Depression:
Some of the greatest men & women in history have battled with depression.  The various levels of depression can range from feelings of sadness or the “blues”, to a feeling of hopelessness, fatigue, physical pain, or the extreme thoughts of suicide.   It can cause a person to change how they think, feel and act.  It can be environmental or clinical.  God’s plan is not for his people to spend the rest of their lives in bondage to depression.  He has made it possible for each of us to defeat and gain victory over depression.

Anxiety:
Stress & anxiety are the most common emotional problems in America today. It affects your life and your health, both spiritually and physically. It can be exciting and painful at the same time.  It gives you energy and causes wear and tear on the body.  We are seeing more and more high blood pressure, heart disease, ulcers and stomach problems than ever before in history due to the amount of stress and anxiety we are experiencing in our lives. God’s plan for you is to live a balanced life that is pleasing to him with a sense of peace and purpose.

Relational Concerns:
With our lives becoming more and more dependant on the internet, we find ourselves not interacting on a relational level with people.  We can get things with the click of a finger without ever talking to a person.  As much as this helps in our busy lives, it hinders our interaction with people and does not enable and help us to learn to deal with situations and communicate with people.

Anger Control:
Anger can destroy not only the people around us, but can destroy the individual who harbors it.  Not all anger is wrong, but anger we cannot control is.  How can a person know when their anger is justified? How can a person know their anger is out of control? We need to learn to manage our  anger and express it without being destructive and hurtful.

Grief and Loss:
If only we could skip the gut wrenching pain we experience when grieving over a loss in our lives. Grief is the one experience that people have the least understanding of. They do not know how to experience it nor do they know how to deal with a person who is going through it. We need clear-cut direction for a healthy response to grief.

Marriage:
Marriage should be the most fulfilling human relationship we will ever experience. But as humans we fail and disappoint each other. We need to see marriage as a house we are building. The foundation is important to make the house withstand the storms and wear and tear that occurs over a lifetime.

Adolescents:
“My child was the sweetest, most compliant child until she turned 12. I don’t know what happened.”

Adolescence is the hardest time in a child’s life, but one of the most critical.  It is the beginning of becoming “their own”, in thoughts, values, choices and identity, that brings with it a need and yearning for independence.

As parents, we need to first admit we are scared of teenagers and especially our children becoming one! We need help in navigating through these years with the correct knowledge, heart and confidence needed to develop our adolescent into a healthy adulthood.

Family Therapy:
The family unit is in crisis today. It is very confusing what a family is and how one should function.  The family may be made up of a single parent, children with multiple parents, children living together in one household, each with different fathers, etc.

Adults bring with them into the family their own influences from their childhood family experiences. These experiences, when negative, have a tremendous effect on their current family environment. 

The goal is to recognize past influences, break unhealthy patterns and restore the family, to enable them to live life together in a positive and encouraging environment.

Step-Family Issues:
Step or Blended families are a majority today.  There is “his” and “hers”.  It is difficult enough to have one family get along as they go through the experiences of life. But take that one family with different personalities who share a history and merge with another and you have a new set of problems.  All of a sudden each of the children from both sides has a “step” parent and siblings they didn’t grow up with.  It is scary, threatening and unfamiliar to all.  It takes a very careful and deliberate awareness of the obstacles to navigate through such a merger.

Codependency:
Codependency is a desire to control or be controlled by the people around them. A codependent person feels compassion for people who are hurting and feels they should be the one to help them.  They have a difficult time saying “no” to people for fear they will be rejected.  Codependents may not show a desire to control a person, but to be controlled by others.  These people find themselves in abusive relationships.

Sexual Abuse:
The statistics are shocking at the number of people who have been sexually abused by the age of 20.  The abuse is most often done by a parent, relative or close family friend.  It is a pain the victims carry inside for years before it finally surfaces and help is sought.

Addictions:
Alcohol, drugs, gambling, sex, shopping and compulsions, are the main addictions that are destroying the lives of people in America today.  Some are obvious, some are secretive and silent.  But they all destroy the very core of a person’s self worth and of the people around them.  God says, “Nothing is impossible for me”.  He can heal and conquer any addiction if a person is willing.  The first step is to admit the addiction; the second is to seek counsel.