Dr. Hoard is a licensed counselor in Kansas, Missouri, and Indiana and holds a doctoral degree in Counselor Education and Supervision from Regent University. He is presently a psychoanalytic psychotherapy candidate in the Greater Kansas City Psychoanalytic Institute and has received specialized training and credentialing in working with adolescents with sexual behavior problems. He was appointed by the state of Kansas鈥� Secretary of Corrections to the state鈥檚 Multi-Disciplinary Team, which is responsible for evaluating potential sexually violent predators. He has provided mental health counseling and clinical supervision in the United States, Ukraine, and Turkey. His research and scholarly work primarily focuses on the intersection of perpetration trauma, sexuality, white-body supremacy, and adolescent mental health.

鈥淧aul connected well with students and staff throughout the interview process and revealed a very creative style in engaging scholarship and integrative thinking,鈥� said Dr. J. Derek McNeil, President of 天美视频. 鈥淚 am deeply grateful for the energy and experience he will bring to our school.鈥�

Dr. Hoard, as a鈥渢hird-culture鈥� kid who spent much of his childhood in Turkey, will bring a unique perspective and set of experiences to our school. His therapeutic work with sex offenders will also add a different perspective on trauma that will be unique to the faculty. He has expressed an investment in justice and healing, which has given him a growing desire to engage the complex dynamics of the society within the classroom.

鈥淎s a new faculty member, I am eager to experience and engage the unique culture of 天美视频; to find how my voice will resonate with the rhythms of the community and the many opportunities to listen and learn from students, staff, and faculty,鈥� said Dr. Hoard.

Paul, his wife Mary, and three children will be moving from Kansas City, Kansas to make the Pacific Northwest their new home.

Learn more about Dr. Paul Hoard.

The post 天美视频 Hires Dr. Paul Hoard as Assistant Professor of Counseling Psychology appeared first on 天美视频 of Theology & Psychology.

The MA in Counseling Psychology with a Concentration in Psychoanalytic Psychology: British Object Relations, to be available in Fall 2021 to enrolled students, offers experiential learning about early childhood development as it occurs in real-time. Through infant observation, students gain a foundational understanding of British Object Relations theory, a psychoanalytic modality that places one鈥檚 earliest mental formations as central to how a person comes to relate to themselves, the world, and others.

鈥淚 am pleased to announce that 天美视频 is offering a new concentration in Psychoanalytic Psychology,鈥� said , President of 天美视频. 鈥淭he British Object Relations (BOR) frame allows us to better understand early childhood patterns of attachment and how we might connect with significant others in our lives. Alongside our work with the concentration in Trauma & Abuse, we believe this concentration strengthens our ability to fulfill our mission of healing and the transforming of relationships.鈥�

The Concentration in Psychoanalytic Psychology will be taught in partnership with the which is a training center for psychoanalytic psychotherapy with the aim 鈥渋ncrease the knowledge and application of British Object Relations theory, integrating this with current developments in psychoanalytic thinking and parent鈥搃nfant study and research.鈥�

“British Object Relations is for people who are interested in reading and exploring their emotional experiences, being stimulated both emotionally and intellectually, and especially to open our experiences to each other,鈥� said , Associate Professor of Counseling Psychology at 天美视频. 鈥淣ot in a hierarchical way of those who are on the inside and those who are on the outside, nor ‘let’s make nice and be sweet,’ but in an honest way, open to very complex pains and suffering. Today, for so many people, as Meltzer said, it is a life of surviving and actually never suffering the terrible pains and shames we have experienced. I feel deep gratitude for the British Object Relations tradition and particularly to the people whose shoulders I stand on.”

The Concentration in Psychoanalytic Psychology: British Object Relations is designed to be completed concurrently with the MA in Counseling Psychology. This degree, with this concentration, is 72 credits and includes 6 credits specific to the concentration. Students will begin their concentration coursework in their second year, starting with a year-long infant observation followed by foundational courses in the elements of British Object Relations.

Learn more about the curriculum, application process, and goals for this new offering here.

The post 天美视频 to Offer a New Concentration in Psychoanalytic Psychology: British Object Relations appeared first on 天美视频 of Theology & Psychology.

What is counseling licensure?

Licensure is the granting and regulating of a license for professionals. To practice as a counselor or therapist, you need to become licensed. In our country, licenses are issued by the state, which means we have 50 different processes for 50 different states, and for regulating the practice of mental health counseling and therapy in their state.

The first place to start is knowing the licensure process in the state where you live, and also to check the process in a state you might live in the future. As you’re researching the license requirements in your state or the state you might want to live in in the future, bear in mind that this is a process. You’ll notice that some of the requirements are a bit different, and that’s okay. That’s just knowledge that you want to come equipped with as you pursue your education鈥攚hich leads me to the first step of licensure requirements.

What are the education requirements to become a licensed counselor?

Each state is going to have specifics around what they expect from your education. To practice as a professional counselor therapist, you need to have a master’s degree in a behavioral science-related field. That might be a master of science and counseling, or it might be a master of arts in counseling psychology, like our program here at 天美视频. But you need to show that the degree received matches their education requirements.

The education requirement will spell out content areas that you’re expected to have some robust training and knowledge in. That ranges from things like research and assessment to treatment to working with diverse populations. Something that you鈥檒l want to pay attention to is how many credit hours of each subject area does that state care about. Some states will want you to have six credits of ethics. Another state might want four credits. So again, just be equipped with the knowledge of what your state or states that you might want to practice in are looking for in a counselor.

How important is my school鈥檚 accreditation?

After you have a sense of the content areas that your state wants you to have experience in, pay attention too to the accreditation they want your school of training to have. 天美视频 is regionally accredited through the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, which is the regional accrediting body for the Pacific Northwest. If you’re from a state that prioritizes applicants for licensure, give the Department of Health a call and find out what their appeals process is. Most states, if not all, have an appeal process in place, and often it will default into regional accreditation and perhaps showing 鈥淗ere’s how my program matches CACREP requirements.鈥�

Where can I find the application to become a licensed counselor or therapist?

