Today's Scripture: Mark 2:1–12

Sometimes you can pray, hope, and keep moving forward. And sometimes you simply can’t carry it all by yourself. Today's Scripture is powerful picture of what healing can look like in community—and a reminder that needing someone else to hold hope with you is not a failure of faith. You'll learn:

*The loneliness of self-sufficiency

*What the friends in Mark 2 teach us about shared faith

*Why healing is often an interdependent rather than solitary process

*How to distinguish sacred support from unsafe vulnerability

*What it means to let someone carry a corner of your mat without asking them to fix you

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While Dr. Cook is a counselor, the content of this podcast and any of the products provided by Dr. Cook are not specific counseling advice nor are they a substitute for individual counseling. The content and products provided on this podcast are for informational purposes only.‍

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Today's Scripture: Proverbs 18:10

When fear rises, where do you run? We often reach instinctively for overthinking, control, numbing, busyness, or escape. But Scripture gives us another image. Today, we’ll explore what it means to run to the name of the Lord—not as a spiritual formula or magic phrase, but as a return to the character and presence of a God who is strong enough to hold what scares us. You'll learn:

*Why fear often sends us toward overthinking, control, or escape

*What Scripture actually means by “the name of the Lord”

*Why saying “in Jesus’ name” isn’t an incantation

*How God can become a secure base when safety has felt complicated

*How to recognize your old shelters and return to refuge instead of shame

Go Deeper: For more on returning to God as a source of safety, check out The Secure Soul⁠—it will be in your hands tomorrow, and you'll still get all the bonus items when you order this week.

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While Dr. Cook is a counselor, the content of this podcast and any of the products provided by Dr. Cook are not specific counseling advice nor are they a substitute for individual counseling. The content and products provided on this podcast are for informational purposes only.‍

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Today's Scripture: Hebrews 2:14–18

Sometimes fear doesn’t feel like fear. It looks like staying ahead, planning for every possibility, holding people tightly, or never quite letting yourself rest. Hebrews 2 names a deeper fear beneath much of our striving: the fear of loss and death.

Today, we’ll explore how that fear quietly shapes our lives—and why Jesus frees us to loosen our grip and live more fully.

*How fear of loss can disguise itself as responsibility or control

*Why avoiding what we fear can actually give it more power

*The “smaller deaths” we brace against in everyday life

*What Jesus’ death and resurrection mean for the things we fear losing

*How to loosen your grip without pretending you’re not afraid

Go Deeper:

For more on your Inner Controller check out The Secure Soul

Episode 41: Boundaries with Fear and Anxiety

Episode 167: Can I Pray My Anxiety Away?

Connect with Dr. Alison on Instagram: @dralisoncook

Join 80,000+ Soul Menders in Dr. Alison’s free email community for ongoing reflection and support.

While Dr. Cook is a counselor, the content of this podcast and any of the products provided by Dr. Cook are not specific counseling advice nor are they a substitute for individual counseling. The content and products provided on this podcast are for informational purposes only.‍

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What if the way you pray has more to do with your attachment patterns than you realize?

In this episode, Dr. Alison shares how her own prayer life changed as she became more securely attached—and the surprising shift that she didn’t understand at first. We’ll look at what attachment theory can teach us about the way we experience closeness, why deeply feeling or anxiously attached parts of us may equate intensity with love, and how healing can lead to a steadier, more integrated way of relating—with other people and with God.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

More Resources:

With every purchase of Dr. Alison’s newest book, The Secure Soul, you’ll get exclusive access to her Soul Tending Video Library, including  “Boundaries for the Deeply Feeling Woman” and her masterclass “Healing the Wounds That Still Shape You.”

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📖 Find a full transcript and list of resources from this episode here

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Today's Scripture: Isaiah 42:1–4

Sometimes you’re not falling apart—you’re simply bruised. You’re still functioning and showing up, but certain places inside feel tender, weary, or easily overwhelmed.

Today, we’ll explore what it means to receive God’s gentleness in the places where you’re hurting.

*Why being tender doesn’t mean you’re weak
*How hurt can cause us to guard or criticize vulnerable parts of ourselves
*What the bruised reed reveals about the character of Jesus
*Why God’s strength and gentleness belong together
*One way to treat your own soul with greater tenderness today

Go Deeper: If you’re learning how to meet yourself with more compassion, explore the Soul Tending video library at TheSecureSoulBook.com.

Connect with Dr. Alison on Instagram: @dralisoncook

Join 80,000+ Soul Menders in Dr. Alison’s free email community for ongoing reflection and support.

While Dr. Cook is a counselor, the content of this podcast and any of the products provided by Dr. Cook are not specific counseling advice nor are they a substitute for individual counseling. The content and products provided on this podcast are for informational purposes only.‍

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Today's Scripture: Matthew 9:9-13

Shame tells you to hide the parts of yourself that feel messy, reactive, needy, or disappointing. But Jesus does the opposite of what we often expect: He moves toward Matthew before Matthew has cleaned up his life. Today, we’ll look at what this story reveals about the heart of God and why the places you most want to hide may be the very places where mercy wants to meet you.

*Why Jesus didn’t wait for Matthew to become respectable

*How shame teaches us to hide the parts of ourselves that need care

*Why God’s holiness moves toward human need rather than away from it

*The difference between mercy and spiritually proving yourself

*How to let Jesus meet you in a place you don’t feel proud of

Go Deeper: Check out our Soul Tending Video Resource library all about tending the wounds within—it's free when you preorder The Secure Soul

Connect with Dr. Alison on Instagram: @dralisoncook

Join 80,000+ Soul Menders in Dr. Alison’s free email community for ongoing reflection and support.

