Is depression a biological and chemical problem? Is it a mental and emotional, or relational problem? Is depression spiritual in nature? As our guest today says, how we describe something is how we see it, and how we see it changes how we respond and act towards it. 

 Dr. John Swinton is Professor in Practical Theology and Pastoral Care and Chair in Divinity and Religious Studies at the University of Aberdeen. For more than a decade John worked as a registered mental health nurse and also worked as a hospital and community mental health Chaplain. In 2004, he founded the University of Aberdeen’s Centre for Spirituality, Health and Disability. John is the author of a number of books, including Finding Jesus in the Storm: The spiritual lives of people with mental health challenges.

Check out the DMIN in Spiritual Formation and Relational Neuroscience here. 

Stay Connected:

• NEED spiritual direction or coaching that aligns with this podcast? Connect with Cyd Holsclaw here.
• Join the Embodied Faith community to stay connected and get posts, episodes, & resources.
• Support the podcast with a one-time or regular gift (to keep this ad-free without breaking the Holsclaw's bank).

Leaders, pastors, and pioneers of movements are often outward and forward-focused. Often this means leaving the inward life unexplored and ignored. How can leaders tend to the depths within, and how might spiritual directors help in this work? How best can we support and form clergy and leaders?

David Clayton is a qualified and experienced Spiritual Director, Supervisor, and Behavioural Analyst. With a unique blend of expertise in behavioral science and spiritual direction, David provides a holistic approach that emphasizes both inner development and practical application. He is committed to guiding individuals on their journey toward greater self-awareness, purpose, and personal growth (learn more about the Monos Collective).

Check out the DMIN in Spiritual Formation and Relational Neuroscience here. 

Stay Connected:

• NEED spiritual direction or coaching that aligns with this podcast? Connect with Cyd Holsclaw here.
• Join the Embodied Faith community to stay connected and get posts, episodes, & resources.
• Support the podcast with a one-time or regular gift (to keep this ad-free without breaking the Holsclaw's bank).

What does attaching to God look like in one's personal life, life as a counselor, and life of faith? That's what we are talking about today.

Our guest is Jeff (spelling?) McMullen. Jeff is the Executive Director of Life Counseling Center and an Assistant Pastor at Chapelgate Presbyterian Church. As a counselor, he is particularly interested in working with ministry clients struggling with anxiety and identity issues.

Check out the DMIN in Spiritual Formation and Relational Neuroscience here. 

Stay Connected:

• NEED spiritual direction or coaching that aligns with this podcast? Connect with Cyd Holsclaw here.
• Join the Embodied Faith community to stay connected and get posts, episodes, & resources.
• Support the podcast with a one-time or regular gift (to keep this ad-free without breaking the Holsclaw's bank).

While modern psychiatry has improved many patients’ quality of life, it falls short in addressing their relational and spiritual needs? Can we draw on theological wisdom and scientific evidence to reframe our understanding of mental health care? 

Dr. Warren Kinghorn is a psychiatrist and theological ethicist whose work centers on the role of religious communities in caring for persons with mental health problems. He is jointly appointed to the faculties of Duke Divinity School and the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences of Duke University Medical Center, and practices psychiatry at the Durham VA Medical Center.

Check out the DMIN in Spiritual Formation and Relational Neuroscience here. 

Stay Connected:

• NEED spiritual direction or coaching that aligns with this podcast? Connect with Cyd Holsclaw here.
• Join the Embodied Faith community to stay connected and get posts, episodes, & resources.
• Support the podcast with a one-time or regular gift (to keep this ad-free without breaking the Holsclaw's bank).

"Freedom appears very nearly the only value about which people still agree unanimously," says Jacques Philippe in his little book, Interior Freedom. But how does freedom connect to happiness, love, and our life with God and others?
 
These are the questions this little firecracker of a book examines, and that we talk about in this two-part series. 

We look at the difference between "freedom from" and "freedom for", the ideas of locus of control, the constraints of everyday life, and what "inner freedom" might mean, and what it doesn't mean. 

Check out the DMIN in Spiritual Formation and Relational Neuroscience here. 

Stay Connected:

• NEED spiritual direction or coaching that aligns with this podcast? Connect with Cyd Holsclaw here.
• Join the Embodied Faith community to stay connected and get posts, episodes, & resources.
• Support the podcast with a one-time or regular gift (to keep this ad-free without breaking the Holsclaw's bank).

Instead of pretending to have it all together or insisting that you’re the problem, do you long to see more Christian leaders be honest about their own faith struggles? What benefit could there be to having a front-row seat to the moments that leaders choose to trust in God, even when it’s hard to believe?

Today we have Mandy Smith, pastor and award-winning author and speaker—and also a great friend—with us to talk about this very thing.We are talking about her newest book, Confessions of an Amateur Saint: The Christian Leader’s Journey from Self-Sufficiency to Reliance on God.

00:00 Introduction and Guest Introduction
00:27 Mandy Smith's New Book
03:16 The Journey of Writing
05:23 The Role of Joy and Creativity in Ministry
07:59 Attachment and Dependence on God
11:48 Confessions and Vulnerability
14:54 The Importance of Connection and Openness
16:57 Spiritual Warfare and Pruning
25:41 Solidarity with Christ's Sacrifices
29:07 The Role of Vulnerability in Leadership
32:14 The Power of Shared Struggles
36:58 The Structure and Purpose of the Book
43:29 Final Thoughts and Reflections

Check out the DMIN in Spiritual Formation and Relational Neuroscience here. 

Stay Connected:

• NEED spiritual direction or coaching that aligns with this podcast? Connect with Cyd Holsclaw here.
• Join the Embodied Faith community to stay connected and get posts, episodes, & resources.
• Support the podcast with a one-time or regular gift (to keep this ad-free without breaking the Holsclaw's bank).