Applications for licensure are typically found on your . The most important thing that your state will ask you to meet is the education requirement, which looks at the program鈥檚 curriculum, such as: What did you get training in? What are the content areas that you have expertise? They track research assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and working with diverse populations. Some states will require specific courses, like drug and alcohol dependency, or vocational and occupational direction. Whatever program you choose, you’ll want to make sure that as you’re signing up for classes, you are following those guidelines.

Does 天美视频 meet counseling licensure requirements for the state of Washington?

As a school with a counseling program in the state of Washington, our counseling psychology program automatically meets all of the curriculum requirements for the state of Washington. But if you’re coming to 天美视频 from another state, or know that after coming here you might move to another state, you’ll want to have the state鈥檚 curriculum requirement list alongside you as you’re registering for classes. Our academic advisors actively work with students on as discerning classes to register for in the program.

How does my internship impact becoming a licensed therapist?

The last component of your education that you’ll want to pay attention to is the internship expectations. To complete a masters in counseling, you will need to complete a clinical internship. That means you’re out in the community working at a site and working directly with clients. Every state has different requirements, mostly related to the hours that you’ve completed. For instance, Colorado wants you to have 600 internship hours during your program of study. Washington State wants you to have 250 hours during your program of study. We have incredible partnerships with mental health agencies and other counseling services around the region. Each year we do an internship fair, and there are a number of sites that pursue our students to work at their organizations.

Practically speaking, what does the licensure application process look like?

Once you’ve completed your degree, you’ll apply for licensure in the state where you wish to practice. All states have something that’s called a . What that means is you’re in the field, you’re practicing as a therapist, but you’re doing that under supervision of a more seasoned clinician. or instance, in Washington state post-graduation, you go online to the Department of Health, apply for licensure, submit things like your transcript, offer information around how you met the expectations, and let them know that you’re working with a supervisor, and they send you something back saying 鈥淲onderful, congratulations, you’re a licensed mental health counseling associate鈥�. In Washington, associate means you’re working towards full licensure.

Supervision means that you have someone who’s a seasoned person in the field who legally is responsible for you in your work and is someone who you legally can lean into. Because counseling is such a unique field, and so much of it is rooted around containment and creating a safe space that’s confidential for the people that are coming and bringing such tender parts of their stories, you’re going to be holding a lot. A supervisor is a safe, legal space where you can bring the content that you’re working with in a clinical way and get support, feedback, and development.

How long do I have to remain under counseling supervision?

In Washington State, associates are . That sounds like a lot, but depending on the pace at which you鈥檙e working, it typically takes people anywhere from 1 to 3 years to complete those hours. The 3000 hours is broken up into two ways: indirect and direct. Indirect means anything you’re doing related to your clinical work. It might be reading a book. It might be attending a training. It might be doing your case notes. It might be working with your supervisor. That’s 1800 hours of the 3000. Direct hours are any work you鈥檙e doing directly with another person. That could be individual therapy, family therapy, or group therapy. It’s any time you’re doing direct clinical work with a person.

How do I find a supervisor?

If you’re working in a community mental health agency, or in a hospital setting, typically you’re assigned a supervisor, and that person signs off on your clinical work. If you’re in private practice, or maybe you’re in an agency setting that doesn’t offer the type of support that you feel like you need to thrive in the work, you can pursue an approved supervisor. An approved supervisor is someone who is also licensed in the state where you’re practicing, and has met additional requirements beyond the counseling license to become an approved supervisor. They meet with you on a regular basis, and when you are reaching the culmination of your hours, they’ll sign off on the hours that you completed under their supervision.

What are CEU鈥檚 in relation to counseling licensure?

In addition to your clinical hours and your supervision hours, you’ll also need to show proof of . This is an ongoing part of working as a professional in the field. It’s very important and valuable to be able to continue to learn and grow, and that’s one of the expectations of your license is that you’ll be committed to. To apply for licensure you’ll need to show that you’ve completed 36 hours of continuing education.

Is there a test or exam I need to take in order to become a licensed counselor?

The final component of applying for licensure is taking a national exam. There are two options available. There is the NBCC, which is the exam. And there’s the NCE, which stands for the . Washington State will accept either exam. Some states will only accept one or the other. So again, as you’re researching the requirements for your state or the state you wish to live in, pay attention to what they require. NCE is a multiple-choice exam and is comprehensive around the field of counseling. The NBCC is a more vignette-focused exam and will present various scenarios and ask diagnostic and theory questions. I would say if you’re going to get licensed in Washington, think about the way you learn and your study approach, and pick the exam that aligns most with you.

You can complete the exam at any point in your licensure period. So you could do it the day after you graduate when theories and terms and theorists are fresh in your mind. You could put it off and do it right before you鈥檙e ready to submit everything to the state. I would recommend doing it earlier rather than later.

Now that I鈥檝e completed all the requirements to become a licensed counselor, what are my next steps?

Once you’ve completed what鈥檚 called your licensure period, you submit everything to the state. They review it and send you back a certificate showing that you are a licensed mental health counselor or licensed professional counselor. At this point, you’re fully licensed!

Once you’ve become fully licensed, the work then is to maintain your license. The way you maintain your license is to renew it every year, which means you pay a fee and also complete the continuing education requirements. In Washington, your license is due on your birthday every year and your CEUs are due every two years.

It’s such a privilege to be in a therapeutic role with another person, with a family, with a community, and whether you end up resonating with the title of therapist or counselor or psychotherapist or analyst, whichever path you go down in your practice, just hold that end goal with you as you move through your education and as you move through your licensure period.

Due to changes from COVID-19, we recommend checking for any updates to the licensure process in your state.

