Justin’s Blog: “The Jog”
120+ Articles Driven by Research and Practice
Faith Leaders PSA (International OCD Foundation)
As part of the IOCDF‘s campaign to help bridge the gap between faith leaders and clinicians, they offered a PSA (public service announcement). You can see the full comments I shared below (some were cut for time). Hope it encourages you that faith and mental health treatment can go together. My full Script: Hi, my […]
Read More >Is Anxiety Sin? When The Faithful Are Fearful (Part 2/3)
In the first part of this series, fear and anxiety was presented as a warning system that can operate properly or erroneously. We examined how saints throughout history (in the Bible, specifically) directly were fearful, afraid, or anxious, and this was not necessarily linked with sin. Let’s jump into why and how spending the time […]
Read More >Behavioral Activation: Move Your Body, Change Your Feelings
Behavioral Activation: Move Your Body, Change Your Feelings Relatively new is our understanding of Behavioral Activation (BA), which is an incredibly useful tool in fighting depression and mood problems. As with most things in the clinical realm, it has a lot to say for the average person, too, who doesn’t even have a disorder. Behavioral […]
Read More >Intrusive, Unwanted Thoughts and Faith (I am Second Blog)
Honored to be featured again in the I Am Second mental health blog, this post addresses the common occurrence of Intrusive Thoughts and how those of Christian faith can live in freedom. Click Here to Read NOW
Read More >I Want To Hold Your Ha-aa-aa-aaand
The Beatles were on to something. It turns out that holding your romantic partner’s hand is good for you. New research reveals that if you do so during emotional distress, it actually lessens emotional pain in recall later. (Sahi et al., 2021). The study defines emotional pain as “an unpleasant feeling (or suffering) associated with […]
Read More >Accidental Exposure: A Strong Mind Is Not Made In Comfort
Accidental workouts are great; just don’t base your exercise off of them. Has this ever happened to you? You have an exercise routine (walk, weights, circuit, CrossFit), and while expecting to take a holiday break, say Thanksgiving…..until someone challenges you in the paint for pickup game of basketball (in my family we had the 6 […]
Read More >Why I Say ‘Thank You’ to Amazon Alexa (It’s Not What You’d Think)
The power of habit is a currently popular topic, no doubt through the lens of James Clear, Harvard Business Review, and similar ilk. Social media influencers give us all sorts of ‘hacks’ to make a habit in 30 days, get a flat belly, and more. While there’s a mix of good and a lot of […]
Read More >Getting Aroused With Anxiety
Mark* was generally confident in his therapy, but bringing up sex….well, he got a little sheepish. He had these small avoidances that he never realized were behavioral and cognitive avoidances. For example, he would never have sex with his wife when the kids weren’t away from home. He intentionally steered conversation away from topics with […]
Read More >What’s Your Why?
Yvette had a hard time breaking through in therapy. She knew and understood well the rationale for putting in the work. Her grasp of when she felt anxious and distressed, and even what to do, was excellent. I mean, the research speaks for itself, right? Just do it- just practice what your therapist teaches? I […]
Read More >Intrusive, Unwanted Thoughts and Faith
“I feel like I really love my baby, but, I just don’t know. I have these terrible thoughts that pop into my mind. Thoughts of harming my baby. I actually vomited last night it made me so upset. I don’t know why I’m having these” “Everyone around me, including my pastor, seems to think I […]
Read More >Journaling vs. Exposure Scripting in CBT (Therapy Insider Tip)
When clients become experts in doing exposures (Social Anxiety, PTSD, OCD, Phobias), they become used to facing fear, disgust, and other uncomfortable feelings square on without tricks and escapes- while still pursuing the valued behaviors and thought processes they want. Sounds too good to be true? It’s not, but it takes discipline and hard work, […]
Read More >Faith Leaders- Ministering to Those with OCD
As a faith leader, you are the real front door to mental health. Despite the fact that doctors and hospitals may be attributed this designation, many people feel most comfortable talking about mental health issues with you first, and even at times exclusively. You are as a whole sought out 50% more than doctors or psychiatrists to help alleviate mental and emotional problems- this puts you on the front lines.
Read More >What is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder & How Is It Treated?
OCD in context. You may already be very familiar with references to OCD, especially in the larger culture. “I’m soooooo OCD” is a phrase, often unhelpful to true sufferers, that reflects the current sentiments of many as to what it is. Neat. Picky. High Standards. Demanding. This is NOT necessarily OCD in and of itself. […]
Read More >Just Because You Tremble Doesn’t Mean You’re Doing It Wrong
Both in the office and in my life I offer a simple reminder: just because you tremble or are afraid or feel distressed DOESN’T mean you’re doing it wrong. In fact, maybe it’s very right. An unbelievably common misconception among human beings is distress = bad. Sure, distress is uncomfortable. Yes, it signals something feels […]
Read More >What’s Your Anxiety Tell?
In poker, a “tell” is a sort of behavioral or observable change that, usually unbeknownst to the person, can reveal information that can be used for another player to get the upper hand. Smirks, scratching of the nose, looking away, smiling- expert poker players work hard to conceal these (why many wear sunglasses). Notice Something […]
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