Anxiety

In Dr. Hart's book, The Anxiety Cure, he discusses the affect that anxiety has on our lives, why we need to get rid of anxiety, and how to do this. Dr. Hart's book focuses on how to treat panic attacks and overcoming general anxiety in our lives that has come to hinder the way we live. Dr. Hart discusses how certain chemicals in our brain makes us feel "happy" or "sad" and how that an imbalance of the "sad" chemicals is related to being stressed out. He goes on to discuss how this can lead to panic attacks and emotional turmoil, which can then leave a person prone to physical medical diseases such as heart problems. There is hope however, because there are lifestyle changes that we can make today to overcome the stress that has began to characterize much of American life today.
As we have looked helping individuals heal throughout this semester, one of the things that has been shown is that psychological healing is not a quick and easy process. It is not like going to the doctor with a sinus infection and getting an antibiotic to take for a week or so. What I have seen, it is like being treated for cancer. Psychological healing requires multiple "treatments" that can be painful and can last for what seems like a long time. However, the outcome of being able to live free of depression and anxiety and reduce the severity of the symptoms of more serious psychological disorders such as bipolar disorder is well worth the work it will take to go through therapy. Dr. Hart mentions that many times people will not go see a counselor, psychologist, or psychiatrist, especially for anxiety issues, because they are supposed to be strong enough to handle that. Seeing a mental health specialist, however, can help you more in your relationships with those around you and in your general satisfaction in life.
I have completely enjoyed this semester in this class and have learned so much! The Anxiety Cure was special because I have some background in the medical field and could definitely understand what Dr. Hart was describing. I have never really thought about the impact of stress on our lives and am now taking measures to make sure I participate in activities that increase my "happy" messengers.

Take a Break

Promise Treasures is a group of Korean girls who worship through dance. One song they have done a couple of times is Kirk Franklin's "Awesome God". It is amazing how these pre-teen/teenage girls can use their talent to bring honor and glory to God and that they would chose to do this! Many Christians may think that there is no way this would bring honor and glory to Christ, but the Bible calls us to worship in dance and that is exactly what they are doing.
In Hart's book, The Anxiety Cure, he talks about how to de-stress and overcome anxiety problems in your life. One of the ways that he talks about doing this is increasing your "happy" messengers in your brain. There are two chemicals in your, gamabutyric amino acid (GABA) and cortisol, and they make you feel either happy or sad. When you are under a lot of stress, cortisol wins out and the more prominent chemical and makes you feel sad activates your fight or flight response. However, when you are not stressed, GABA wins out making you feel calm and relaxed. While the performance portion of worship in dance for Promise Treasures may be really stressful for them and anxiety producing, I have a feeling that when they get the chance to just have fun with dance, dancing is one of the things that raise their GABA chemicals in their brain. Raising their GABA chemicals is going to make them happier and less stressed feeling in the long run. That is not saying, however, that worship in dance could end up increasing their cortisol chemicals making them feel sad, if they are put under too much pressure.
Last night I had a wonderful time of worship. I got to go see a church worship choir put on a concert and then went and watched some people use the art of dance to worship. I felt so relaxed and calm after spending about 2 -2 1/2 hours focusing on worshiping God. Worship is definitely one of the ways I can raise my GABA chemicals. I know many times we feel like we have no time to just stop and let our mind catch up with what is going on, but take some time today to just enjoy something you appreciate or like doing. Do not let the hectic reality that is your life keep you from taking a break and letting those happy GABA messengers become more prominent in your brain.