The post What You Need to Know about Becoming a Licensed Mental Health Counselor appeared first on 天美视频 of Theology & Psychology.

鈥淚 will always be studying and knowing and growing because God is so much beyond my own intellect. This is the place where our knowing can expand beyond the small ways that maybe we have been taught. In order for people to step into healing, we need a renewed imagination that steps beyond what we鈥檝e known before.鈥� Dr. Chelle Stearns

Students at 天美视频 learn to encounter and sit with stories鈥攊ncluding their own. How we were formed, our way of being in the world, and our relationship to God and neighbor all have a profound impact on who we are and who we will become. Understanding how these areas intersect is critical to a student鈥檚 formation as a therapist, counselor, pastor, leader, or artist.聽

Here, Dr. Chelle Stearns and counseling psychology students reflect on their own journeys through the program and how they鈥檝e been transformed at this intersection of theology and psychology along the way. Learn more about our graduate programs including our Master of Theology & Culture and our Master of Counseling Psychology.

The post Transformation at the Intersection of Theology and Psychology appeared first on 天美视频 of Theology & Psychology.

I breathed myself to life, and so can you. My own recovery from the trauma of sexual repression drew me towards the healing medicine of yoga. I am a psychotherapist and a yoga teacher. My passion, obsession, and saving grace is embodiment鈥攖he experience of inhabiting the home of your body. Social forces and generational/personal trauma split the psyche into compartmentalization and dissociation, which inhibit us from fully inhabiting our own skin. I came into this work by following the golden thread of aliveness that vibrated inside of me whenever I stepped towards an act of embodiment.

My journey towards my profession and passion began by confronting my own pain of living in a deadened body.

鈥淢y journey towards my profession and passion began by confronting my own pain of living in a deadened body.鈥�

As a girl I was steeped in an evangelical church that was emotionally and sexually repressed. I was taught to dissociate from my emotion and sexuality. Eager to perform for my community, I was one of the 鈥榞ood鈥� ones. My dissociative abilities grew stronger as they were reinforced and praised. I swallowed my emotions and wore my pledge of virginity until marriage like a badge of honor. I committed to these ideas with resolve, to the point of receiving a purity tattoo鈥攁 dove on my hip that I wouldn鈥檛 allow anyone to see until my wedding night.

As a child I was tirelessly praised for my goodness, my ability to follow all of the rules set before me. The only price I had to pay for this endless stream of praise was my unwavering compliance with the group norms of emotional and sexual repression. As long as I agreed that the impulses of my body were wrong and should be ignored at all costs, I was given power, respect, and trust from a group of people I deeply respected.

As a 3 on the Enneagram, 鈥渢he performer,鈥� my disposition lends me towards being preoccupied with how others see me. 鈥楪ood鈥� became my identity, and my value was centered around how well I could perform to the expectations of those in authority around me. My obsession with blamelessness made me feel afraid to consider my own right to connection and desire.

It is painful to realize I was brainwashed out of connecting to my own sensuality. Over and over again I kissed my college boyfriend (who is now my incredible, gracious husband) while willing myself outside of my body and interrupting our connection if we got 鈥榯oo close.鈥� For years. For five years. That is too many years of not surrendering to the wisdom of our bodies. Our super power, being deeply present with each other, was shadowed by shame and secrecy. By the time we decided we had waited long enough to have sex, I had retreated so far from the felt experience of my body that I didn鈥檛 know how to enjoy it.

Dissociation is the psychological process of blocking out what an individual considers to be harmful. What is defined as 鈥榟armful鈥� within an individual is often the parts of self that may inhibit a sense of belonging to a particular community. I was taught that my body was bad and not to be trusted, so I spent the vast majority of my life ignoring what it was saying to me out of an ethical duty to be 鈥榞ood.鈥� I鈥檓 not the only one. The bodies of countless people growing up within Evangelical communities have been affected by the shameful rhetoric of purity culture.

The trauma of neglecting and shaming my body during vital years of sexual development caused a severe split between my mind and my body. We don鈥檛 learn how to be in our bodies unless we are taught how to follow sensation. In order to keep my purity pledge, I did everything in my power to sever myself from sensation, and in the process inadvertently sent the message to my brain that connection to my body was not to be trusted. My evil body tempted me into sexual sin鈥攁n age-old fable more concerned with power than with sex.

Yoga was the first place I learned how to inhabit my body intimately, in a way that wasn鈥檛 overtly sexual. Yoga was a neutral environment I could enter to learn how to de-thaw my body, without having to hold the emotional complexity of sexual shame that would often come up during sex. It has been through my own yoga practice that I鈥檝e learned that there is ancient medicine in using breath and movement in order to bring bodies back to life. What has historically been my biggest weakness is turning into my biggest strength because my pain forced me to look so closely at my body.

鈥淭here is ancient medicine in using breath and movement in order to bring bodies back to life.鈥�

While I was still dry humping Ben in church parking lots (#wheatonlyfe) in 2006, I attended a 鈥榮tretching and breathing鈥� class (yoga, in disguise) that changed my life. My body, which I had spent so much time trying to separate from and control, was now being gently paid attention to. I learned how to use movement as prayer, and for the first time I began to see how being with my body was a worshipful experience. It made my heart burst wide open to pay attention to myself in this way. Each time I laid in savasana, the final resting pose at the end of a yoga class, I came into direct contact with the weirdness and goodness of my body, the pure delight of feeling my own aliveness. These magical experiences in my body drew me to enroll in a yoga teacher training the summer before I started class at 天美视频. Immersed in the world of body wisdom I began, piece by piece, to land into a body I wasn鈥檛 fully aware I had disowned.