While Dr. Cook is a counselor, the content of this podcast and any of the products provided by Dr. Cook are not specific counseling advice nor are they a substitute for individual counseling. The content and products provided on this podcast are for informational purposes only

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Today's Scripture: Psalm 30:1–5

Sometimes the hardest part of a painful season isn’t simply surviving it—it’s discovering that joy still feels far away even after the worst has passed. In Psalm 30, David makes room for both realities: the night is real, and it doesn’t get the final word.

Today, we’ll explore why joy can feel risky after grief or disappointment and how to begin receiving goodness again without denying what still hurts. You'll learn:

*Why Psalm 30 doesn’t minimize grief or rush you toward happiness

*Why prolonged hardship can make joy harder to receive

*How joy and grief can exist together

*Why some parts of you may feel safer expecting disappointment

*A gentle practice for noticing one small sign of “morning” today

Go Deeper: Share this episode with someone who needs to hear that sorrow is real, but it isn’t the end of the story.

Connect with Dr. Alison on Instagram: @dralisoncook

Join 80,000+ Soul Menders in Dr. Alison’s free email community for ongoing reflection and support.

While Dr. Cook is a counselor, the content of this podcast and any of the products provided by Dr. Cook are not specific counseling advice nor are they a substitute for individual counseling. The content and products provided on this podcast are for informational purposes only.‍

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Today's Scripture: 1 Corinthians 12:14–26

What do you do when you feel like you don’t belong — or when you’ve learned to protect yourself by pretending you don’t need anyone? Today’s Scripture gives us Paul’s picture of the body, where every part matters and no part can say, “I don’t belong” or “I don’t need you.” This episode helps you recognize the strategies you use around belonging, stop measuring your worth by comparison, and practice showing up in the body as someone who is already needed and loved.

You’ll learn:

*Why feeling like you don’t belong does not make it true

*How exclusion can register in the body like real pain

*Why some of us try to earn belonging while others avoid it

*How community helps regulate what we were never meant to carry alone

*One small way to let someone else show up for you today

Go Deeper: Pick up The Secure Soul and the Companion Guide to go deeper into repairing old attachment wounds and returning to love.

Connect with Dr. Alison on Instagram: @dralisoncook

Join 80,000+ Soul Menders in Dr. Alison’s free email community for ongoing reflection and support.

While Dr. Cook is a counselor, the content of this podcast and any of the products provided by Dr. Cook are not specific counseling advice nor are they a substitute for individual counseling. The content and products provided on this podcast are for informational purposes only.‍

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What happens when the faith that once held you no longer feels like it can carry the questions you’re asking now?

You may still love God. You don’t want to leave your faith behind. But the beliefs, practices, or ways of relating to God that once sustained you begin to feel too small for the life you’re living.

In this week’s conversation, Dr. Alison is joined by bestselling author, psychotherapist, and spiritual director Ian Morgan Cron to explore the tender space between silencing your questions and burning everything down.

Through Ian’s brand-new novel Chasing Francis, they discuss how a crisis of faith can become an invitation to spiritual growth, deeper intimacy with God, and a faith that is more fully your own.

Your questions do not necessarily mean that you are losing your faith.

They may be an invitation to examine what you inherited, hold on to what is true, and allow God to build something deeper.

As Ian reminds us, sometimes the work is not forcing yourself back into a previous expression of faith. It is asking:

What is the invitation here?

You can now preorder Dr. Alison’s newest book, The Secure Soul, and immediately receive the first 3 chapters as well as early access to the companion guide!

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Curious what Family Role may have shaped you? Take the Family Role Quiz to learn how you may be showing up in your relationships with others.

📖 Find a full transcript and list of resources from this episode here

Don't forget to browse this week's sponsors, who make it possible for me to bring you these resources for free + provide you with additional discounts!

*Some of the links above are Amazon affiliate links. If you choose to purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

While Dr. Cook is a counselor, the content of this podcast and any of the products provided by Dr. Cook are not specific counseling advice nor are they a substitute for individual counseling. The content and products provided on this podcast are for informational purposes only.‍

You’ll explore:
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Today's Scripture: 2 Samuel 9:1–8
What do you do when shame tells you that you are too damaged, too much, or too far behind to belong? Today’s Scripture tells the story of a wounded man who is hiding, and King David’s kindness that brings him back to the table. This episode helps you recognize the hiding place inside your soul, receive kindness without self-evisceration, and begin to trust that belonging can meet you wounds and all.

You’ll learn:
*Why shame drives us into hiding and withdrawal
*How belonging can feel threatening when your history with power has been painful
*Why kindness often has to be received repeatedly over time
*How wounded younger parts of us learn to stay hidden
*What it means to believe the seat at the table is actually yours

Go Deeper:

Listen to the daily episode on Mark 5: When Your Pain Becomes Your Identity: How Jesus Gives You a New Name

Episode 160: When You Feel Unwanted—Meeting the Parts of You That Long to Belong with IFS Therapist Tammy Sollenberger

Connect with Dr. Alison on Instagram: @dralisoncook

Join 80,000+ Soul Menders in Dr. Alison’s free email community for ongoing reflection and support.

While Dr. Cook is a counselor, the content of this podcast and any of the products provided by Dr. Cook are not specific counseling advice nor are they a substitute for individual counseling. The content and products provided on this podcast are for informational purposes only.‍

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices