Today’s podcast answers a question from someone whose elderly mother is in need of help, but has cut herself off from her adult children. The mother has behaved harmfully to her kids in the past and suffers from mental illness. The submitter of the question is racked with despair, sadness, anger, and guilt. She is also profoundly struggling with confusion over what her role or duty is as a daughter. When dealing with a dysfunctional family of origin, we need to stay tethered to our own family now, so as not to lose ourselves in the dysfunction of the past.

Today’s podcast answers a question from someone who suffered abuse when very young. In addition to that, she suffered abandonment from her parents when they did not support her and kept it as a shameful secret. Despite all of this, the submitter of the question seeks God and comes to church, but carries heavy burdens of beliefs that God doesn’t love her, is fed up with her, and that she does a poor job of showing Christian love. The reality is, her life is a shining example of the Christian life and of sacrificial love. Such is the devotion and faithfulness of a child, they are willing to carry their parents guilt and shame, rather than see their parents as bad or unhealthy...

Today's podcast answers a series of questions from someone wanting to help their friend not be so vulnerable to relationships with people suffer from narcissistic traits. Specifically, what makes people vulnerable to narcissistic behaviors and how to heal from the very things that make us vulnerable to being manipulated. The real reality is, everything that we need is within us and overlooked. Today’s podcast offers detailed insights into the dynamics that keep people trapped in trying to please a narcissist.

Today’s podcast discusses a difficult topic. Narcissism is a word that evokes strong emotions in many. It is a loaded word that no one wants to be associated with. However, it is on the rise, and it is time for us to start having very open and genuine discussions about it. Narcissism is a continuum or spectrum. The various presentations of it on each part of the spectrum are discussed.

Today’s podcast answers a question from someone who is trying to understand why their friendships and relationships don’t go very far and always seem to end broken. Despite doing years of talk therapy this pattern persists. To break out from trauma, there will be behaviors that need to be changed and new procedural memories to be learned.

Today’s podcast offers a brief reflection of how to incorporate our traumatic or painful experiences into our spiritual life. It also speaks to the negative beliefs of believing that somehow it means something bad about us or our relationship with God that we had these experiences. Our spiritual life is spent ascending the slopes of Mount Tabor. Having to do the healing work offers us unique gifts and tools to help us ascend more efficiently.

Today’s podcast discusses how what is stored in our implicit memory can often drive so much of our present life and cause us to live according to a past narrative that is obsolete, rather than our present life. Unlike behaviors, which are easier to target and isolate, because they have a beginning and an end; painful memories stored in implicit memory can dictate our present behavior and be much harder to detect because the narrative is so pervasive in our life. But there is hope, today’s podcast discusses how to identify and resolve this.

Today’s podcast speaks to someone who is seeking advice over how to get relief from their unceasing envy and the act of always comparing themselves to others. Today’s podcast explores how our envy is rooted in either resentment, yearning, or is fear based. Uncovering what we are really missing and yearning for, can bring quick relief to envy and comparing ourselves to others.

Today’s podcast answers a question from someone who finally overcame their fear of seeking a relationship and ended up getting rejected. When we’ve had a history of painful experiences or trauma, such rejections can make us feel like it’s happening all over again. However, the victory lies in that we did not practice avoidance, but had the courage to be vulnerable and to try. So long as our source of self-worth and self-esteem lies in ourselves and from God, then rejections don’t have to take so much out of us.

Today’s podcast answers a question from a husband and wife who are struggling with the toxic and abusive behavior of their in-laws. For many years, they thought that honoring one’s mother and father meant tolerating the abuse and striving to appease them. The husband and wife are now realizing that this is not sustainable and wanting to change, but are struggling with feelings of guilt that somehow they are not forgiving or honoring their parents. The truth is that the setting of boundaries and forgiveness go hand-in-hand.