After I graduated, I spent four years working at , a local eating disorder clinic that was my therapeutic boot camp. Working with clients with eating disorders is a minefield of body hatred and dissociation, and I needed to learn quickly how to help my clients tolerate being in bodies that felt deeply unsafe to inhabit. I voraciously read books on embodiment and somatic healing from trauma, and I realized as I read that I needed to heal myself. The deeper I dove into healing my relationship with my body, the more I could teach my students how to find islands of safety within their own skin.

Dissociation is a form of trauma that leaves the body frozen, numb, and unresponsive. When trauma and neglect happen, we need to vacate. It is a sweet gift that the body doesn鈥檛 allow us to come into full contact with the enormity of our pain when we aren鈥檛 safe enough to feel it. I see the body as a manifestation of the unconscious mind, and when we work explicitly with the physical body, we grow awareness to the most hidden parts of our psyche. Yoga is a way to slowly reintroduce ourselves to the disowned parts of ourselves. Using the tools of breath and focused awareness, we can gradually thaw the frozen, clenched parts of our bodies. Now in my private practice, I鈥檓 teaching my clients and yoga students how to reclaim the uncharted waters of their own bodies using meditation, yoga, and breathing practices.

It wasn鈥檛 until I began connecting to my body that I realized how deeply disconnected I had been my entire life. Even now, after spending the last decade working to integrate the experiences of my body, I鈥檓 more aware than ever about how much I still don鈥檛 know about this earth suit of mine. It is endlessly mysterious and mystical to discover the maps of intelligence that are encoded into our bodies. I鈥檒l never arrive at a perfectly embodied or integrated place, but I have breathed myself into a new body. A more fluid, open, welcoming, and grounded body. A body that knows how to lean into care because of all those times she leaned into the earth in savasana and felt held.

The post Breathing Myself to Life: How Story Informs My Vocation appeared first on 天美视频 of Theology & Psychology.

Dr. Roy Barsness, Professor of Counseling Psychology at 天美视频, developed Relationally Focused Psychodynamic Therapy from his qualitative research conducted in the realm of psychoanalytic psychotherapy. The result of that research culminated in his collaborative book, .

鈥淧sychology is once again turning its attention to the understanding that actual change occurs by focusing on the unfolding narrative between therapist and patient,鈥� says Dr. Barsness. 鈥淭he implication of this shift is the need for training in theoretical and practical constructs that attend to motivation, emotions, early attachment/developmental issues, the role of the unconscious, and attention to the research in the neurosciences that notes shifts in affective regulation through genuine encounters with others.鈥�

鈥淧sychology is once again turning its attention to the understanding that actual change occurs by focusing on the unfolding narrative between therapist and patient.鈥�

Decades of research indicate that the provision of therapy is an interpersonal process in which the nature of the therapeutic relationship is a central component for change and healing. For 21 years, 天美视频 has distinguished itself as a program rooted in the belief that we are created, known, wounded, and healed in the context of relationship. Our incarnational theology informs our theory of change, and our psychodynamic methodology develops thoughtful, committed practitioners. The RFPT certificate is designed for practitioners to continue their learning by equipping them with new insights and skills, helping clarify their methodology and theory of change, and offering a network of clinicians for ongoing support, community, and consultation.

This post-graduate certificate represents 天美视频鈥檚 intentional movement toward hybrid learning opportunities that are more accessible than ever, so that participants can continue to learn and grow even as they pursue their day-to-day work. In the RFPT certificate, clinicians will participate in a practice-focused, experiential training program delivered through bi-weekly online clinical consultations and twice-yearly in-person weekend intensive retreats. In the contexts of community and their own practice, participants will pursue an in-depth exploration of how they position themselves in the therapeutic dyad, how they reflect on the conscious and unconscious dynamics that unfold, and how they engage those dynamics with courage, discipline, and insight.

鈥淟earning doesn鈥檛 stop once you enter the field,鈥� says Dr. J. Derek McNeil, Acting President and Provost. 鈥淚鈥檓 pleased to be offering clinicians this opportunity to deepen their own learning and refine their practice in the context of community.鈥�

You can visit the program page to learn more about the Relationally Focused Psychodynamic Therapy Post-Graduate Certificate, including schedule, tuition, program outline, and the application process.

The post 天美视频 Launches Relationally Focused Psychodynamic Therapy Certificate appeared first on 天美视频 of Theology & Psychology.

鈥溾�nd by his wounds we are healed.鈥� (Isaiah 53:5)

Earlier this spring, my family and I came across a(n) (un)welcome surprise: We had joined forces with a tree that hid our home from others, but also from ourselves. What鈥檚 more, like this hiding tree, we realized we had each been hiding from each other, and also from the world around us. And it was by the wounds of this (tree) friend that we were healed. Let me explain.

My wife had been suggesting that we cut the tree down for any number of years, but I hadn鈥檛 been open to the idea. She knew she鈥檇 need to keep peppering me with this suggestion, until one day I would bend. I did, and welcome to our relationship.

It turns out the real estate agent who sold us our house back in 2009 had made a similar suggestion fairly immediately upon seeing our house for the first time. You see, our house was depressed when we bought it. It had held the energies of what sounded like a pretty brutal divorce, and it came onto the market mid-depressive episode. It would take lots of cans of paint, new carpet, and a series of house blessings from a team of pastors to clear the air in our home. Those dark, depressive energies seemed to be fairly deeply rooted, not unlike our hiding tree.

Our hiding tree was a Japanese maple, and alongside of the tree that stood beside it, this tree had kept our house from being fully seen from top to bottom. We live in a split-level home, which is fairly boxy, and this hiding tree contributed to the apparent plainness of our home鈥檚 curb appeal. So these suggestions to take down the tree had everything to do with aesthetics: Our house would be more visible and would appear less overgrown if we allowed it to be better seen. The beauty of this hiding tree had become a source of its contribution to the concealment of (or in) our home.

