More to It: Reframing Emotions

In this live event recording, the counselors answer questions submitted by our podcast audience, including how to move forward from emotional trauma experiences, how to navigate emotional complexity in intense seasons of grief, and how to engage our emotional curiosity to benefit ourselves and others. 

Thank you for joining us for Season 1 of More To It!

Episode Transcript

Presented by The Austin Stone Institute and Austin Stone Counseling

Podcast Production Team

Producer & Host: Lindsay Funkhouser
Content Experts: Shanda Anderson, LPC-S; Brittany Beltran, LPC; Andrew Dealy, LPC
Technical Producer: Aaron Campbell
Podcast Art: Stephen Mancha
Podcast Music: Matt Graham

Reframing how we respond to our emotions is slow work. It involves our minds, hearts, and bodies, and it involves our communities.

Along with adding to some important points from previous episodes, the counselors consider how our emotions—and the ways we interact with them—can declare the hope we have in Jesus. By engaging our emotions from a biblical framework and through healthy habits, we build a foundation that produces empathy, connection, and the ability to help people better understand the human experience.

Episode Transcript

Presented by The Austin Stone Institute and Austin Stone Counseling

Recommended Resources

Episode Resources from The Austin Stone Institute
Untangling Emotions, by J. Alasdair Groves and Winston T. Smith

Podcast Production Team

Producer & Host: Lindsay Funkhouser
Content Experts: Shanda Anderson, LPC-S; Brittany Beltran, LPC; Andrew Dealy, LPC
Technical Producer: Aaron Campbell
Podcast Art: Stephen Mancha
Podcast Music: Matt Graham
Liturgy Writer: Erin Feldman
Liturgy Reader: Alex Espinoza
Groups Guide Writer: Erin Feldman

Joy is not an emotion but a state of being. We receive it from God, and we cultivate it—on our own and in community—through orienting toward God and what He says is true, in both our happiness and sadness.

Joy leads us to live in the tension of the already, but not yet. It allows us to acknowledge the griefs of this life while still choosing to live by hope in Jesus, who loves us and gave Himself for us (Galatians 2:20). 

Jesus lived a life filled with joy; Jesus is joy. And if Jesus is joy, then joy is selfless. Joy is loving and kind and gentle and self-controlled (Galatians 5:22–23). Joy is delight—delighting in God and His ways, even when our circumstances and emotions tell us to believe and do something else.

Episode Transcript

Presented by The Austin Stone Institute and Austin Stone Counseling

Recommended Resources
Episode Resources from The Austin Stone Institute
Untangling Emotions, by J. Alasdair Groves and Winston T. Smith

Podcast Production Team

Producer & Host: Lindsay Funkhouser
Content Experts: Shanda Anderson, LPC-S; Brittany Beltran, LPC; Andrew Dealy, LPC
Technical Producer: Aaron Campbell
Podcast Art: Stephen Mancha
Podcast Music: Matt Graham
Liturgy Writer: Sarah Feller
Liturgy Reader: Alex Espinoza
Groups Guide Writer: Erin Feldman

Anxiety is an appropriate feeling when we encounter situations—known or as yet unknown—that seem impossible to endure. The counselors point to Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. As He considered the cross, He agonized. Yet Jesus’ anxiety never controlled His actions.

Our anxiety invites us to recognize our need for Jesus, who knows all things and cares for all things, and to follow His ways, even when our anxiety says to do the opposite.

We should confess our anxious thoughts to one another and pray for one another. Sharing our fears and worries diminishes their power over us. We begin to bear each other’s burdens by proclaiming the truth: God is not absent from our life’s equations, but present in all of them. 

