by Rhett Smith | Mar 21, 2019 | Podcast, Restoration Therapy
In this episode I spend some time in conversation with Terry and Sharon Hargrave. Terry is the founder of Restoration Therapy and is the Evelyn and Frank Freed Professor of Marriage and Family Therapy at Fuller Theological Seminary and Sharon is the Executive Director...
by Rhett Smith | Mar 4, 2019 | Intentional Living, Podcast
“for dust you are and to dust you will return.” (Genesis 3:19) In this episode I reflect on the passage found in Genesis 3:19 that is repeated every Ash Wednesday. It’s a beautiful, but harrowing passage that reminds us of just how fragile and short our...
by Rhett Smith | Feb 28, 2019 | Intentional Living, Podcast
And he said, “Hagar, slave-girl, of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” Genesis 16:8 Where have you come from? Where are you going? Perhaps these are two of the most important and fundamental questions we can ask ourselves. I...
by Rhett Smith | May 19, 2018 | Depression, Restoration Therapy
I have written extensively on various ways to work with people who are struggling with anxiety, but I find that working with people who are struggling with depression, to be quite different, and more difficult. The main factor that I have experienced is in the level...
by Rhett Smith | May 19, 2018 | Depression, Restoration Therapy
Discerning Depression I have written extensively on anxiety, especially on my own anxiety, focusing on the roots of it and how Restoration Therapy has really helped me transform it into a life-giving force. But when it comes to depression I have not written as much on...
by Rhett Smith | May 19, 2018 | Depression, Restoration Therapy
Often, when someone expresses anxiety in the context of the Church or Christian community, more than likely they will hear somebody, at some point, recite the famous words of the apostle Paul in Philippians 4:6. “Do not be anxious….” is the beginning...
by Rhett Smith | Apr 22, 2018 | Depression, Restoration Therapy
The Depression Equation I am a big believer in the equation that insight + practice = transformation. In fact, in an earlier post on anxiety I shared the same equation, highlighting Angela Duckworth’s work on the concept of deliberate practice in her work. In...
by Rhett Smith | Apr 22, 2018 | Depression, Restoration Therapy
Reframing Depression “What if this depression you are experiencing is helping inform you about your life? What if we listen to it together, it may give us some clues about what is going on with your life. Maybe it will give us some direction about what kind of...
by Rhett Smith | Apr 22, 2018 | Depression, Restoration Therapy
What Is Underneath Depression Like anxiety, one of the most difficult aspects of depression is trying to figure out what are the underlying roots of it. But without properly identifying its underlying roots it’s possible that one may see depression simply as a...
by Rhett Smith | Apr 22, 2018 | Depression, Restoration Therapy
When serving in ministry there are many opportunities to come in to contact with people who are depressed. I say this, because churches are often what I refer to as the “gatekeepers” in mental health, therefore, those employed or volunteering in ministry...
by Rhett Smith | Feb 27, 2018 | Anxiety, Restoration Therapy
“Deliberate practice is a behavior, and flow is an experience.” Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth When I was 21 years old and sitting alone in my college apartment, full of anxiety, but knowing my life needed to change, I had...
by Rhett Smith | Feb 15, 2018 | Anxiety, Restoration Therapy
In October of 2016 I spoke at the first ever Restoration Therapy Summit on the topic of anxiety and fear in the Restoration Therapy model, and more specifically, trying to differentiate between what exactly is anxiety, and what is fear. I even recorded a Part 1 and...
by Rhett Smith | Jan 17, 2018 | Intentional Living, Podcast
One of the things that happens at the beginning of every year, or at the start of a major transition, is that you see people setting goals. If you were like me you probably thought about all the goals you wanted to achieve in the New Year, and you might have even...
by Rhett Smith | Jan 10, 2018 | Anxiety, Podcast
The new near can bring forth a lot of varying emotions from people. In my experience, a large number of people come into the new year very excited about change and all the potential possibilities that await them. It’s often a time to start anew. But there is...
by Rhett Smith | Dec 14, 2017 | Anxiety, Restoration Therapy
Working with Anxious Clients There are a lot of ways that one can work with anxious people, but I have found over the years a very helpful process that I would like to share with you. With any process it’s best that you make it your own and use what is helpful...
by Rhett Smith | Dec 14, 2017 | Anxiety, Restoration Therapy
The Anxiety Equation In an earlier post I wrote about a very powerful and transformative therapy experience I had back in 2010. It was one of those therapy sessions where insight was enough to create change. Or at least I should say, the insight alone was enough to...
by Rhett Smith | Dec 14, 2017 | Anxiety, Restoration Therapy
Reframing The Meaning of Anxiety in the Bible “I am here, in your office to see you because I didn’t feel like there was anyone else I could talk to about my anxiety.” I hear some form of this statement quite often in my office. And it most...
by Rhett Smith | Dec 14, 2017 | Anxiety, Restoration Therapy
Anxiety Changed My Life Back in 2011 when I was doing some reading and research for my book The Anxious Christian, I came across a sentence in Rollo May’s book, The Meaning of Anxiety that really resonated with what I was thinking about in regards to anxiety. In...
by Rhett Smith | Dec 14, 2017 | Anxiety, Restoration Therapy
What Is Underneath the Anxiety One of the most difficult things about anxiety is trying to define its roots. In an earlier post I wrote about the challenge of trying to define it, but in this post I want to explore more in depth what the underlying roots are that...
by Rhett Smith | Nov 30, 2017 | Marriage, Podcast
Often when I’m working with someone in session I try to think of visual and tangible ways that they can remember some of the things that we are processing together. And what I have noticed a lot about relational interactions is that there tends to be this...