My wife and I are both therapists, and when we got together, we had a lot of learning to do in terms of the art and skill of vulnerable living. I came to our relationship loaded with theories that could cover insecurities, vulnerabilities, and frailties. My ability to theorize is actually a thing of beauty and something that contributes to my calling(s) in life, both as teacher and as a healer, but my ability to theorize is also a beauty I鈥檝e hidden behind, often concealing the life that twists and turns within me.

鈥淢y ability to theorize is also a beauty I鈥檝e hidden behind, often concealing the life that twists and turns within me.鈥�

But back to the felling of this tree: It was a Sunday morning, and our family had chosen to stay home and get some housework done, rather than going to church. What we didn鈥檛 know was that 鈥渃hurch鈥� would be coming to us that morning. I started to cut some of the smaller branches of the tree: the ones that were fairly high up but also within reach from the ground. The cut limbs began to weep. The water that had coursed through their veins now poured out onto the ground with surprising haste. I began to feel the pain I imagined this tree was experiencing, as I cut and as it was cut. My own body started to ache as I pressed on in my work, soon realizing that this tree and me were in a deeply spiritual contact with one another.

Soon I called my wife and our three boys over to the area where the tree had once stood, and I spoke with resonance to the life and pending death of this tree, and to how it had clearly served as a vestige of pain and hiding: a legacy of the house that was our house before it became our home. Maybe the irony of this service was that, by all appearances, the tree in and of itself was beautiful.

Ever since, I鈥檝e been working with this experience turned memory. That spring Sunday in March our family, to a person, each spoke to the ways we felt freer as a result of the ritual we spontaneously created as we brought the hiding tree down. We each confessed to each other, and to the more-than-human world around us, how we had joined with the tree in our respective hidings: We were each able to articulate ways we used 鈥渢hings,鈥� maybe even things that looked good (e.g. for me, a busy schedule), to keep us from more stark exposure to each other, and to the world that awaits and calls us by name.

Typing these words I鈥檓 quickly reminded of what I learned when I came to 天美视频 (then Mars Hill Graduate School) as a Master of Divinity student in 2002: I had used the beauty of a strong intellect (remember that theorizing my wife referenced?) and my intensity as an 鈥�8鈥� on the Enneagram (too much is just about enough for me) to become quite technically proficient at practicing and teaching the life and work of a therapist, all the while hiding myself from myself and also from the world around me.

I鈥檓 currently listening to a book on tape entitled , by psychotherapist Lori Gottlieb. The book follows multiple therapy patients, including the life that Gottlieb has lived as a patient herself. In talking about what separates more senior clinicians from those that are proverbially greener, Gottlieb notes that one has to be willing to be the same person, the same 鈥渟elf,鈥� both inside and outside of the therapy office, in order to set oneself apart as more senior or advanced in the work. In other words, if I put on the garb of therapist and I use such a costume to distance myself and my clients from my own human experiences and vulnerabilities, then the work of therapy (and probably best said the therapeutic relationship) will not progress in the same way it would if I felt freer to be me across time, space, and frame.

In my listening, as I move back and forth between my use of the word 鈥渃lient鈥� and Gottlieb鈥檚 use of the word 鈥減atient,鈥� I am reminded that the Latin root of the latter is the word patiens, which means 鈥渢o suffer.鈥� So a therapist treats 鈥渙ne who suffers.鈥� But a therapist being true to all of who they are means that they are patiens, ones who suffer, as well. The version of me that came to seminary was acquainted with grief and suffering, but of the ilk of serving others who were supposedly experiencing it differently (more profoundly) than I. It was only in being cracked open by my practicum (Listening Lab), personal counseling, and other extra-curricular experiences that I came to believe that being a co-traveler (ala Irvin Yalom) would be the only path to shared healing.

In April, Meg Wheatley, renowned organizational psychologist and author of , came to campus and put a call out for 鈥渉uman human beings鈥� who could serve as 鈥渋slands of sanity鈥� for each other in an age that calls for 鈥渨arriors of the human spirit.鈥� Meg spoke to how the ever-present need for belonging can twist and turn its way into lots of unhealthy human behaviors and interactions.

One way such a downgrading happens is when a person decides to take on a role as a way of limiting their exposure to the interconnectedness of all things. Gregory Bateson, a systems-thinker and major player in the establishment of the field of cybernetics, called roles a 鈥渉alf-assed relationship,鈥� in that surrendering one鈥檚 interconnectedness to the discreteness of a role allows and results in half-assed living for the role-bearer. This is often the way of it for many who find themselves in helping roles, healing capacities, and/or positions of spiritual authority: Their roles become their identities, their identities become half-assed, and they function as other/less than human humans (a nod to social identity theory).

If this month鈥檚 blog posts are about nurturing and formation, it wouldn鈥檛 take a far reach to claim that positions of leadership (including the pastorate, helping, and healing professions) often stifle those very things (nurturance and formation) in the people who serve in such posts. Rather than being permitted the messiness of having needs and of fraying at the edges like formation so often requires, such leaders are invited to be anything but human as they are charged to constrict and/or to restrict themselves to that which appears shiny and clean.

鈥淟eaders are invited to be anything but human as they are charged to constrict and/or to restrict themselves to that which appears shiny and clean.鈥�

Like our family鈥檚 home, helpers and healers are often subtly charged to hide behind beautiful things. It鈥檚 a beautiful thing to be called into ministry. It鈥檚 a beautiful thing to be in a position to see and to name on behalf of another. It鈥檚 a beautiful thing to walk the road of healer, having tasted some of the trials and tribulations that have brought people to one鈥檚 door asking, seeking, and knocking (Matthew 7:7). Our society desperately needs healing professionals and spiritual leaders willing to heed the call of caring for others. In a land rife with derision, we need to become 鈥渋slands of sanity鈥� for each other (thanks again, Meg Wheatley!).

