Soul Sense with Mark Verkler, LMFT

Depression can have many layers. In this episode of Soul Sense, Mark explores three potential sources of depression through decades of counseling experience and biblical wisdom:

1. Unresolved grief — Losses we haven't fully acknowledged or mourned.

2. Anger turned inward — Unforgiveness toward others, ourselves, or God.

3. A spirit of heaviness — A spiritual perspective on depression explored through Isaiah 61 and James 4.

Mark discusses the stages of grief, the power of presence, forgiveness, and finding freedom through faith. He also acknowledges the role of physiological factors in depression.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 – Why presence matters when someone is grieving
01:24 – Three sources of depression
02:02 – Source 1: Unresolved grief
04:45 – The five stages of grief
08:25 – The power of presence
08:59 – A pastor's story of walking through loss
11:04 – What do you still need to grieve?
13:20 – Source 2: Anger turned inward
14:20 – Job, Jeremiah, and John the Baptist
18:26 – Honesty, humility, and releasing offense
19:04 – Forgiving others and ourselves
21:07 – Confession, grace, and forgiveness
23:23 – Source 3: A spirit of heaviness
24:37 – Isaiah 61 and the garment of praise
25:26 – Submit to God and resist the devil
27:00 – Derek Prince's spiritual breakthrough
27:56 – The role of physiological factors
28:32 – Bringing the three sources together

ABOUT SOUL SENSE

Soul Sense is a podcast from Samaritan's Well Counseling in Richardson, Texas, exploring faith, emotional health, and the life of the soul through Scripture, psychology, neuroscience, and real-life stories.

🌐 Counseling and resources: https://samaritanswell.com

📖 Free Christian Emotional Health Guide:
https://samaritanswell.thinkific.com/products/digital_downloads/Christian-Emotional-Health-Guide

📬 Join our newsletter:
https://samaritan-s-well-counseling.kit.com/0033ce428e

FOLLOW SAMARITAN'S WELL

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samaritanswell/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/samaritanswelldallaS
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/samaritan%E2%80%99s-well/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@samaritanswellcounseling

Subscribe for more conversations about faith, emotional health, relationships, and becoming whole people.

#SoulSense #Depression #GriefAndHealing #FaithAndMentalHealth #ChristianCounseling

When life takes an unexpected turn, how do you grieve, care for your family, and hold on to faith? Mark Verkler talks with author Rachel Kerr Schneider about losing her husband to ALS, parenting through grief, navigating addiction, and finding hope in God amid heartbreak.

Rachel shares lessons on preparing children for loss, supporting loved ones through addiction and recovery, seeking community, and surrendering to God when life unfolds differently than expected.

📖 Books: The Widow Chose Red? My Journey with Jesus, John and ALS and The Boys, The Bible and The Battles

🌐 Connect with Rachel: https://www.spiritedprosperity.com/

Timestamps

00:00 Introduction
03:06 Rachel’s story and family
10:43 John’s ALS diagnosis
13:14 Anticipatory grief and talking with children
24:21 Hospice and saying goodbye
30:33 Helping children process loss
36:11 Grief, risky behavior, and addiction
44:10 Rehab and parenting an adult child
47:18 Recovery, fatherhood, and hope
49:00 Prayer, friendship, and writing
51:11 Caring for your soul in a crisis
53:44 Surrendering to God through grief

More resources

• Counseling: https://samaritanswell.com

• Free Christian Emotional Health Guide: https://samaritanswell.thinkific.com/products/digital_downloads/Christian-Emotional-Health-Guide

• Newsletter: https://samaritan-s-well-counseling.kit.com/0033ce428e

Subscribe to Soul Sense for conversations about faith, emotional health, and the life of the soul, combining biblical wisdom, psychology, neuroscience, and real-life stories.

#SoulSense #GriefAndHealing #FaithAndMentalHealth #AddictionRecovery

What happens when the roles begin to reverse, and the parents who cared for us begin to need our care?

In this episode of Soul Sense, Mark talks with author Ingrid Hansen-Popp about Becoming an Orphan: A Caregiver’s Guide to Lovingly Letting Our Parents Go. They explore the emotional, practical, and spiritual realities of caring for aging parents—including dementia, difficult conversations, legal preparation, grief, and protecting a parent’s dignity.

Ingrid also shares one of her biggest regrets: realizing that her mother didn’t primarily need another task completed—she simply wanted more time with her daughter.

