When I talk with counselors, or listen to them talk among themselves about why they pursued counseling as an avenue of service, I often hear things such as: "I wanted to help others," "I wanted to help people in the healing process," "I believe God called me into this work," or "I found healing through counseling and wanted to pass on what I was given." Certainly these are true reasons. They are also good reasons. Recently, however, I have been...

Treatments have risks that must be considered. However, the failure to treat known disease states also carries extraordinary risks. It is therefore important to effectively treat diseases when possible, but also in the safest manner possible. The following is a list of rules that are designed to maximize the possibility of success while minimizing the risks of adverse outcomes. Examples of drugs that illustrate the rules are provided when appropriate.

1. Do not take medications...

Outcomes of Heart Surgery  Contrada, R., Goyal, T. M., Cather, C., Rafalson, L., Idler, E. L., & Krause, T. J. (2004). Psychosocial factors in outcomes of heart surgery: The impact of religious involvement and depressive symptoms, Health Psychology, 23 (3), 227-238. Richard Contrada and his colleagues reported on the relationship between religiousness and recovery from heart surgery. Their study was of a convenience sample of patients scheduled for heart surgery. The...

Proverbs 5:3-5 says, “For the lips of an immoral woman drip as honeycomb, and her mouth is sweeter than oil; but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; and her steps lay hold of hell.” The monster elephant sitting in our pews and spewing waste all over the sanctity of the Church—that no one wants to acknowledge and few are talking about—is Internet-based sexual addiction. Click the mouse and...

the 41-year-old brain-damaged woman who became the centerpiece of a national right-to-life battle. While my stand on this issue is clear (notwithstanding the legal issues, withholding the basic necessities for life"like food and water in order to end a persons life, brain dead or not, is inhumane), I do not want to debate Terrys case here. But I do want to lift up just how important the issue of medical ethics has become. I should also point out, as Terris case revealed, how...

If I were to put my delightful cat Doobie in our traveling cage and stop feeding him until the meowing and crying ended and he finally died, I would be guilty of a Class 6 felony in Virginia. Under the law, I would be eligible for “a term of imprisonment of not less than one year nor more than five years… and a fine of not more than $2,500, either or both.” Yet in Florida Michael Schiavo— who years ago abandoned his marital vows along with his...

In the stem cell debate there has been a lot of heat generated, but not much light. Many claims and promises have been made, but most people, the public and the policymakers alike, do not know the whole truth about stem cell research and its cousin, cloning. THERE ARE ACTUALLY MANY sources of stem cells, yet most of the media attention has focused on embryonic stem cells. Embryonic stem cells from mice were first isolated in 1981, but the debate began in earnest in 1998 when human...

MY BACK WAS SORE, MY NECK was aching, and I was glad to be out of my wheelchair. My bed felt good, even if I couldn’t “feel” most of my body. After 37 years of quadriplegia, the vertebrae in my neck are beginning to deteriorate resulting in ever-increasing levels of pain. So on this particular night, I was grateful for a productive day at work and finally… rest. I flicked on the television to watch a PBS special called “Miracle...

These words apply to every aspect of our lives, including our calling to be Christian counselors. We are admonished to walk circumspectly (prudently, cautiously, discreetly, watchfully) before both God and man. We are regulated by both laws and ethical codes. In our profession, guidelines for this circumspect behavior are provided in the form of ethical codes. While laws reveal the minimum standards that society will accept/tolerate; ethical codes establish the rules of conduct....

We live in a society that has certain expectations for those in leadership or in the public forum. We expect leaders to be successful, magnetic, powerful, expert, articulate, strong, and on top of things. One of the results is that the pressure on those in positions of power or influence is to hide anything within themselves or their lives that is contrary to those expectations. The fears, inadequacies, struggle and suffering go underground and the person in leadership develops a...