That said, one can hide out on an island, just like one can hide out behind a beautiful Japanese maple. For me, the call to hide long preceded me. I come from a long line of men who hide behind positions of power and influence, or behind an absence of words or authentic encounter with another. A mix of Methodist good works (appearances) and Presbyterian rigidities (male privileging) coupled with war-time trauma, sickness, and a modern-era milieu populated with a toxic male code (see David & Brannon, 1976) contribute(d) to my ongoing tendency to use beauty (my intellect, my speed of processing, my use of words, and other performance-related variables) to hide.

But it is by the wounds of the suffering servant that we are healed (Isaiah 53:5). The felling of our hiding tree offered us a taste of that very reality. Our family was able to trade one beauty (hiding) for another (warmth and connection), in the form of a repurposed engagement with our hiding tree. Branches are now neatly stacked and ready to be used for summer backyard bonfires, and a seedling that had started to randomly grow on its own has since been replanted in our front yard, showing good signs of vim and vigor but also standing at least 10 yards from our house.

Beauty requires deliberation (see the work of Elaine Scarry), and beauty renders us impotent (and also the work of Hans Urs von Balthasar). Beauty calls, and the recipient responds. Beauty can and will draw us face-to-face with our need to receive, and with our need for divine encounter. But beautiful things can also be used to limit, if not conceal, other forms of goodness longing to be exposed to the light. Rooms on both levels of our home now beam with light in ways they never had before, and that light calls each person in our family to do and be the same.

So maybe an invitation for any of us who serve in helping or healing capacities, or who are called into one or more positions of spiritual authority: Where do you allow what was planted before you to keep root in a form that hides the fullness of who you are? Where do we take what we鈥檝e been given, bidden and unbidden, replete with beauty but also defense, and repurpose such into opportunities for warmth and connection?

Chances are it was our wounds that got us into our work, whatever it may be, in the first place. Wounds heal not only on or in bodies, but also in souls as well. Roles protect humans from the inevitable wounding of their humanity, and beautiful things can be used to hide deeper goodness. Islands can isolate, or islands can protect. And always we begin again.

Feeling called or compelled to emerge in some way? If so, please don鈥檛 be bashful in sharing with others: Our own nurturance, formation, and sanity awaits.

The post Hiding Trees, Vulnerability, and Our Need for Nurture appeared first on 天美视频 of Theology & Psychology.

If you鈥檝e ever worked in ministry or a helping profession鈥攐r any work that requires your full self鈥攜ou know this matters: the rate of burnout is too high, and the cost too steep, to not take seriously the need for resilience. We launched Resilient Leaders Project to help leaders and communities respond to that deep need in the midst of a changing church and fragmented culture.

Kate: 鈥淩esilient Leaders Project is about trying to come alongside leaders in their context to help them construct lives that support their good work, instead of feeling like their lives are at the cost of their work.鈥�

In reflecting on what drew them into this work, Kate and Laura Wade share about their histories with the Church and how they came to believe it could be a space that would welcome them fully and unequivocally, in all of their brokenness and trauma. Because it turns out that it鈥檚 impossible to talk meaningfully about resilience without also talking about trauma.

Kate: 鈥淭here鈥檚 a depth of experience that you must learn to narrate in your own life if you鈥檙e going to integrate the really hard pieces of your life. It鈥檚 not simply bouncing back to the shape that you were before something hard happened, it鈥檚 saying 鈥楬ow did this really difficult situation, this suffering that I went through, actually form me to be in some way more human, more compassionate, and therefore more divine?鈥欌��

鈥淭here鈥檚 a depth of experience that you must learn to narrate in your own life if you鈥檙e going to integrate the really hard pieces of your life.鈥�

Laura Wade: 鈥淩esilience, to me, is finding healing and freedom and voice in the midst of those harmful places, and being able to meet the Spirit and meet God there to be different, to be more of who we are created to be. That鈥檚 the linking of resilience and trauma. I don鈥檛 think you can have resilience without some level of trauma.鈥�

Shauna: 鈥淎nd maybe you can鈥檛 be a human and not have trauma.鈥�

As we gather to reflect together on the trauma of Christ鈥攖he violence, betrayal, death, and resurrection鈥攊n the Church we might also find space to reflect on our own trauma, to lean into a community of others who can help us find language and meaning for that which is beyond words. This is a beautiful hope, that reflecting on the wounds of Christ in community might help us heal from our own wounds, but it is also a risky, vulnerable hope鈥攐ne from which it is all too easy for many leaders to shy away. The rigorous demands and unspoken expectations of leadership often mean that leaders鈥攅specially in church, ministry, and nonprofit settings鈥攁re left feeling as if they cannot disclose experiences of trauma or uncertainty, and like there is not room for them to receive care.

Kate: 鈥淲ounded healer is language that we usually use, but we gloss over the wounded part, which means that we often have healed wounders in those roles.鈥�

鈥淲ounded healer is language that we usually use, but we gloss over the wounded part, which means that we often have healed wounders in those roles.鈥�

Toward the end of the conversation, Kate and Laura Wade share about their experience in the first full year of RLP, inviting leaders into intentional connection, thoughtful reflection, and new practices that create room for their full selves鈥攊ncluding their trauma, doubt, and brokenness鈥攖o be present in their work and relationship. This integrative work is a central part of building resilience, and it is a gift to journey with leaders as they step into that.

