Let’s be honest: children and adolescents push our buttons and they seem to seek to step on our very last nerve.  Through seventeen years of teaching, I have struggled with and dealt with a wide array of behavior issues.  I have wondered whether I was too soft or too firm on discipline.  I have had many moments of not knowing what to do.  I have been exasperated by incessant behaviors.  Through it all, I have learned about more nuances in behavior and learning issues than I was aware of even existing.  It is not easy, but we can figure it out.  So let’s spend less energy and experience less exasperation. For more detailed information about school and behavior issues, please click here.

Depression and anxiety are real to me.  I have lived with them for almost 30 years.  While I have experienced much joy and stability through most of the last two decades of this period, I have been in the pit.  I have had a panic attack.  Through it all, I have worked with counselors, psychologists, and psychiatrists–not only getting better but also learning about what works and what does not work.  I can use my experiences to walk with you out of the pit.  For more detailed information on depression and anxiety, please click here.

I have loved and lost.  As a child, I survived the death of my mother.  I grieved a lot then and some grief was delayed, to be dealt with in adulthood.  By processing my loss both in and out of therapy, I used and researched a wide array of approaches to grief–not just book knowledge, but also experiential knowledge.  As a pastor, I counseled people on their death bed.  Currently, I am involved in volunteering for Comfort Zone Camps, which are weekend camps for children who have lost a loved one.  For more detailed information about my treatment of grief and loss, please click here.

Experiencing the death of a loved one can lead to a crisis of faith.  As a child, I believed that if we had prayed harder that my mom would have lived.  Through my time in therapy and my seven years of graduate theological education, I have processed these issues on deep levels.  I would be happy to do the same with you.  For more detailed information about my treatment of faith issues, please click here.

Relationships with animals are usually more free from conflict than most human relationships, which is an element that can make the loss of a pet more difficult than most of us might expect.  Another reason the death of a pet can be so hard is that a pet’s life is usually much shorter than the pet parent’s life. Please click here.