Good and Stressed: Surprising new insights on stress and its benefits

For many of us stress is ongoing and relentless, and especially these days, getting steadily worse. Yet at the same time, talking about stress management feels old and tired. This workshop draws on groundbreaking psychological research to discuss how God has designed our minds and bodies to utilize—even benefit from—the stress we all experience. What research shows is that with a different mindset, a different understanding of stress, we can experience better health in all aspects of our life. We will walk through what is being learned in the lab but also put it into practice in breakout groups as we discuss topics like reframing stress, identifying the values behind stress, and looking beyond our stress into the communities God has put us in.

Presented by: Christy Otten, MA, LCPC

Based in Leuven, Belgium with her husband and 3 young boys, Christy serves as a counselor in various capacities. As a worker with WorldVenture, she helps to oversee member care for their workers based in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. She also provides counseling support to students at the local Christian graduate school where her husband is a NT professor. Christy also provides workshops and seminars for the school and agency. Christy earned her degree in mental health counseling from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and worked in private practice in the Chicago area for 5 years before going to Belgium.