If you’re caring for an aging parent—or preparing for that season—this conversation offers practical wisdom and a reminder to slow down, listen, ask for help, and simply be present.

Timestamps:

02:41 – How Becoming an Orphan began
07:27 – What caregivers are facing
10:24 – Preparing before a crisis
13:35 – Listening with your heart
16:56 – When parents resist help
18:44 – Difficult conversations about aging
21:20 – Protecting a parent’s dignity
22:01 – The emotional shift into caregiving
25:13 – The slow grief of dementia
26:32 – Why caregivers need support
28:02 – Why the book is called Becoming an Orphan
30:23 – Psalm 27:10 and God’s care
31:31 – Sorting through a parent’s belongings
33:48 – “You can always get rid of it later”
39:56 – The biggest lesson about loving and letting go
40:20 – Mom wanted more time, not another task
42:09 – You don’t have to do caregiving alone
43:38 – “Just go sit with Mom”
45:04 – Final thoughts

Find Ingrid's resources here:

https://www.droppedpencil.com/becoming-an-orphan

For counseling and resources: samaritanswell.com

Free Guide: Christian Emotional Health Guide
https://samaritanswell.thinkific.com/products/digital_downloads/Christian-Emotional-Health-Guide

Join Our Newsletter:
https://samaritan-s-well-counseling.kit.com/0033ce428e

What if the messages we believe about ourselves can shape the course of our lives—and what happens when those messages are replaced with truth?

On this episode of Soul Sense, Mark sits down with Brian Gray, author of Rap Sheet to Resume: Finding Blessing in Brokenness. Brian shares his story of childhood trauma, addiction, incarceration, recovery, faith, and more than two decades of ministry with vulnerable youth and adults.

Brian explores how painful experiences shape the beliefs we carry about ourselves—and how faith, truth, healthy relationships, and renewed thinking can lead to transformation.

He also shares practical wisdom for working with traumatized children and teenagers, including the importance of boundaries, consistency, patience, emotional regulation, and learning to look beneath difficult behavior.

In this episode:
00:00 – Faithfulness vs. Success
02:48 – Brian Gray: From Trauma to Redemption
03:52 – “Go Fight Your Own Battles”
08:00 – “You Are the Stupidest Boy I Ever Met”
10:08 – Addiction, the Marines, and a Life Unraveling
11:41 – The Moment Everything Changed
13:19 – Freedom After 20 Years of Addiction
16:18 – Replacing Lies With Truth
20:07 – “I Thought I Was an Eagle, but I Was Actually a Zygote”
21:00 – How Brian Met His Wife
25:01 – Discipline, Boundaries, and Predictability
29:11 – Don’t Take Their Behavior Personally
32:47 – What Troubled Kids Taught Brian About the Father’s Heart
35:17 – “Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life”
36:21 – The Teenager Who Took Three Years to Change
40:02 – Faithfulness Is Not the Same as Success
41:22 – Stop Asking “Why?”
43:24 – When Hopelessness Becomes an Identity
44:20 – Transformation Happens in the Chaos
45:54 – The Story Behind Rap Sheet to Resume
48:00 – Practical Tools for Helping Traumatized People
51:27 – Enduring in Love
52:16 – “Write Me a Check for the Kids”
53:47 – Finding Blessing in Brokenness
55:00 – Becoming Like Jesus Through Suffering

Learn more about Samaritan’s Well Counseling:
samaritanswell.com

Follow Samaritan’s Well:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samaritanswell/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/samaritanswelldallaS
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/samaritan%E2%80%99s-well/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@samaritanswellcounseling

Free Guide: Christian Emotional Health Guide
https://samaritanswell.thinkific.com/products/digital_downloads/Christian-Emotional-Health-Guide

Join Our Newsletter:
https://samaritan-s-well-counseling.kit.com/0033ce428e

What does it look like to follow Jesus when you experience the world differently?

In this episode of Soul Sense, Mark talks with Dr. Amanda Wilson—an orthodontist, entrepreneur, and Christian who discovered later in life that she is neurodivergent.

Amanda shares her journey from atheism to faith, from people-pleasing to healthy boundaries, and from constantly pushing through life to learning how to pause and let Jesus lead.

Together, they explore neurodivergence and the church, sensory overwhelm, finding community, biblical boundaries, and the surprising connection between peace and the presence of Jesus.

Amanda also shares how a devastating hurricane in Hawaii prompted a deeper spiritual realignment—and why she now considers this her “year of pause.”