Episode Transcript

Presented by The Austin Stone Institute and Austin Stone Counseling

Recommended Resources

Episode Resources from The Austin Stone Institute
Untangling Emotions, by J. Alasdair Groves and Winston T. Smith
Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy, by Mark Vroegop
Depression: Looking Up From the Stubborn Darkness, by Edward T. Welch

Podcast Production Team

Producer & Host: Lindsay Funkhouser
Content Experts: Shanda Anderson, LPC-S; Brittany Beltran, LPC; Andrew Dealy, LPC
Technical Producer: Aaron Campbell
Podcast Art: Stephen Mancha
Podcast Music: Matt Graham
Liturgy Writer: Michaela Barriga
Liturgy Reader: Alex Espinoza
Groups Guide Writer: Erin Feldman

Anxiety is an appropriate feeling when we encounter situations—known or as yet unknown—that seem impossible to endure. The counselors point to Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. As He considered the cross, He agonized. Yet Jesus’ anxiety never controlled His actions.

Our anxiety invites us to recognize our need for Jesus, who knows all things and cares for all things, and to follow His ways, even when our anxiety says to do the opposite.

We should confess our anxious thoughts to one another and pray for one another. Sharing our fears and worries diminishes their power over us. We begin to bear each other’s burdens by proclaiming the truth: God is not absent from our life’s equations, but present in all of them. 

Episode Transcript

Presented by The Austin Stone Institute and Austin Stone Counseling

Recommended Resources

Episode Resources from The Austin Stone Institute
‍Untangling Emotions, by J. Alasdair Groves and Winston T. Smith‍
Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy, by Mark Vroegop

Podcast Production Team

Producer & Host: Lindsay Funkhouser
Content Experts: Shanda Anderson, LPC-S; Brittany Beltran, LPC; Andrew Dealy, LPC
Technical Producer: Aaron Campbell
Podcast Art: Stephen Mancha
Podcast Music: Matt Graham
Liturgy Writer: Michaela Barriga
Liturgy Reader: Alex Espinoza
Groups Guide Writer: Erin Feldman

Left unchecked, jealousy spawns feelings of resentment, anger, shame, and bitterness. It whispers, “If I had this one thing, I would be happy. I would be content.” But one thing turns into many, none of them able to satisfy our hungry hearts and souls.

The counselors suggest our lack of satisfaction lies in trying to remedy a spiritual reality with physical goods. As long as we try to remedy our jealousy with counterfeit solutions, we will neglect the work to which our beautiful Savior calls us: repentance and faithful stewardship. We will miss out on how God has beautifully designed us for His glory, and we will miss out on celebrating and cultivating God’s beautiful design in others. 

Presented by The Austin Stone Institute and Austin Stone Counseling

Episode Transcript

Recommended Resources

Episode Resources from The Austin Stone Institute
Untangling Emotions, by J. Alasdair Groves and Winston T. Smith

Podcast Production Team

Producer & Host: Lindsay Funkhouser
Content Experts: Shanda Anderson, LPC-S; Brittany Beltran, LPC; Andrew Dealy, LPC
Technical Producer: Aaron Campbell
Podcast Art: Stephen Mancha
Podcast Music: Matt Graham
Liturgy Writer: Noah Austria
Liturgy Reader: Alex Espinoza
Groups Guide Writer: Erin Feldman

Grief is an ongoing process as we reckon with the reality of loss. Grief also serves as an invitation to know Jesus, the Man of Sorrows (Isaiah 53). To Jesus, grief was productive. It both acknowledged the limitations of the human frame and proclaimed confidence in God.

Grief brought to God and shared with people in community can become the means by which we better know God’s heart for us and care for one another.

