Tag Archive - therapists

Some Observations on Social Media and the Emerging World of Therapy and Pastoral Counseling

November 30, 2009 in Marriage-Family, Ministry-Theology, Technology-Social Media, Therapy-Psychology with 3 Comments

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[image by Ben Zvan]

I’ve been thinking a lot about the topic of social media and the role of therapists (pastoral counselors) in the midst of it. There is a large percentage of therapists who thinks being online should be super limited, if online at all. And there is an emerging demographic of therapists who are making a splash online and venturing forth to help people in some unprecedented ways. As I work through these things myself, I just wanted to share 3 areas that I have some observations about.

Online Social Media As Catalyst for Face to Face Therapy
Back in July of 2009 I was invited by Tony Steward to come to LifeChurch.tv and film four short videos on depression that correlated with their At the Movies series. It was a great opportunity to work with Tony and the team at LifeChurch.tv; to experiment with online technology/social media around the topic of depression; and to see how online accessibility affected my work as a therapist and a counselor.

Several things came out of our time together that are continuing to blossom, and I’m learning a great deal about combining my work as a therapist in an online medium. One of the real beautiful stories that emerged out of that experience was that I was contacted on Twitter by someone who had come across my video and said “I felt like you were speaking directly to me…yet, you didn’t know me.” That video, led to a Tweet, to an email conversation, to face to face therapy. That’s an amazing story I think.

I continue to receive emails from those videos I shot, and I also continue to follow up on people’s progress who emailed me on Facebook about things they were going through.

We will continue to see social media as a catalyst to help get people into therapy–either face to face in person, or face to face online.

Being Accessible to Help
One of the things about being online, present on Twitter, Facebook or a blog is that you present the image of being accessible. I say present the image of being accessible because not everyone online is accessible. Continue Reading…

MyTherapistMatch: Clearing the Connection Hurdle Between Client and Therapist

November 11, 2009 in Marriage-Family, Technology-Social Media, Therapy-Psychology with 0 Comments

home_featured_content_img1Finding a therapist can be a very daunting process for many people. Finding a good therapist can be even more daunting.

This last summer I posted What to Look for in a Therapist and How to Find a Good Therapist hoping that my thoughts on the issue might benefit some people who find themselves in the midst of this process.

It seems that everyday more and more tools are coming out that are helping bridge that connection between therapist and client. In fact, I was pointed to this site MyTherapistMatch by one of my good friends, and I decided to take the questionairre myself to see what kind of therapist would be matched up with me.

The 79 question survey took me about 5 minutes to complete. I didn’t receive back any results for therapists in my area, but that didn’t surprise me because 1) I live up in Frisco and there are less therapists up there than say Dallas and Plano. 2) The site is still in beta so I’m sure it will take a little while for the site to be populated with therapist referrals. But I love the idea and see this is as one great tool in the search for a therapist.

If you are a person looking for a therapist I would recommend you try it out and see what results you get. And if you are a therapist, I would recommend checking out and seeing what they can do for you.

Check out the video below on why Corey Quinn decided to create this site:

Of Course Christians Can Be Depressed

July 26, 2009 in Ministry-Theology, Therapy-Psychology with 5 Comments

A couple of different times this week people brought (thanks @justinwise and @witheringfig) this article to my attention, Can ‘Real’ Christians Be Depressed?

And of course, I say EMPHATICALLY YES! (Plus, I’m not really sure what they mean by ‘real’ Christians anyways). By the way, it’s a good article, and I’m glad they wrote it.

If you know me, know my writing, or have seen any of my posts this last week then you know that I think depression is a huge issue, and that it affects all kinds of people, regardless of race, culture, sex, religion, etc. It knows no boundaries and we are all susceptible to it.

It does not matter if one has a strong faith, or a weak faith, depression can strike at anytime. It doesn’t matter if you pray everyday, or pray every once in a while, depression can strike anytime. It doesn’t matter if you go to church, memorize the Bible and do door to door evangelism…yes, depression can strike anytime.

