by Rhett Smith | Apr 12, 2013 | Men
Here’s an interesting video excerpt from Terry Real on working with men in therapy. Specifically around the issue of grandiosity. Terrence Real writes: To understand the importance of leverage, you have to understand grandiosity, especially male grandiosity....
by Rhett Smith | Apr 11, 2013 | Anxiety
“We live in a culture that says you can do anything and everything you want to do, and it provides you with choices and possibilities that are endless. That creates a lot of anxiety for a lot of people. But as we embrace our possibilities we must also live...
by Rhett Smith | Apr 10, 2013 | Marriage
In this clip, marriage researcher and therapist John Gottman talks about the “four horsemen of the apocalypse” — which are predictors of divorce. In this video he deals specifically with the issue of contempt. Gottman states that not only is contempt...
by Rhett Smith | Apr 9, 2013 | Anxiety
Intentional = done on purpose; deliberate. On the first morning of The Hideaway Experience four-day marriage intensive we start off with a devotional from John 5:1-9. The passage of scripture reads like this: Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the...
by Rhett Smith | Apr 8, 2013 | Intentional Living
Most of us in fact, never “get it together!” We never get ourselves together. Instead we go through life frustrated and dissipated, letting our restless energies push us in one direction, then in another, never quite able to settle down, to figure out what we want to...
by Rhett Smith | Apr 5, 2013 | Intentional Living
Parker Palmer has written one of my all-time favorite books — one that I re-read every year — Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation. Powerful…powerful book, and one that I have written on quite a bit over the years.
by Rhett Smith | Apr 4, 2013 | Men
“When a father tells a child that he can do something, he can do it. I don’t know why that is, except to say that there is some mysterious energy that passes from the male to his children. It is some sort of creative energy that can make things be when...
by Rhett Smith | Apr 3, 2013 | Anxiety
“In many circumstances, as we experience anxiety, we may be tempted not to face it. We may be tempted to turn the other way and not acknowledge that it is there. But if God uses anxiety in our lives as a way to help us grow, then we must not turn away from it....
by Rhett Smith | Apr 2, 2013 | Faith
I love this video clip of Henri Nouwen preaching (this is a short clip — 8 minutes and 55 seconds — well worth your time). His many books have been influential in my personal life and in my work as a pastor and therapist. Here we get a good sense of what...
by Rhett Smith | Apr 1, 2013 | Men
“Little boys and little girls start off with similar psychological profiles. They are equally emotional, expressive, and dependent, equally desirous of physical affection. At the youngest ages, both boys and girls are more like a stereotypical girl. If any differences...
by Rhett Smith | Mar 29, 2013 | Anxiety
“Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom.” — Soren Kierkegaard in The Concept of Anxiety When I first read those words from the existential philosopher Soren Kierkegaard my heart literally leapt out of my chest. Finally a statement that resonated a lot...
by Rhett Smith | Mar 28, 2013 | Marriage
“Thanks to a series of influential research studies, the things people who succeed in intimate relationships do differently from those who fail have been discovered by researchers. One of the most important differences involves how people react when they...
by Rhett Smith | Mar 27, 2013 | Anxiety
“According to recent brain studies, we are literally stuck in a rut: As a result, we choose our most instinctual coping behavior when certain feelings arise. We often choose this path because it is also the direction that confronts us with the least...
by Rhett Smith | Mar 26, 2013 | Therapy Practice
One of the books that I have really enjoyed reading over the years because of my interest in the integration of theology and psychology, especially pertaining to pastoral counseling in the context of the Christian community is Theology and Pastoral Counseling: A New...
by Rhett Smith | Mar 25, 2013 | Anxiety
“One of the reasons we experience anxiety is that God is persistently trying to move us through the wilderness, because it is in the wilderness that we are most dependent up on Him.” (The Anxious Christian, pp. 45). About 15 years while I was reading...
