Entries from January 2008

January 31, 2008

Diagnosing paranoid schizophrenia through the mail

About every 2 or 3 months I get mail from individuals who must get my contact info off of websites. This mail is not usually personal, though it was when we were advertising for a new counseling professor. There are several similarities to these pieces of mail:
1. The end of the world is at hand. [...]

January 30, 2008

Integrative Psychotherapy III

In chapter two of Integrative Psychotherapy, McMinn and Campbell attempt to set our their foundation for psychotherapy. You’ll remember that in the last chapter they articulated their theological foundation. This chapter nicely divides into two parts: (a) A defense of the science of psychotherapy, and (b) a summary of what is “known” about the what works, [...]

January 29, 2008

Spurgeon on depression

A couple of times a year Diane Langberg invites one of her pastors to come and minister to us at staff meeting. It is always a rich time. Last week, Greg MacDougall talked to us about some of Spurgeon’s thoughts on depression. He summarized a chapter from Spurgeon’s Lectures to my Students. Gotta love the [...]

January 28, 2008

Science Monday: New Treatment for Mania?

The Harvard Mental Health Letter (v. 24:8, Feb. 2008) has a short blurb about a new medication being researched for the treatment of active mania.
Tamoxifen. Yes, the drug best known for treating and inhibiting the growth of estrogen sensitive breast cancers. Apparently it also inhibits an enzyme (protein kinase C or PKC) which may contribute [...]

January 25, 2008

Opportunity for free career and resume consultation!

Part of Biblical Seminary’s advanced counselor training certificate for those pursuing licensure includes a course on career and lifestyle development. Led by two seasoned (experience…not old) career and job change counselors, the course includes a special free-of-charge career clinic on February 11 staffed by the students.
Appointments are available every half hour or so, and they [...]

January 25, 2008

Teen Missions Int’l feature in Christianity Today

The print version of February’s Christianity Today arrived at my home. In it is a short story about Teen Missions International(TMI) based in Merritt Island, FL.  I can’t find the article on the web yet, but here’s why I enjoyed seeing the pictures and reading the short story:
24 years ago (1983) I reluctantly agreed with my [...]

January 24, 2008

A nation of speech making?

Am really enjoying Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of Rivals which details the lives of Abraham Lincoln and his rivals for the Republican nomination for president. She writes well, keeps it moving, but includes great stories about the shaping of each of the characters’ lives. I’m left with two thoughts: (a) I know not the suffering [...]

January 23, 2008

Integrative Psychotherapy II

Chapter one of McMinn’s and Campbell’s Integrative Psychotherapy begins with Christian foundations. Interestingly, chapter 2 (next week) is entitled Scientific Foundations. We may not want to make those distinctions. This chapter lays out their theological anthropology. They begin by asserting that a responsible Christian psychology is founded on the “bedrock” of a Christian worldview. “Christianity–informed [...]

January 22, 2008

Thinking about the shepherd’s perspective in Psalm 23

Since I am counseling a number of pastors, missionaries, and other christian leaders I have been thinking a lot about the life of shepherds of God’s flock. Shepherds spend their life in and among sheep. They worry over the health of the flock, finding the best food, protecting from dangers. They risk their own lives (and [...]

January 22, 2008

David White on “Sinners Need Forgiveness not Blame”

Check out this great (short) eassy in the Philadelphia Daily News by HarvestUSA’s David White. He addresses the all-too-common tendency for Christians to sound self-righteous when talking about sexual sins. Here’s the link:
http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20080112_Sinners_need_forgiveness__not_blame.html?adString=ph.news/news_update;!category=news_update&randomOrd=011608074014