We’re honored to learn from Dr. Terri Daniel about her academic work on toxic theology as a contributing factor in complicated mourning and work as an interfaith chaplain.
You can get this episode on iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or YouTube. You can also download or listen to the full podcast episode here.
We’re honored to learn from Valerie Brown about ways to cultivate hope, compassion, and mindfulness amid seasons of grief and loss. It’s the topic of her book “Hope Leans Forward: Braving Your Way Toward Simplicity, Awakening & Peace.”
Valerie Brown is a Buddhist-Quaker Dharma teacher, facilitator, and executive coach. A former lawyer and lobbyist, she is co-director of Georgetown’s Institute for Transformational Leadership as well as founder and chief mindfulness officer of Lead Smart Coaching.
In this week’s podcast, we’re honored to learn from Dr. Ken Duckworth about his fantastic book entitled “You Are Not Alone: The NAMI Guide to Navigating Mental Health.”
His book is a comprehensive guide on how to compassionately support friends, family, and loved ones in their mental health journeys. His book combines evidence-based research on what treatments work for different mental health issues, insights from renowned clinical experts, and over 130 stories from people sharing their mental health challenges, along with insights from caregivers.
It’s an all-in-one handbook that will help you grow in compassion for others with mental health challenges, as well as encouragement for those of us who struggle with emotional pain or other mental health issues. It’s definitely one of those books that everyone needs on their bookshelf.
You can get this episode on iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or YouTube. You can also download or listen to the full podcast episode here.
In this episode, Dr. Duckworth talks about:
• People want to make meaning from their suffering
• Why do people tell their stories of pain
• Common mental health issues
• The power of community (and shared stories) when addressing mental health
• Why Dr. Duckworth become a psychiatrist
• Powerful stories of mental health
• How to talk with loved ones about mental health issues
• Dr. Duckworth’s personal story of depression
• Grief vs. Depression
• Ways to deal with prolonged grief and despair
• Impact of spirituality on mental health
You can watch the full conversation on making meaning from our suffering here.
Ken Duckworth, MD is the Chief Medical Officer of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and has been the medical director since 2003. He is also assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and an adjunct clinical assistant professor of health and policy management at the Boston University School of Public Health. Dr. Duckworth has served as a board member of the American Association for Community Psychiatry and worked for years as a psychiatrist on an assertive community treatment team.
In this week’s podcast, we’re honored to learn from Amanda Held Opelt about her latest book: “A Hole in the World: Finding Hope in Rituals of Grief and Healing.” It’s a beautifully written book that explores ways to find faith and hope amid seasons of grief and suffering. It’s one of those books that I’ll be re-reading during difficult times to remind me of the hope we have in Christ (even when I’m feeling faithless).
You can get this episode on iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or YouTube. You can also download or listen to the full podcast episode here.
In this episode, Amanda talks with us about:
• On becoming a social worker and chaplain
• Helping others overcome grief, trauma and loss
• How to support a grieving friend (and what not to say)
• Listening more, saying less (and creating safe spaces)
• How faith can help you through seasons of suffering
• What the Bible tells us about grief and suffering
• Engaging with God in the midst of trauma or crisis of faith
• Spiritual rituals to connect with God
• What to do when a grieving friends doesn’t want to open up to you
• Helping grieving people who don’t ask for help
• On writing “A Hole in the World” about grief rituals around the world
• Helpful books for dealing with grief and bereavement
• The Christian concept of hope and the afterlife
• Finding meaning and hope in Ecclesiastes
Amanda Held Opelt is an author, speaker, and songwriter. She writes about faith, grief, and creativity, and believes in the power of community, ritual, worship and shared stories to heal even our deepest wounds. Amanda has spent the last 15 years as a social worker and humanitarian aid worker. She lives in the mountains of Boone, North Carolina with her husband and young two daughters.
How we understand our Bible can depend on our cultural viewpoints, church traditions, theological background, and personal experiences.
Our view of Scripture can also be largely shaped by any sort of trauma we’ve experienced (and this includes trauma inflicted on us by spiritual leaders and/or churches).
In today’s podcast, we’re honored to learn from Dr. Thema Bryant-Davis about how trauma impacts us, ways to overcome the silent stigma of mental health at church, ways to see gender oppression in our denominations, how to better read and understand traumatic stories in Bible (especially when the offender is seen as the Biblical hero), and ways that we can better love and care for trauma survivors in our life.
Dr. Thema also provides key insights into ways to read several traumatic Bible stories; including: The Story Hagar, The Trauma & Silencing of Tamar, and seeing Bathsheba as victim (instead of David’s seductress).
These disturbing and traumatic stories in Scripture are tough (and not easy for any of us to read). Dr. Thema Bryant-Davis shares powerful insights on the types of questions we should be asking ourselves when we encounter trauma in the Bible. Her empathetic and healing approach to read these tough passages in our Bibles will forever change the way you read and discuss these stories with others.
Dr. Thema Bryant-Davis is a licensed psychologist, ordained minister, and sacred artist who has worked nationally and globally to provide relief and empowerment to marginalized persons. Dr. Thema, a professor at Pepperdine University, is a past president of the Society for the Psychology of Women. Her contributions to psychological research, policy, and practice have been honored by national and regional psychological associations. You can follow her on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. You should also subscribe to the Homecoming Podcast, focused on providing you with weekly inspiration and health tips.
I pray this conversation encourages us to become more empathetic readers of our Bibles and help us to love and care for the trauma victims in our own lives.
Please be aware that this podcast episode includes conversations on assault and abuse in the Bible, which may be hurtful and/or upsetting.
You can subscribe or download this episode on iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe to the video series on YouTube.
It’s been a tragic and painful year for many of us.
We’re watching a suffering world in the midst of a global pandemic, while also seeing the increased visibility of violence, discrimination and hate towards Black, Indigenous and people of color.
And, most recently, we’ve been witnessing increased violence toward our Asian communities, which has disproportionately hurt Asian women and elders.
It’s a troubling and sad reminder of the many systemic sins in our society, and that we (the Christian church) have a responsibility to be actively involved in the healing process.
As a quick reminder, we discussed ways for Christians to get involved in racial justice and care for our Asian American communities with Dr. Russell Jeung, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate, in episode 21.
In the midst of all the pain and tragedy around us, it can be very difficult to pray.
Sadly, it’s much easier for me to get angry and resentful, rather than moved to silence before God. It’s a sinful struggle for me, which results in prolonging my own pain and sadness.
So how do we pray when in pain?
Well, I have found much-needed spiritual insights on how to pray during dark and difficult seasons from the writings of Reverend Tish Harrison Warren.
Reverend Warren is the author of the book entitled “Prayer in the Night: For Those Who Work or Watch or Weep” — and she addresses ways to pray when we’re grieving, lamenting or angry at God.
It’s a helpful and honest book on ways to navigate our darkest seasons. Those times when we doubt. Those times when we feel uncared for by God. Those times when we’re angry, overwhelmed with grief, and possibly even feeling hopeless.
Tish Harrison Warren teaches us how to pray through sharing her personal stories of deep pain and traumatic experiences. She honestly discusses her personal feelings during these periods, along with the struggle of needing to be a priest, comforter and spiritual director for others. This book is an inside look at how a spiritual leader copes with pain and trauma, and filled with practical insights to help guide us during our own dark seasons.
Spirituality & Social Justice
