Learning to Grieve Intentionally
by Amber Goodloe, LPC Sorrow took up permanent residence in my soul and enlarged it ~ Jerry Sittser I first came across this quote from “A Grace Disguised” by Jerry Sittser a couple years ago while on my own journey of grief and simultaneously finding myself being surrounded by clients dealing w
Transitions Part 2
Last month, we began our 2-part series on transitions as a cross-cultural worker by talking through the major different international moves workers face in their journey abroad. From the first move overseas, planned or unplanned moves on the field, to repatriating at the end of your journey overseas
I Feel Stuck: Dealing with Thoughts, Feelings, and Behaviors that Bother Me Too Much
by Tim Hibma, MSW, Associate Counselor We all have times when we notice thoughts and emotions and have no idea where they came from. We are made up of memories. Most of our memories are stored in our brains, but they are not available to our conscious mind. Our unconscious mind operates continuously
Getting Serious About Change This Lent
by Amber Nicole and Amber Goodloe, LPC “Over time, our hearts and souls, when left unattended, get messy. Lent invites us to deal with the mess. This is not about quickly cleaning things up and pretending they were never there, nor is it about ignoring the mess. Lent invites us to roll up our slee
Global Worker Prayers & Affirmations
CROSS-CULTURAL WORKERS AREN’T IMMUNE TO… As cross-cultural workers, we aren’t immune to negative self-talk, anxiety, and depression. In fact, there are many extra stressors in contexts around the globe that place us at greater risk of damaging thought patterns. We can’t grasp the language, w
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