The Imperfection of Perfectionism
by Lisa Green, LPC – MHSP, Executive Director Perfect. It’s a word I and others tend to use a lot, and often in way that doesn’t mean… well, perfect. We use it interchangeably with words like “good” or “great,” or even “good enough.” While language is flexible enough to allow
Lent 2023: Part 2 Re-imagine
“So, here you are.Too foreign for home, too foreign for here.Never enough for both.”– Ijeoma Umebinyuo Life as an expat stretches our imaginations and experiences about people, the world, and God in refreshing ways. But if we’re honest, sometimes it also comes with a cost. For all
Türkiye Earthquake 2023 & A Liturgy for Encountering Trauma
EARTHQUAKE NEWS UPDATE: As many of you know, Monday morning, February 6, 2023, massive earthquakes hit South East Türkiye and Northern Syria. It did not affect Olive Tree Counseling Center or our city of Antalya, and we are grateful to share that if you have counseling scheduled in the near future,
Self-Compassion: Helpful for a Christian?
Steve Scruggs, Psy.D. I became a believer as a teen and was very taken by the gospel. I learned that my sins were forgiven, my fracture with God healed, and my standing as God’s child secure because of Christ’s work on the cross. However, I soon learned that many of my new friends who grew [&hel
Advent Week 4: Stillness
How has your spirit been this Advent season? Have you given yourself space to ponder the COMING HOPE, the celebration of a birth that would change the world? So much of life can feel like rushing from one thing to the next. So this week, in the midst of holiday preparations, traveling, or rush
Gratitude for All Seasons
Gratitude is an emotion, and certainly you’ve experienced it spontaneously before- perhaps when you received a thoughtful gift, an answer to a heartfelt prayer, a call from a friend when you’re feeling lonely. But gratitude is also a practice, the conscious act of turning your attention to what
God is a Good Father
by Nick Steffen, LMHC The book of Jeremiah presents to us the voice of a grieving prophet having lived through a transition from the relatively stable nation of Israel under King Josiah through its utter destruction. We can hear the echoes of the despairing and bereft within his text, but he also pr
LIVING IN THE PROCESS OF SABBATH REST
By Corinne Gnepf, LPCA As the masses of tourists in our city are slowly decreasing it signals that the summer is over. For many cross-cultural workers summers offer a break from regular schedules, duties, programs, school, etc. They are looking for rest, renewal, relaxation, and vacation. For others
I CAN SEE GOODNESS AGAIN…
by Linda Parker, LMFT “I can see goodness again.” I loved hearing this from a woman who had gone through several losses at once and come out on the other side with this perspective in her heart and life. Perspective….hmmm, a healing force when it comes to dealing with difficult circumstan
CULTIVATING A RESILIENT CHILD
by Lisa Green, LPC Resilience is a bit of a buzz word in the mental health community these days, and perhaps also in the worker community, but for good reason. Resilience is seen as the ability to recover from challenges, to bounce back in the face of stress and adversity- so it’s no wonder we’v