Severely abused women now have a resource

Over two years ago, I posted some information about Wing Haven and expressed excitement about the concept.  Now it’s a reality.   Wing Haven is a relocation center for severely abused women–the next step for them is death if they try to leave their abuser.  After years of unbelievably hard work and sacrifice Wing Haven is ready for clients.   It provides a chance for women to heal physically, to strengthen emotionally, to engage socially, and to mature spiritually.  If you are aware of any woman and her children (five and under) who need a safe place where she can learn of the Lord and literally rebuild her life, help them get help at:

Wing Haven (click here for their web page)
2059 Camden Avenue
San Jose, CA 95124
408-209-3500
info@winghaven.org

Domestic violence need not pose a dead end street.

What Your Adolescent Needs from You

Emily Trebolo is a former student of mine who has gone on to establish herself professionally.  What impressed me about her when we talked recently is how fervently she believed in a parent’s capacity to meet the needs of their teenage children.  So I asked her to write a piece about what those needs are and how the parents can meet them.  Here’s what she said:

When they walk in the door you don’t know what to expect. It feels like you blinked and what once was your sweet little girl is now a fast moving ball of emotions.   Some days your precious angel acts like the sweet child you raised. The next moment she is having a melt down and it is all your fault. Not only are you tired of the ups and downs, but also it seems like as soon as you figure out something she needs, the need switches. Sound familiar? If so, you must have arrived in the world of adolescents.

As a counselor at Christian Counseling Associates I work a lot with adolescents. I love having the opportunity to help navigate this challenging road for teens and also their parents.  Through my adventures with these soon-to-be young adults, I have found a few recurring themes. In the emotional chaos, parents often want to know, “What in the world does my child really need from me?” I have found a pattern of three common things your adolescent needs, and typically has no idea how to ask you for it.

Need #1 – I need you to teach me that I am valuable

There is a very good chance that your teen is confused about what value is. It is contrary to everything they are observing in society to believe that value isn’t something based on what they do.  Your precious one is valuable not because of what they do, or who at school likes them, but because God made them. Therefore, they need you to educate them on their own worth.

Christian Ethics for Counselors

Question: Is there anything unique about Christian ethics?

Answer: Yes.

On February 27, 2009 three psychologists led a workshop in Dallas to explain.  I think this is a good example of how CAPS as an organization seeks to integrate the social sciences with Christianity.  Here’s the abstract followed by a two-part audio of their presentation.

Abstract: When integrating Christian faith and psychotherapy, unique ethical dilemmas may arise. This presentation will discuss many of these ethical dilemmas and how they occur in clinical practice. As part of this presentation, we will discuss our research related to ethical dilemmas that may arise when integrating Christian faith and psychotherapy. As part of our research, we surveyed 362 members of the Christian Association for Psychological Studies who are practicing clinicians. Research participants responded to an ethics survey designed to look at ethical behaviors, ethical beliefs, and ethics training related to Christian psychotherapy.

Click here to listen to the first half:  Christian Ethics I

Click here to listen to the second half: Christian Ethics II

Thanks to Drs. John Eric Swenson, Gregory Schneller, and Randolph Sanders for offering this 3-hour presentation.

We had a good turnout with a strong sense of community: