help those of you specifically working in (or with those in) cross-cultural ministry contexts. What We Mean When We Say “Trauma” ‘Trauma’ ha
Learning from Darkness
by Amber Goodloe, LPC “I have learned things in the dark that I could never have learned in the light, things that have saved my life over and over again, so that there is really only one logical conclusion. I need darkness as much as I need light.”― Barbara Brown Taylor, Learning to
Counterweights: The Quiet Balancing Acts of Cross-Cultural Life
YEAR-END REFLECTIONS FOR YOUR LIFE OVERSEAS by Amber Nicole Steffen, Communications & Design As another year draws to a close, how would you sum up the last 12 months? What defined this year for you? Exhaustion or wonder? Profound joy or unresolved sorrow? For those of us living out our calling
Brain-Based Parenting:
Helping Your Child to Make Sense of Their Experiences by Corinne Gnepf, LCMHC, NCC Each person has a unique view and understanding of herself and of the world. Whether people are generally perceived as good and trustworthy or a source of danger, whether someone feels that he has power to impact his