CHAPTERS

00:00 How Amanda Discerns God's Leading
00:56 Meet Dr. Amanda Wilson
02:02 From Atheism to Faith
05:07 Understanding Neurodivergence
06:10 Learning to Stop Pushing Through
07:36 Letting Jesus Lead
08:16 Biblical Boundaries
09:18 Breaking Free From People-Pleasing
12:07 Neurodivergence and the Church
14:22 Is Peace an Emotion—or a Person?
16:26 Finding God After a Hurricane
17:49 What Churches Should Understand
19:37 Discerning God's Leading
20:06 The Power of the Pause
21:11 Learning to Love Yourself Too
22:27 Final Encouragement
24:17 Faith Is a Relationship, Not a Transaction

If this conversation resonated with you, follow Soul Sense, share this episode with someone who might benefit from it, and leave us a review.

COUNSELING & RESOURCES

Samaritan's Well Counseling
[email protected]

CONNECT WITH US

Instagram
Facebook
LinkedIn
TikTok

🎁 FREE GUIDE: Christian Emotional Health Guide
Download the Christian Emotional Health Guide

🗞️ JOIN OUR NEWSLETTER
Sign up for the Samaritan's Well newsletter

What does emotional maturity actually look like for a Christian?

In this episode of Soul Sense, Dr. David Pendergrass—pastor, biblical scholar, counselor, author, and leadership consultant—joins Mark to explore what Scripture teaches about emotions, anger, grief, and spiritual maturity.

David explains how Christians can listen to their emotions without assuming every feeling tells the truth. They discuss the difference between experiencing an emotion and responding to it, how past wounds shape our reactions, and why emotional maturity is an essential part of discipleship.

The conversation goes deep into anger: when it points to genuine injustice, when it protects deeper emotions like fear or grief, what Jesus' anger teaches us, and how to respond without becoming destructive or bitter.

They also explore unresolved grief, why Christians need spaces where sadness is welcome, and how bringing buried wounds into safe relationships can open the door to healing.

Finally, David challenges the idea that biblical knowledge automatically produces spiritual maturity. What might change if churches treated emotional and relational maturity as essential parts of following Jesus?

TIMESTAMPS
00:05 — Introducing Dr. David Pendergrass
00:52 — David's journey to ministry and biblical studies
05:23 — What does the Bible teach about emotions?
06:53 — Emotions as information, not commands
09:28 — "Don't trust your feelings; listen to your feelings"
10:06 — Anger, righteousness, and bitterness
15:43 — Why anger can become our "one tool in the toolbox"
18:01 — Looking beneath anger for grief and fear
19:33 — Did Jesus get angry?
23:37 — Anger vs. expressions of anger
27:07 — What to do when emotions take over
28:10 — The pause: breathe, identify, label, choose
29:45 — Healthy boundaries and loving responses
34:07 — Frustration tolerance and Christian maturity
35:38 — Meekness as controlled strength
39:00 — Unresolved grief and why it matters
41:43 — Creating safety for buried grief
46:00 — "Weeping with those who weep"
48:32 — Welcoming the full range of human emotion
49:06 — Spiritual maturity and emotional maturity
51:15 — Why knowing Jesus' commands isn't always enough
53:52 — Creating churches where grief and struggle are welcome
55:11 — Emotions as gifts that can lead us toward God
55:53 — David's books and resources
56:43 — Closing thoughts

If this conversation resonated with you, like, subscribe, share, and leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

For counseling and resources: samaritanswell.com | [email protected]

CONNECT WITH US
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samaritanswell/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/samaritanswelldallaS
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/samaritan%E2%80%99s-well/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@samaritanswellcounseling

🎁 Free Guide: Christian Emotional Health Guide
https://samaritanswell.thinkific.com/products/digital_downloads/Christian-Emotional-Health-Guide

🗞️ Join Our Newsletter:
https://samaritan-s-well-counseling.kit.com/0033ce428e

What if burnout isn’t simply a problem of having too much to do—but a nervous system that has learned to find safety in doing, performing, pleasing, or staying in control?

In this episode of Soul Sense, Mark Verkler talks with Rochelle Walsh, LCSW, founder of Joyful and Present, about the connection between faith, neuroscience, trauma, and the nervous system. They explore why highly capable people can struggle to rest, why knowing what we “should” do doesn’t always change how our bodies respond to stress, and how our early experiences can shape the patterns we carry into adulthood.