In a world where mental health issues and loneliness are at an all-time high, it’s more important than ever to find ways to cultivate joy, community, and meaning in our lives. But how exactly do you do that?

Maybe we need to turn outward rather than inward for answers.

That's what we are talking about with Dr. Richard Beck.

Dr. Richard Beck is a professor of psychology at Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas He is a popular blogger and speaker and the author of several books. We interviewed him a bit ago about his Hunting Magic Eels: Recovering an Enchanted Faith in a Skeptical Age (which I recommend to people all the time if there are in that space of deconstruction). And today we are talking about his newest book, The Shape of Joy: The Transformative Power of Moving Beyond Yourself.

00:00 Introduction: Exploring Joy in a Challenging World
00:37 Meet Dr. Richard Beck: A Journey into Joy
01:16 The World's Worst Commencement Address
04:00 The Shape of Joy: Turning Outward
05:55 The Wandering Mind and Mental Health
11:38 Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Beyond
15:28 Humility and Happiness: A Surprising Connection
19:13 The Power of Mattering and Transcendence
23:18 Mr. Kenneth's Story: Joy in Unexpected Places
29:34 Conclusion: Finding Joy and Staying Connected

Check out the DMIN in Spiritual Formation and Relational Neuroscience here. 

Stay Connected:

• NEED spiritual direction or coaching that aligns with this podcast? Connect with Cyd Holsclaw here.
• Join the Embodied Faith community to stay connected and get posts, episodes, & resources.
• Support the podcast with a one-time or regular gift (to keep this ad-free without breaking the Holsclaw's bank).

Like many of us, you carry a weight of buried pain. You feel secretly fractured within. There’s a constant churn of unprocessed feelings of shame, anger, grief, or loneliness. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
 
Chuck DeGroat is the Professor of Counseling and Christian Spirituality and Executive Director of the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program at Western Theological Seminary Holland MI.  He is also a licensed and practicing therapist, a spiritual director, author of five books. He wrote When Narcissism Comes to Church and his newest book just landed in early October Healing What’s Within: Coming Home to Yourself and to God When You’re Weary, Wounded, and Wandering. (Oct. 8).

00:00 Introduction to Healing and Spiritual Formation
00:42 Meet Dr. Chuck DeGroat: Author and Therapist
01:38 The Journey from Narcissism to Healing
03:30 Understanding Trauma: Beyond the Outrage
05:19 The Power of Personal Story in Healing
15:55 Exploring the Genesis Examine
23:38 The Core Message: Healing from Within
28:09 Reflections and Future Directions

Check out the DMIN in Spiritual Formation and Relational Neuroscience here. 

Stay Connected:

• NEED spiritual direction or coaching that aligns with this podcast? Connect with Cyd Holsclaw here.
• Join the Embodied Faith community to stay connected and get posts, episodes, & resources.
• Support the podcast with a one-time or regular gift (to keep this ad-free without breaking the Holsclaw's bank).

The first Christians were weird. Just how weird is often lost on us today. The first Christians believed unusual things, worshiped God in strange ways, and lived a unique lifestyle. Many in the ancient world saw it as bizarre, even dangerous, but some found this new religion attractive and compelling

Today we are interviewing Dr. Nijay K. Gupta. He is the Julius R. Mantey Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary. He is cohost of the Slow Theology podcast, and has written numerous books, including Tell Her Story: How Women Led, Taught, and Ministered in the Early Church, and recently, Strange Religion How the First Christians Were Weird, Dangerous, and Compelling.

Chapters: 
00:53 Meet Nijay Gupta: Author and Scholar
01:31 Origins of 'Strange Religion'
05:19 The Concept of Believers
06:56 Roman Society and the Christian Challenge
16:39 Household of Faith: Early Christian Practices
24:35 The Radical Message of God's Love
31:55 Conclusion and Upcoming Works

Check out the DMIN in Spiritual Formation and Relational Neuroscience here. 

Stay Connected:

• NEED spiritual direction or coaching that aligns with this podcast? Connect with Cyd Holsclaw here.
• Join the Embodied Faith community to stay connected and get posts, episodes, & resources.
• Support the podcast with a one-time or regular gift (to keep this ad-free without breaking the Holsclaw's bank).

Everyone is talking about slowing down, slow food, a slow life. I have friends who host the “Slow Theology” podcast.

But is going slow the best to understand the SOUL? (What does that even mean?)

Recently, people like Jim Wilder have been specifically accused to talking too much about the brain, and not even about the soul. So much so that some believe Jim doesn't even believe in the soul.

(And Jim is a speaker at the Attaching to God Summit, talking about "Empathy, Enemy Mode, and Engaging Gen Z"...so register for free).  

We have a long conversation, attempting to set the record straight about an overly philosophical-cognitivist view of the soul (the slow soul), and how that view needs to catch up to all the really fast things God has enabled us to do—brain, body, and soul. 

We also talk about how broad and wide the field of neuroscience is, the streams that we pull from (which aren't nearly as reductionistic as some), and how the Bible uses many terms to discuss the spiritual part of us.

Resources: Check Jim's New Growing a More Human Community (3-book series)

• Growing Me: Becoming a Child
• Growing Us: Becoming an Adult
• Growing We the People

Check out the DMIN in Spiritual Formation and Relational Neuroscience here. 

Stay Connected:

• NEED spiritual direction or coaching that aligns with this podcast? Connect with Cyd Holsclaw here.
• Join the Embodied Faith community to stay connected and get posts, episodes, & resources.
• Support the podcast with a one-time or regular gift (to keep this ad-free without breaking the Holsclaw's bank).