There are plenty of examples in Scripture where God’s people…prophets, kings, disciples were brought to a place of what looks like depression. To places at times where they didn’t even want to go on with life.

I think that we do a disservice to people when we excuse their depression as simply spiritual, or we treat them as if all they need to do is read their Bible more. As I said before, if I have a heart problem, I’m going to go talk with someone who has been trained to know the inner and outer workings of the heart. If I have cancer, I’m going to go see a specialist who knows about cancer. And if I have depression, then I want to talk with someone who takes me seriously and knows how to treat depression.

Does God, the Bible, our spiritual lives, have a role in depression? Sure! They can be all great sources of comfort and encouragement, especially in dark times. And ultimately, if we are Christians, we place our faith, trust and hope in Christ, and that he is the great healer. But I also think God has created us to help one another, and he has gifted many people with certain skills to help people in certain times. So why not in depression then?

Let me get down off my soapbox now and leave you with a quote from the article that I particularly liked.

Depression should be treated and can be put into remission through a course of psychoanalysis, cognitive therapy and/or antidepressant medication, supplemented by healthy doses of prayer within a loving Christian community. It is nonsensical to tell a depressed person that if he only read his Bible more or had better quiet times, his depression would surely be lifted. That would be like telling a diabetic that faith alone will regulate her insulin levels. Faith alone gives eternal salvation, but in the meantime, God has given us resources by which to make our temporal existences more palatable. Depression is certainly healed by the grace of God, sometimes directly and miraculously, but more often through the tools of His servants, like pharmacists, therapists, pastors and friends.

So what do you think?

Depression: Soren Kierkegaard on Actuality, Freedom and Possibility

July 22, 2009 in Ministry-Theology, Technology-Social Media, Therapy-Psychology with 1 Comment

Today, LifeChurch.tv posted the third of four videos that I shot with them on depression. Monday’s video was An Anchor in the Journey-Exodus 17:1. Tuesday’s video was Depression-At the Movies continued. Today’s video is Walking Through Depression. In today’s video I share about the prophet Elijah wanting to die, and actually asking God to take his life away.

Sometimes our depression becomes so severe that we just can’t even function. It evolves into an anguish that is difficult to cope with at times, and sometimes we wonder if we can move on. That is a difficult place to be, and it is not uncommon among humanity.

One of the things I have been reading a lot about recently is the issue of anxiety, and how anxiety lies between our knowledge of possibilities, and actuality. This is something that Kierkegaard talks a lot about, and I think he has some good things to say on the topic of depression.

kierkegaardKierkegaard is one of my favorite writers, thinkers, philosophers, theologians, and psychologists. Ever since reading Fear and Trembling when I was 22 he has continued to profoundly shape my life and thinking.

So it is not surprising that in the book Depression and Hope by Howard W. Stone, that it is Kierkegaard that has something to say to us on this issue. Let me quote at length the following passage from the book:

Soren Kierkegaard’s understanding of persons–for our purposes depressed persons–also helps us understand hope. In The Sickness Unto Death, he describes persons as possessors of actuality, freedom, and possibility. All three are a part of the authentic self, and a good relationship of all three is necessary for authentic existence. Actuality refers primarily to the past; it includes our context, our psychological predispositions, and choices we have previously made.

Freedom is what we have in the present. It is a finite freedom, exercised within the limits of our situation and abilities, our givens and past choices. Because of our actualities we cannot simply become whatever we want to be ‘if we try hard enough for it.’ We make choices, and act, from the range of options available to us.

Possibility addresses the future. It is what we can become as we use our freedom. In that respect our possibilities are not predetermined. We are not automatons. We can imagine, and within the givens of life we can become something new. Living as an authentic self, according to Kierkegaard, means looking beyond our immediate necessities or past liabilities. We anticipate the future with the awareness that we are free–however limited–to actualize whom we ought to become as faithful Christians and to take responsibility for shaping that future. Continue Reading…

Two Blogging Resources

July 6, 2009 in Marriage-Family, Technology-Social Media with 1 Comment

One of the things that I want to do during these 100 posts in 100 days series is to point you to some resources (books, articles, therapists, conferences, blogs, etc.)