Rochelle and Mark discuss performance-based safety, the inner critic, shame and guilt, parentification, EMDR and complex trauma, spiritual formation, co-regulation, relationships, and what it looks like to retrain the nervous system for greater safety, rest, connection, and presence.

The goal isn’t to become less capable or productive. It’s to learn how to live and serve from a place of safety and freedom rather than fear and survival.

Rochelle Walsh, LCSW, is the founder of Joyful and Present, where she helps Christian women address burnout and overwhelm through the intersection of faith, neuroscience, and emotional health.

Learn more about Rochelle and Joyful and Present: joyfulandpresent.com

For more information about Samaritan’s Well Counseling and our resources, visit samaritanswell.com or email [email protected].

Stay connected with Samaritan’s Well:
Instagram: instagram.com/samaritanswell
Facebook: facebook.com/samaritanswelldallas
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/samaritan’s-well
TikTok: tiktok.com/@samaritanswellcounseling

Free Guide: Learn Keys to Christian Emotional Health
samaritanswell.thinkific.com/products/digital_downloads/Christian-Emotional-Health-Guide

Join the Samaritan’s Well Newsletter:
samaritan-s-well-counseling.kit.com/0033ce428e

What if the Christian life isn’t about becoming “good enough,” but learning to experience how deeply God already loves and delights in you?

In this episode of Soul Sense, Mark sits down with Dr. Bill Senyard, author of Good Enough Christian, Good Enough Parent, and Before the Couch. Bill explores why Christians can believe the gospel intellectually yet struggle to actually experience God’s love. Drawing from Scripture, neuroscience, attachment theory, and decades of counseling and ministry, he discusses shame, trauma, the Holy Spirit, awe and wonder, parenting, marriage, and the “dancing Father.”

If you’ve ever wondered whether you’ve repented enough, whether God is disappointed in you, or whether you’re really “good enough,” this conversation offers a different way of seeing the gospel.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS

00:00 — Introduction to Dr. Bill Senyard
01:03 — Why “Good Enough” Christianity?
02:41 — Seven Hindrances to Experiencing God’s Love
05:01 — Why We All Have “Daddy Issues”
05:54 — The Forgotten Member of the Trinity: The Holy Spirit
07:03 — How Our Brains Protect Us From Love
09:20 — Experiencing God’s Delight
13:13 — The Prodigal Son & the Dancing Father
15:24 — What We Miss About the Gospel
16:42 — Awe, Wonder & the Mystery of God
20:57 — Thomas, Doubt & Experiencing Jesus
27:50 — The “Simple and Poetic Gospel”
29:09 — A Prayer for Experiencing God’s Love
31:25 — The Power of the Gospel to Rewire Us
33:29 — Experiencing Christ’s Love in Marriage
35:18 — The Father & Son Who Laugh and Dance
36:33 — Does God’s Delight Enable Sin?
37:50 — The Holy Spirit’s Role in Experiencing God’s Love
42:07 — Good Enough Parent & Helping Teens Know They Are Loved
47:19 — Experiencing God’s Delight in Marriage
50:24 — Before the Couch: When Marriage Needs a Miracle
51:53 — “God Does His Best Work With Dead Things”
52:46 — Bill’s Resources
54:06 — Final Thoughts

📚 BOOKS DISCUSSED
Good Enough Christian
Good Enough Parent
Before the Couch

Find Dr. Bill Senyard’s resources at gospel-app.com.

For counseling and resources, visit samaritanswell.com or email [email protected].

Follow Samaritan’s Well:
Instagram: @samaritanswell
Facebook: Samaritan’s Well Counseling
LinkedIn: Samaritan’s Well Counseling
TikTok: @samaritanswellcounseling

🎁 Free Guide: Christian Emotional Health Guide
🗞️ Join the Samaritan’s Well Newsletter

What if silence isn’t the absence of God—but the place where we learn to recognize His presence?

In this episode of Soul Sense, Mark sits down with Dr. Joshua Knabb, board-certified clinical psychologist, professor, researcher, author, and therapist, to explore Christian meditation, contemplation, stillness, and rest.

Drawing from Scripture, the Desert Christian tradition, Christian mysticism, Compassion-Focused Therapy, and research on Christian meditation, Dr. Knabb explores how ancient Christian practices can help us respond to anxiety, rumination, distraction, and our constantly connected culture.

