The Lifeworks Group, Inc.

By: Christine Hammond, LMHC As a natural optimist, I’m great at seeing the glass half full. However, life has taught me that there are times when positive thinking can do more harm than good. For it is through the pain, suffering, hurt, sadness, and discouragement that a person gains strength, character, courage, determination, and perseverance.   Optimists. It is natural for an optimist to overlook the negative. However, dismissing uncomfortable topics arbitrarily without allowing the opportunity for self-reflection, leads to a lack of awareness. This avoidance can prevent healing in the most inward parts of a person thereby creating an environment where the same root issue resurfaces over and over. Pessimists. Likewise, it is natural for a pessimist to overlook the positive. But neglecting to embrace even the simple joys in life and feel the emotion can leave a person flat. This type of avoidance can also prevent healing because it seems like life will never get better a...

By: Matt W. Sandford, LMHC What is self care? Self care means attending to your self – increasing and/or maintaining your personal emotional well being. An objection to self care that I’ve heard people say is that it seems self indulgent. This objection is commonly rooted in the Christian understanding that our calling is to serve and focus on others. There are, in fact, scriptures that seem at first to be in support of this viewpoint. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be serve d, but to serve , and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45 “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4  not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” Phil 2:3-4 There are actually plenty of passages we could reference to support this idea. But I want to consider a few other passages to help us to gain balance as to the intention of the passages on serving. “Whatever y...

By: Matt W. Sandford, LMHC Do you sometimes find yourself feeling tired, weary, run down, and yet you haven’t done anything very physically strenuous? If so, then you have encountered your emotional bank. Have you ever felt drained from a relationship or a type of task that you loathe? If so, then you have encountered your emotional bank. On the other hand, if you have been energized from spending time with a good friend, then you have also encountered your emotional bank. What we are talking about here is the truth that we have an emotional energy level that goes up and down based on our experiences. Everything we experience is either making deposits or withdrawals in our emotional bank. But, how often are we aware of our emotional bank and the level at which it is? Even more, how often do we attend to it and seek to “balance the books” as they say? First of all, you are going to need to have some idea of the types of experiences and persons that are drainers and energizers f...

By Dwight Bain We all know someone who is in the difficult situation of trying to make their marriage work, but they are alone in the process. It’s like 1 person trying to make a 2 person bicycle go fast, or make a boat designed for 2 people to row go straight… it’s almost impossible. While it can be done for a while, it leaves one person exhausted while the boat is going in circles and the bicycle rolls back down the hill. Why does this happen? Lots of reasons, often it appears that one person loves too much, and the other sometimes doesn’t seem to love enough. Whatever the reason marriages that have this imbalance create a lot of potential problems besides the obvious exhaustion. This overworking/under working cycle steals joy from the marriage; creates unrealistic comparisons with other couples; creates isolation & discouragement from one person who seems to be continually trying with no real results. So what can you do when you are trying to save you...

By Chris Hammond, MS A common issue among Christians is defining the proper balance between their parents’ expectations and opinions and their spouse’s expectations and opinions. Too often, Christians carry into their marriage the idea that they must continue to obey their parents long after they have reached adulthood because Scripture tells them to honor their parents. However, there is a huge difference between obeying parents and honoring parents although both are right depending on the maturity of the individual. The desire to honor parents is right but sometimes contrasts with their spouse’s opinion. This produces tension frequently resulting in an argument or worse in unspoken frustration. The unresolved issue can then potentially give seed to resentment which can in turn devastate a marriage. It does not have to be this way. By understanding the meaning and application of the Scripture for obeying your parents, honoring your parents and cleaving to your spouse, many Christian m...