This is a weekly post that highlights resources from other counselors that I have found helpful. The counselors may be from the biblical counseling, Christian psychology, integration, or secular counseling traditions. By linking to a post, I am not giving it my full endorsement, I am merely indicating that I believe it made a unique contribution or raised an important subject for consideration.

What It’s Like To Have Dementia by Gerda Saunders (Podcast)

Gerda Saunders shares her experiences with oncoming dementia in her new memoir, Memory’s Last Breath: Field Notes on My Dementia. When Saunders was in her early 60s, she received a diagnosis of microvascular disease, a precursor to dementia. As Saunders’ short-term memory started failing, she began keeping “field notes” in her journal, which became the basis for her book.

4 Myths about the Wives of Porn Addicts by Vicki Tiede

The world finds lust, fantasy, masturbation, and pornography not only acceptable, but something to be elevated and encouraged, because they’ve embraced the belief that if anyone is being hurt, it’s only the person looking at porn. This is a lie. A wife is part of the collateral damage that’s resulted from her husband’s addiction.There are four misconceptions that many hold about pornography addiction and the betrayed wife. Being aware of these myths will help you improve your counseling strategy to these women.

Distracted From Life: The Hazards of Self-Preoccupation by Mark Leary

People have only a limited capacity for attention. Paying attention to one thing necessarily prevents us from paying complete attention to anything else. When we are preoccupied with our self-thoughts, we are not able to focus fully on the world, or on what we are doing. You have probably had the experience of walking or driving from one place to another so absorbed in thought that you arrived with no memory whatsoever of the sights along the way. The fact that you navigated successfully from one place to another while lost in thought is a testament to your ability to function on automatic pilot, but your self-talk pushed out the sights and sounds of the real world.

Why Is My Husband so Angry? It All Comes Down to Shame by Ella Hutchinson

As I look back on almost seven years of treating wives of sex addicts I can only think of one who said her husband didn’t have serious issues with anger. Women share stories of their husbands cursing at the lawn mower in the front yard, throwing parts to an entertainment center they’re trying to put together across the room, holes in the wall, road rage, and unfortunately their husbands lashing out at them or their kids for things like spilled milk.

Walking Through It: A Family Violence Survivor’s Reflection by Anonymous

I’ve been encouraged privately to reflect and share on the experience of coming forward in the church.  I am profoundly grateful for the godly men and women who walked through it with me. My experiences were generally positive but there were moments that weren’t so positive as well, and moments which might have gone much, much worse but for the grace of God. I am somewhat unusual, from what I can gather, in that I didn’t meet with anyone (outside of my then-husband) who treated me with harshness or ungraciousness. Even those who weren’t helpful still tried to treat me with love. My heart aches for those who have not been met with grace and love. Here are some things that I’ve been reflecting on about my own experience:

What I’m Reading

A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World by Paul Miller. Christians sometimes prioritize productivity over time in prayer—and experience anxiety, joylessness, and fear as a result. If prayerlessness marks your life more often than not, A Praying Life is for you. Miller offers practical, down-to-earth advice on how to talk to God in the midst of your daily routines. Learn to speak from a childlike faith, live your Father’s story, understand unanswered petitions, and more. Includes new chapters on prayers of lament and further guidance on using prayer cards.

Tweets of the Week

 

Meaningful Meme

On the Lighter Side

Because, “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones,” Proverbs 17:22.

Wow! Kid made an incredible catch.