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 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
Window of Tolerance
by Corinne Gnepf, LCMHC, NCC Have you ever wondered why a person (child, teenager or adult) reacted in a way that made no sense to you, or that seemed like it came out of nowhere without warning? Or why the reaction was much more intense than usual? People all around us react in “irrational” way
AT THE CORE OF IT
HOW OUR CORE BELIEFS IMPACT OUR LIVES Written by Anna Collette, LPCC-S “The greatest sources of our suffering are the lies we tell ourselves.” -Elvin Semrad The word “trigger” has become a buzzword of sorts, but it basically refers to experiencing an intense negative feeling brought on by an
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
Creative Exercises That Engage the Mind & Body
by Lisa Green, LPC-MHSP, Executive Director Do you consider yourself creative? Artistic? I’ve come around to the idea that all people have the capacity to be creative if willing to engage in the process, but it can look vastly different across the spectrum. Artistry is a talent and skill than can
Social Anxiety in Teens
by Amber Goodloe, LPC For many, September means the start of a new school year, and I’ve been reflecting on what might be a helpful topic in supporting parents of teens during this next school year. I have spent the last 18 years working with adolescents around the world, and a common but gr
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