The Lifeworks Group, Inc.

By: Megan Brewer IMH During the holiday season, many people await the coming of Christmas through the observance of Advent. Advent is an ancient church tradition beginning 4 weeks before Christmas and is a season of anticipation and expectation for the coming of Christ to the world. During Advent, the themes of hope, peace, joy and love are highlighted. Observers reflect on a different theme each week and reflect upon its significance in the coming of Christ. The theme of peace is prevalent during the second week of Advent—and for the entire Christmas season for that matter—but many would describe the holiday season as anything but peaceful. Many feel the strain of the commercialized demands of shopping for presents, over-committing to parties and events, and navigating complicated and sometimes hostile family dynamics. It is surprising more people are not waiting for the holiday season to be over rather than looking towards it with hope, peace, joy, love and anticipation. ...

By: Christine Hammond LMHC Aaron was deeply troubled. He finally came to the realization that he left his abusive childhood home only to recreate it as an adult. This was not his intent. He wanted more for himself and his children. The peace he longed for had never been achieved either within himself or in his environment. His mother was an abusive alcoholic who died in a drunk driving accident. His wife didn’t drink but became addicted to Adderall after taking some of their son’s ADHD medication. Her behavior went from normal to hyper to chaotic in a short period of time. Now their whole household was in turmoil as she said and did whatever it took to keep taking the drug. Addicts turn abusive when they feel deprived of their drug of choice. Aaron was blamed for everything that went wrong as his wife continued to spiral downward. Even though Aaron wanted to separate, he was afraid to leave the house for fear that things would get worse for his wife and kids...

  Brian M. Murray, MS, IMH “Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson Have you ever wondered why people gravitate toward nature when they want to relax? A walk on the beach, sitting by the lake, laying on a blanket at the park, standing in awe of waterfalls, a river, a mountain view, walking a nature trail, camping, fishing, kayaking, canoeing, backpacking and the list goes on. How come this is so attractive?   Look at music videos during church, rarely is there one that depicts scenery that does not involve nature as the setting. Coincidence? Hardly, there is a connection between our stress and anxiety levels and spending time in the great outdoors. While not true for everyone, most people marvel at nature, it’s peaceful and found living on its own terms. Sure, we attempt to bottle it up and put it into a zoo or theme park, but when we find it out in the wild there is something special that happens in those moments. History and R...

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...