Kate: 鈥淢y hope for the Church is that God鈥檚 not done. And it might not look like the church that it looked like in our parents鈥� or grandparents鈥� ages, it might not be focused on Sunday morning worship, but I think God鈥檚 not done in gathering people in a certain type of way. I want to be part of making that happen, and I want to be part of helping resource the creative and courageous people who are stepping into this unknown territory.鈥�

Resources to Go Deeper

• You can learn more about the Resilient Leaders Project鈥攊ncluding our newsletter, upcoming events, and the application process for our next cohort鈥攁t theseattleschool.edu/rlp.
• Kate shares a poem by an anonymous survivor of rape, which reads in its entirety: 鈥淚 can鈥檛 forget what happened, but no one else remembers.鈥� When she was a student at 天美视频, Kate wrote this moving reflection about the installation and about church as a community that remembers and holds.
• Laura Wade recommends a book about integrating the feminine and masculine parts that live in each of us. The book is by Tami Lynn Kent.
• One of the practices Laura Wade mentions that she has returned to because of this work is running. You can read her reflection about how running helps her return to spiritual health in this blog.
• For more on resilience, you can watch Nikkita Oliver鈥檚 stunning talk from our 2018 Humanity Through Community gathering, and you can listen to Nikkita鈥檚 conversation with Shauna Gauthier from an earlier podcast episode.

The post Resilience, Trauma, and the Hope of the Church appeared first on 天美视频 of Theology & Psychology.

The MA in Counseling Psychology with a Concentration in Trauma & Abuse, to be launched in Fall 2019, offers a unique specialization in Trauma-Informed Narrative Therapy, a modality that has been developed over decades of experience by Dr. Dan Allender and The Allender Center. Informed by research into neuroscience, shame, somatic psychotherapy, bodywork, and robust theology, Trauma-Informed Narrative Therapy is a therapeutic approach integrating in-depth story engagement and an awareness of trauma science through the lens of a dynamic Christian faith.

鈥淥ur mission is to train people to be competent in the study of text, soul, and culture to serve God and neighbor through transforming relationships. It鈥檚 not about studying as an end in itself; that call to service is at the heart of everything we do,鈥� says Dr. Derek McNeil, Acting President. 鈥淎s students develop more clarity about the specific realm of service they are called to, their education should become more focused as well. So this concentration will offer very particular training that hones the work students are already engaging through the Counseling Psychology program.鈥�

鈥淎s students develop more clarity about the specific realm of service they are called to, their education should become more focused as well.鈥�

This new concentration, the first of several being developed within our graduate degree programs, is emerging at a crucial time in our culture. We are surrounded every day by evidence of trauma and abuse鈥攊ncluding the heartbreaking revelations of widespread, systemic abuse in institutions; the rising tide of individual stories brought to light through the #MeToo movement; and the myriad ways that more subtle effects of trauma and abuse play out all around us. More than ever, our world is faced with an urgent need for well-trained practitioners who are equipped to address the complex realities of trauma as they help individuals and communities pursue healing.

Our Concentration in Trauma & Abuse will feature teaching informed by a broad range of theories and approaches, as well as experiential training in individual and group story work. Courses will be offered in a laboratory-style learning environment, combining theoretical learning with practical application. Clinical formation will be facilitated by 天美视频鈥檚 practitioner/scholar faculty, in tandem with immersive learning with The Allender Center. Through the integration of these methodologies, students will develop trauma-informed strategies for work in a variety of mental health settings and will be equipped to provide grounded, insightful, and attuned presence to traumatized clients.

鈥淭his concentration is for those willing to listen and attune to the pain and harm they have experienced in their own life. We can only take someone else as far as we have gone ourselves,鈥� says Abby Wong-Heffter, LMHC, Affiliate Faculty and Allender Center Teaching Staff. 鈥淔rom that foundation, we train wounded healers to help others understand and heal from the complex impacts of trauma and abuse by listening to the stories their body remembers and longs to tell the truth about.鈥�

The Concentration in Trauma & Abuse is designed to be completed concurrently with the MA in Counseling Psychology, and is composed of 70 credits: four concentration-specific credits, four required MACP electives, and two intensive offerings from The Allender Center. More information about the curriculum, application process, and goals for this new offering are available here.

The post 天美视频 to Offer a New Concentration in Trauma and Abuse appeared first on 天美视频 of Theology & Psychology.

Counselors are good at relationships, or so they say. As folklore would have it, counselors are the 鈥渒nowers鈥� of all things relational and, therefore, can and should be 鈥渕asters鈥� when it comes to their own personal relationships. But is this really the case?

As a counselor, I thought I was good at relationship until I met and married my wife, who is also a counselor. Together, she and I quickly learned that, although we were each quite good at the craft of counseling, neither of us was all that good at establishing intimacy in our personal relationship. Our clinical training had taught us to rely on (if not hide behind) the role of counselor to find stability in the shifting sands of relationship building and maintenance. We had been taught to counsel rather than to relate. Ultimately, I would argue that this is true for far too many counselors.

Within our Western culture, taking on the post of counselor proffers one a certain amount of power, intended or unintended. One such mantle of power pertains to that counselor鈥檚 hermeneutic, or the lens through which that counselor sees the world. Just as lenses can come in various forms of tint, so too can hermeneutics be informed by a vast array of contributants. For many counselors, our entry into the field was informed by a quest to heal a past hurt. As counselors, we鈥檝e entered a profession that gives us access to the hurts of others and allows (even requires) us to focus on or name the 鈥渟tuff鈥� of others. What is more, our profession can grant us a certain measure of (therapeutic) distance in relationships, wherein we can give without necessarily receiving. Add this all together and it is apparent why our relational sight can be encumbered by the tint of our profession-endorsed hermeneutics.

Can you relate? If so, I think you鈥攍ike me and like many other counselors throughout the profession鈥攁re susceptible to a hermeneutic or relational stance that might be prohibitive to the intimacy we seek with the ones we love outside of our counseling offices. It is here that I see Western culture and its introjects informing the images of 鈥渃ounselor鈥� that reside in each of us.

We as counselors end up holding the mixed bag of messages that our culture affords. We sit in and with dissonance. At times we feel great about ourselves and the work we do. At other times it seems as if we鈥檙e a receptacle for others to use for their refuse. And so it goes that we bring said dissonance into our personal relationships, trying to get a handle on who we are and how we are to operate in and through these relationships.