Let's Talk

I recently saw an informational video discussing different ways Americans talk depending on where they are from. The video discusses some characteristics of speech from Kentucky, Ohio, and Texas. It talks about how those in Kentucky tend to wait before getting down to the point of what they need to talk to someone about. It also showed the southern accent characterized by those from Kentucky. When looking at Ohio, some people discussed the fact that they have no accent. The communication is more direct and at a faster pace than that of Kentucky. In Texas, they talked about how people were constantly wanting to talk to each other. The language they demonstrated was very direct and matter of fact. It was also characterized by the typical Texan drawl. The video is very in interesting in how it demonstrates the differences in communication patterns in people from different places within the United States of America. It is a very interesting phenomenon that those within the States have different forms of communication.
This may seem like an odd subject for this course, but just as those in America have different forms of communication depending on where they are from, each counselor has a different approach to the counseling setting that is influenced by their background. We have read many different books in this class and each of these authors have a different perspective on what causes psychological dysfunction and how to help heal those dysfunctions. These perspectives come from the experiences the authors have had in their life and based off what they have seen in the counseling setting. None of the authors we have been reading are necessarily wrong, and this is what we are learning. Each of these theories we have been reading about this semester can be used to approach counseling with unique individuals whose own experiences affect how they view and respond to circumstances surrounding them. What may help one person who is experiencing depression, may not help another person dealing with depression. It is through learning different theories of development, the source of problems, and how to help those overcome the problem.
I at first was very confused as to why we had to read so many different theories on Christian counseling. I agreed for the most part with what the authors were saying, however, not to the extent the author was trying to suggest their theory could be used. Then it began to dawn on me that we are learning different ways to handle problems because we are unique individuals who, because of our past experiences, have different perspectives. By learning how to approach counseling from different perspectives, we learn how to approach counseling from the unique perspectives of each client. My past experiences help me to understand this to a greater extent. My family moved from Kentucky into Ohio many, many years ago. To this day, my family still holds some forms of communication through the words we choose to use that shows the difference between my upbringing in Kentucky and Ohio. I understand that we all have different ways we communicate and look at the world around us. In counseling, I must see the world through the clients eyes, something I may consider insignificant, may be very significant to my client. This is one of the main things I am learning this semester.

WHOSE GLORY?

I went to a Mennonite church this past weekend as part of a class project and the sermon brought to mind something that I have grown to believe more and more. The pastor spoke on Matthew 6:1-8 talking about how as Christians we are not suppose to elevate ourselves because of "good works", however, we are to glorify God and make sure He gets the glory for all we do. It brought to mind the fact that it is not about the activities in our Christian life, it is about our relationship with God. In this passage Jesus is describing a humble attitude that is fully reliant on God; one that gives God the glory for everything that goes on.
As we progress through the semester, I am seeing how insufficient I am to work as a counselor. There are many different theories out there on what causes psychological dysfunction in a person in both the secular and Christian camps. Knowing when and how to apply the proper theory, or in some cases theories, can be quit distressing. During the semester so far, I have read about 3 different Christian theories on what causes psychological dysfunction and can agree with parts of each one of them says and I will continue to learn even more theories as the semester goes on. It can become quite overwhelming when I think about applying each of these theories in a counseling session and thoughts of self-doubt quickly come to mind. However, I can relax and rejoice that it is not me who will help each individual I see, but God working through me. God has called me to be a Christian counselor so that I can bring honor and glory to His name by helping hurting people. I can rest in the fact that my abilities did not come from me but from God and that He will guide me through each counseling session as helping me to apply each theory I have learned in school. Through my classes and knowing what I am getting myself into when I graduate, God is helping me develop a humble attitude that fully relies on Him.

THE SPIRITUAL REALM

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader shows the battle between good and evil in the lives of Christians. According to the story line, Lucy and Edmund could be considered Christians in this classic series. In the newest Narnia move, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Lucy, Edmund, Caspian, and Eustace, a cousin of Lucy and Edmund's, must battle an evil force that is abducting many people. When going up to battle this force, Lucy, Edmund, Caspian, and Eustace are warned that the evil force would try to deter them and tempt them with material things. It is this battle between Lucy, Edmund, Caspian, and Eustace and evil that this movie is centered on.
In class we have been talking about the spiritual realm and it is an important discussion that cannot be ignored. The Bible teaches that nature itself proves there is a God, a Divine Creator, and it can be assumed that if there is a Divine Creator, there is a Destroyer. The spiritual realm is not filled with just God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and angels; but also with Satan and demons. You cannot take a look into the spiritual realm without considering both sides of it.
I think Christians living in America today tend to ignore the demonic side of the spiritual realm. As Christians we cannot ignore the facts that Satan exists, he hates God, and he is willing to do anything to cause God pain. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader gives somewhat of a view of how Satan works to distract Christians and get them off track. Lucy, Edmund, Caspian, and Eustace had a specific task they were on, destroy the evil; however, while on their journey they are tempted with desiring to be beautiful, power and money, and disbelief respectively. It is important for Christians to realize that while they live the Christian life, Satan is going to try to derail them and tempt them with things of this world. I can say that in my life he has tried to do just that and the only way to combat it is with truth. Lucy, Edmund, Caspian, and Eustace were only able to combat and defeat the temptations that came upon them with truth. Jesus also when being tempted by Satan used passages of Scripture to defeat and resist the temptations. It is time as Christians we stop believing the lie that the host of darkness does not exist or, if it does, is not involved in human life today. We are fighting a spiritual battle and it is time we take a stand like Ephesians 6 says and in the power of Jesus combat the influence of darkness in our life and in the lives of those we love.