There are some great blogs written by some great therapists out there. Two local therapists that I have had the privilege of hanging out with is Jennifer Ryan and Corey Allan. They have some great blogs.

Jennifer Ryan has the blog I Choose Change
–You can also follow on Twitter at @ichoosechange

Corey Allan has the blog Simple Marriage
–You can also follow on Twitter at @simplemarriage

Check out their material.

How to Find a Good Therapist

June 29, 2009 in Marriage-Family, Technology-Social Media with 2 Comments

I have found that there are a lot of people that are wanting to go to therapy, or at least try it out, but they are really unsure of how to go about finding a good therapist. There are several ways to go about this that I want to share with you, and then I’m curious of your own methods in doing this.

Reputation
This is a really good way to find a therapist. And by reputation, I mean those therapist’s names that you have heard before, or recommended by others before, or that keep seeming to come up for good reasons. Anytime you are situated in a community (church, social, work, family) there are certain names, in certain professions or services that one tends to hear over and over again. That’s what I mean by reputation. There is a therapist in Phoenix, AZ and a couple in Pasadena, CA that I continually refer people to over and over again because of reputation.

Personal Referral
This is a really strong indicator of finding a good therapist, and even stronger motivator for often taking that extra step needed to get people in the door. This is the recommendation that comes from a personal friend or family member. More often than not, the person who makes this recommendation has been to see this person in therapy themselves, or is connected with others who have. I think a lot of therapists build strong referral bases primarily on this source of recommendation.

Authority Figure
It is pretty well known that pastors, doctors, psychiatrists, et cetera can be great sources for referrals for people who are looking for a therapist. These professions, and ones like them have had a strong history of providing names of good therapists for people. I know many church attenders who wouldn’t think of asking anyone but their pastor, or some person on their church staff about where to find a good therapist.

Social Media Crowdsourcing
This is probably not as well known, but I think will slowly begin to replace the more traditional methods of therapy recommendations. By crowdsourcing I am referring to the practice of going online and asking people’s opinions via Twitter, Facebook, blogs, etc. I think this practice will gain strength very quickly. A form of this has been the popular chat groups and sites on Yahoo, forums populated by “mommy bloggers”, etc. This is the most common way that people ask my recommendation about finding a therapist, especially in other states. Continue Reading…

Four Areas Church Employees Need to Rethink: Part 3–Modeling Boundary Setting

May 4, 2009 in Marriage-Family, Ministry-Theology with 2 Comments

So I have been writing a few posts (will be 4 in all) on some areas that I think church employees need to rethink, or at best, at least address.

Now I’m not writing these posts cause I have done all these things right, rather I am writing them because I have failed in all of them and have had to rethink them myself. Hopefully I get smarter the longer I do ministry.

If you haven’t noticed, most of them revolve around two key areas: 1) volunteers/those who serve who aren’t “employed”; 2) time management/time priorities.

My first post was on Meetings and my second post was on Volunteer Expectations.

This brings me to my third.

MODELING BOUNDARY SETTING
When I speak of boundaries I could talk about all kinds of them, but I’m focusing on the boundaries you model in regards to your time priorities.

I hear more and more church leaders (and I’m one of them) who have often complained about the time priorities that those in the congregation have. In fact, more than likely you will hear at some point a pastor exhort the members of the church to be better parents and spend time with their kids, or be a better spouse and spend time with one another. We are really good at telling others how to manage their time, and what areas to prioritize it…especially from the pulpit. But we are not so good at doing it ourselves.

I have made the comment that two of the worst professions I have ever seen in regards to time priorities are pastors and therapists. Which is ironic since they are always telling others how to do it. I’m both of those professions…so I don’t know what says about me (I’m in trouble). We tend to have a “do as I say, not as I do” mentality when we pastor. Continue Reading…