What a mess! We can leave our counseling offices and expect to find the same level of acknowledgment at home. When our partners or our children don鈥檛 hang on our every word like our clients seem to, we begin to think our family members are the ones with the problem (how could they be so ungrateful?). Or when our partners begin to question us, we may find ourselves prone to interpreting their apparently exhibited defense mechanisms, loading our relational cannons to shoot down the perceived threat that our relational partners represent to us. In this, we learn to use our skills to hide and defend.

Moreover, counselors can become quite sophisticated in terms of their defensive relational frameworks. Our professional training can keep us entrenched in seeing the patterns of thought and behaviors in others (鈥淵ou seem to do this鈥� or 鈥淵ou seem to think that鈥�). Having been handed the constructs of transference and countertransference, it becomes hard not to see our partners as just one more person looking to work out their own unfinished business on us and our tabula-rasa backs. In other words, we can stop seeing our partners for who they are and begin responding to them and their behaviors as though they are clients coming to us for 鈥渃are.鈥�

I find it remarkable that although I鈥檝e been practicing and teaching counseling for well over a decade, it is still surprisingly hard at times for me to be open with my wife about what I am feeling. As a counselor, I have become a wordsmith, and I have become very effective at hiding behind my words when I want to. I can add a proviso such as 鈥淚t seems like 鈥︹�� or 鈥淚t feels like 鈥︹�� to my sentences to lambast a loved one or to take inventory of them in a way that is ultimately uncaring.

鈥淎lthough I鈥檝e been practicing and teaching counseling for well over a decade, it is still surprisingly hard at times for me to be open with my wife about what I am feeling.鈥�

In his text Nonviolent Communication, Marshall Rosenberg reminds us that a phrase such as 鈥淚 feel like鈥� doesn鈥檛 actually serve as an indicator for a feeling to follow. Such a phrase can be duplicitous in that feelings don鈥檛 need warm-up phrases. Hence, a statement made with an opening qualifier ends up being nothing more than an intrusion on my relational partner鈥檚 boundaries.

To this end, I would call myself a recovering codependent. In fact, many of the counselors I know would fit that category, regardless of whether they espouse such a descriptor. Our profession is one supposedly steeped with boundaries. If clients transgress and cross a boundary, they are called on it, whereas if counselors do so, it is often seen as therapeutic.

For instance, when was the last time you named something in your client? Did you do so with humility and a willingness to be wrong, or was your pronouncement emphatic and delivered with a triumphant edge? If the latter strikes a chord with you as it does for me, then I think we run the risk of taking this type of energy or engagement into relationship with those we love. With our partners, children, friends and other loved ones, we can make pronouncements that we think should garner applause and usher in healing and growth. And I鈥檒l say again, when this doesn鈥檛 happen, we鈥檝e been taught to view this dynamic as the other being full of resistance.

Ultimately, I鈥檓 trying to speak to my belief that we鈥檝e been set up to fail relationally. So what is a counselor to do? I believe our skills and our attempts at containment, which can seem to get us somewhere in the office, are the very things that can dismantle our interactions with loved ones. We鈥檝e been left with a tool kit of really expensive gadgets that oftentimes have little pertinence to our needed relational repairs. And here鈥檚 the kicker: We think we should know better.

I can鈥檛 tell you how many times I鈥檝e had the following thoughts when interacting with someone in my personal life: 鈥淚 should know how to handle this鈥� or 鈥淚 should know what to do here.鈥� I mean, after all, I am a counselor, right? Aren鈥檛 counselors supposed to know how to handle complex relational moments?

I think Carl Rogers was on to something when he claimed it is the personal that is most general (脿 la On Becoming a Person). A dilemma I face as a person is that I don鈥檛 often grant myself the luxury of being just that鈥攁 person. No, I think because of the work that I do or the degrees on my wall that I should have it all figured out and should offer pristine love and encouragement to all who come in contact with me. When I am unable to fit this bill, I take it out on myself and cower in shame. I choose to disengage rather than staying present in the moment. I retreat, look for cover and hope for a moment wherein I can get back on solid ground.

A helpful reminder: Maybe there is no such thing as solid ground in relationship. Maybe that鈥檚 the point of relationship. You鈥檝e probably heard it said that someone can have enough information about something to be dangerous. I think this is true for many counselors and therapists in their personal relationships. We鈥檝e been given diagnostic and interpretive categories, therapeutic skills to hone and a professional frame in which to hold it all. When push comes to shove, however, very little of this plays outside of the counseling office. Outside of my office, I am faced with the same personal struggles that my clients face: to engage openly and honestly with the people I love.

鈥淥utside of my office, I am faced with the same personal struggles that my clients face: to engage openly and honestly with the people I love.鈥�

So what鈥檚 the take-home message here? Don鈥檛 assume your clinical training will serve as an asset in your personal relationships. In fact, anticipate that it might act as a liability at points. Listen to yourself talk, and allow your use of language to inform you of your more deep-seated, hermeneutical leanings. Practice receiving care from others, especially from those who know and love you best. Ask for feedback; our places of work should not be the only avenues by which we engage in 鈥減erformance review鈥� processes. Seek out entitlement and/or power-laden energies in the ways you carry yourself both personally and professionally, and allow that voice of entitlement lodged within or the power plays you display to point you toward unmet needs of your own that are very much worth stewarding.

And above all, let鈥檚 stop taking ourselves so seriously. If we render ourselves 鈥渒nowers鈥� of the human condition who 鈥渟hould鈥� know what to do, say, think, or feel when it comes to our personal relationships, I believe we exponentiate the likelihood that we will promulgate loneliness in those relationships. Let鈥檚 allow ourselves to be who we are and where we are and be willing to chuckle at our foibles, our failures, and our good-intentioned but ill-advised attempts to get our own needs met. In so doing, we might just become better lovers.

The post Why Counselors Make Poor Lovers appeared first on 天美视频 of Theology & Psychology.