Steps To Healing Series My Own Counseling Journey I was on the verge of a mental and emotional breakdown. Although I had received Christ as my Savior fifteen years earlier, I still had baggage from a traumatic past. I secretly struggled with something that brought me deep shame and condemnation, something that I felt I … Read more
Steps to Healing Series Beginning The Healing Process I became a Christian when I was 18 years old. It wasn’t an even exchange; I got a savior, and God got a badly damaged hot mess. My salvation was instantaneous, but my transformation took considerably longer. There were many things in my life that needed change. … Read more
Steps to Healing Series The Breaking Point I remember the moment when I broke down crying in the counselor’s office. I was so frustrated, so tired of the struggle, and I felt so isolated and alone. After listening to my sobs, the counselor gently made a suggestion. “I run a support group for Christians who … Read more
The Stress of Too Much Information We live in a time when information is everywhere. News updates, social media posts, podcasts, and opinions (lots and lots and lots of opinions) come at us constantly. Sometimes it can feel like trying to drink water from a fire hydrant– there’s simply more coming at you than you can … Read more
A Cluttered Environment Clutter. It’s something we all have to deal with, isn’t it? Usually we think of clutter as something physical. It’s all that stuff you keep promising yourself you’ll clean up someday. It starts with a few things out of place and magically expands if left on its own. A crowded, messy area inevitably … Read more
You’ve Been Hurt By The Church. What’s Next? Church hurt happens. Maybe it’s happened to you. Spiritual abuse can lead you to feeling stunned, overwhelmed, confused and uncertain. What do you do when you’ve been victimized by spiritual leaders you trusted? How do you recover when everything you’ve believed is challenged? The first thing you … Read more
The Power of Positive Thinking Faith Many Christians roll their eyes when they hear the phrase “positive thinking.” They associate it with mind-over-matter, or manifestation mumbo-jumbo. They think it has nothing to do with Christianity. But did you know that The Power of Positive Thinking was not the original title for Norman Vincent Peale’s classic bestseller? Peale wanted … Read more
Am I Wrong To Feel Angry? When someone has experienced spiritual abuse (or any kind of abuse, for that matter),it is normal to have feelings of anger. But often we have not been taught how to process that anger. In fact, in many situations we may have been taught that it was wrong, even sinful, … Read more
Saved And Excited My own experience with spiritual abuse happened when I was in my twenties and early thirties. I had come to Christ when I was 18, during the Jesus People Movement in the early Seventies (what Time magazine called the Jesus Revolution). I started going to a Christian coffeehouse begun by a man … Read more
What Is Spiritual Abuse? It’s called by different names: spiritual abuse, church hurt, religious trauma. But regardless of its label, its consequences can be catastrophic. Switching churches provides a change of scenery but often does little to bring healing, so victims sit and suffer in silence. For others, the experience is so painful that it … Read more