Presented by The Austin Stone Institute and Austin Stone Counseling

Episode Transcript

Recommended Resources

Episode Resources from The Austin Stone Institute
Untangling Emotions, by J. Alasdair Groves and Winston T. Smith
Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy, by Mark Vroegop
God’s Healing for Life’s Losses, by Robert W. Kelleman

Podcast Production Team

Producer & Host: Lindsay Funkhouser
Content Experts: Shanda Anderson, LPC-S; Brittany Beltran, LPC; Andrew Dealy, LPC
Technical Producer: Aaron Campbell
Podcast Art: Stephen Mancha
Podcast Music: Matt Graham
Liturgy Writer: Lindsay Funkhouser
Liturgy Reader: Alex Espinoza
Groups Guide Writer: Erin Feldman

We don’t always know what our anger indicates in the moment. We need a community that will sit with us in our anger and invite us to consider what it’s telling us. Discovering the emotions behind our anger is hard work, but it’s essential to understanding ourselves and working toward a life in which anger does not overwhelm us.

It’s also essential to begin changing not only how we think about anger but also how we act in response to it. Jesus was angry—and did not sin. How is that possible? The counselors suggest Jesus’ anger never aimed at self-glory or self-preservation. Rather, it ignited in response to misrepresentations of God and His character, and mistreatment of God’s image-bearers. Jesus’ anger was deeply rooted in love, love for God and love for people. 

Presented by The Austin Stone Institute and Austin Stone Counseling

Episode Transcript

Recommended Resources

Episode Resources from The Austin Stone Institute
Untangling Emotions, by J. Alasdair Groves and Winston T. Smith
Good and Angry, by David Powlison

Podcast Production Team

Producer & Host: Lindsay Funkhouser
Content Experts: Shanda Anderson, LPC-S; Brittany Beltran, LPC; Andrew Dealy, LPC 
Technical Producer: Aaron Campbell
Podcast Art: Stephen Mancha
Podcast Music: Matt Graham
Liturgy Writer: Annie AbuHamad
Liturgy Reader: Alex Espinoza
Groups Guide Writer: Erin Feldman

Pride says we have everything under control. We are the masters of our destinies. Pride separates us from God and one another. Confidence differs from pride. Humble confidence results from dependence on God. It gives us a category for navigating our imperfections, limitations, and inadequacies. 

Weakness displays God’s goodness and glory all the more. It celebrates other people, recognizing how other people’s gifts complement ours. In community we encourage and correct, confess and repent, always looking to Jesus who shows us the better way, the way of humble confidence in God and His purposes.

Episode Transcript

Presented by The Austin Stone Institute and Austin Stone Counseling

Recommended Resources

Episode Resources from The Austin Stone Institute
Untangling Emotions, by J. Alasdair Groves and Winston T. Smith

Podcast Production Team

Producer & Host: Lindsay Funkhouser
Content Experts: Shanda Anderson, LPC-S; Brittany Beltran, LPC; Andrew Dealy, LPC 
Technical Producer: Aaron Campbell
Podcast Art: Stephen Mancha
Podcast Music: Matt Graham
Liturgy Writer: Erin Feldman
Liturgy Reader: Alex Espinoza
Groups Guide Writer: Erin Feldman

Fear is normal, and some fears are good. Fearing God, for instance, cultivates godly courage within us. And yet, fear occasionally crushes us. We need people who will help us slow down and sit with us until we’re calm enough to begin evaluating what makes us afraid. 

Slowing down and digging into fear can be difficult, but, in community, we help regulate one another through the gift of presence. We simply need to come and sit, helping each other work through our fears, and lean into God, who is patient, trustworthy, and kind, our refuge in times of need.

Presented by The Austin Stone Institute and Austin Stone Counseling

Episode Transcript

Recommended Resources

Episode Resources from The Austin Stone Institute
Untangling Emotions, by J. Alasdair Groves and Winston T. Smith

Podcast Production Team

Producer & Host: Lindsay Funkhouser
Content Experts: Shanda Anderson, LPC-S; Brittany Beltran, LPC; Andrew Dealy, LPC
Technical Producer: Aaron Campbell
Podcast Art: Stephen Mancha
Podcast Music: Matt Graham
Liturgy Writer: Dashon Moore
Liturgy Reader: Alex Espinoza
Groups Guide Writer: Erin Feldman