They discuss the difference between meditation and contemplation, why we shouldn’t try to force distracting thoughts away, how to cultivate stillness, and how the Jesus Prayer—“Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me”—can help us surrender worry and rest in God's loving presence.

Dr. Knabb also shares a deeply personal story about learning to associate silence with abandonment and how discovering silence as the presence of God opened up a new experience of rest.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 — When silence feels like God's absence
01:09 — Why Dr. Knabb began studying Christian meditation
03:45 — The Desert Christians and the psychology of stillness
06:01 — Hesychia: stillness, silence, and concentration
09:34 — The danger, drive, and contentment systems
14:15 — The Cloud of Unknowing and Christian contemplation
16:08 — Meditation vs. contemplation
20:25 — Rumination and getting stuck in our thoughts
22:08 — Shifting attention instead of fighting thoughts
23:26 — What to do when your mind wanders during prayer
25:14 — A thousand opportunities to return to God's presence
27:22 — Watchfulness and the snow globe metaphor
29:44 — How contemplation can change your whole day
30:25 — Fruit of the Spirit meditation
33:52 — What does it mean to “enter into rest”?
34:01 — Smartphones, distraction, and the drive system
35:29 — When silence becomes frightening
36:14 — Discovering silence as God's presence
39:21 — “Be still” as laying down our weapons
41:10 — Christian contemplation and chronic worry
42:54 — Worry as an illusion of control
43:19 — What is “loving silence”?
43:30 — Resting in God's enduring love
45:13 — God's love that nourishes and cherishes
46:52 — The Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me”
47:33 — Jesus as the one who soothes our wounds
48:21 — Using the Jesus Prayer throughout the day
49:39 — Finding Dr. Knabb's work

Learn more about Dr. Joshua Knabb: joshuaknabb.com

For counseling and resources: samaritanswell.com

Follow Soul Sense and Samaritan’s Well Counseling for more conversations about faith, emotional health, relationships, and spiritual formation.

What if the patterns you’ve come to see as “just who I am” are actually trauma responses your brain learned for survival?

In this episode of SoulSense, Mark sits down with Dr. Deborah Gold, author of Wired for Redemption, to explore trauma, neuroscience, Scripture, and Christian healing. Dr. Gold draws on nearly 30 years of trauma work to explore how trauma can shape identity, relationships, thought patterns, and our ability to trust and hope.

They discuss Peter, Thomas, the woman at the well, Joshua and Caleb, neuroplasticity, taking thoughts captive, gratitude, and the process of renewing the mind.

They also discuss Neil Anderson’s Who I Am in Christ declarations and the importance of repeatedly speaking biblical truth over ourselves:

• I am a child of God.
• I am accepted, forgiven, and no longer condemned.
• I am chosen and loved by God.
• I belong to Christ.
• I am God’s workmanship, created for a purpose.
• I am not defined by my past or my trauma.
• I have been given power, love, and a sound mind.
• God calls me by name.
• My identity is found in Christ, not in what happened to me.

⏱️ Timestamps

00:00 – Introduction
02:15 – Trauma wires us for survival; God wired us for redemption
07:30 – Peter, the charcoal fire, and trauma
14:10 – Thomas and the fear of hoping again
24:00 – When trauma becomes mistaken for identity
30:00 – “Name it to tame it”
33:00 – Speaking truth and biblical declarations
36:30 – Neil Anderson’s Who I Am in Christ
42:00 – Trauma recovery and reprocessing
49:00 – Neuroplasticity and renewal
55:00 – Gratitude and repeated practices
58:00 – Trauma, shame, and the Garden of Eden
1:04:00 – Why unhealthy relationships can feel familiar
1:08:00 – Israel, trauma, and learning to trust
1:12:00 – Joshua and Caleb: fear and identity
1:15:00 – Jesus restores dignity before demanding performance
1:18:00 – No condemnation and the woman at the well
1:24:00 – Healing through small, repeated practices
1:27:00 – Power, love, and a sound mind
1:30:00 – Final encouragement

📖 Dr. Deborah Gold — Wired for Redemption
https://drdebgold.com

For counseling and resources:
https://samaritanswell.com

📚 Free Guide: Christian Emotional Health
https://samaritanswell.thinkific.com/products/digital_downloads/Christian-Emotional-Health-Guide

#SoulSense #TraumaHealing #ChristianCounseling #ChristianMentalHealth #Neuroplasticity #TraumaRecovery #FaithAndMentalHealth #WiredForRedemption #IdentityInChrist #RenewYourMind