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Category Archives: Families
“Thinking Orange”…A Parent’s Perspective-Mike Woods
I could list a handful of wonderful gifts that you give my children by providing a special needs ministry. Today, however, I’d like to share with you four wonderful gifts that you bless my wife Linda and I with by providing a special needs ministry to our children and by being a welcoming church: Continue reading
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for kids with depression…pros and cons
The kids I treat are prone to what one of our therapists refers to as “stinking thinking”…automatic, irrational thoughts pop into their heads in the course of day-to- day living that trigger negative emotions and lead to patterns of self-defeating behavior. These patterns of self-defeating behaviors often reinforce their cognitive misperceptions and lead to a downward spiral resulting in symptoms of anxiety, depression, and sometimes, suicidal thoughts or plans. Continue reading
Where do I go for help if I think my kid might be depressed?
It’s been my experience that many churches offer reasonably good short-term counseling and support for adults, but very few will have staff with adequate training or supervision in counseling children or teens. So…where does a parent go to find the right help when they suspect their child needs help for depression? Continue reading
Is our system for treating persons with ADHD broken? Or is our society broken?
Our current model of caring for people with mental health disorders is in a near state of collapse. Sadly, I have little hope of the situation getting better and fear things are going to get much worse. What I found unsettling about this story is how accurately it represents the service delivery system that kids and families enter into when they leave our practice. Continue reading
Posted in ADHD, Advocacy, Controversies, Families
Tagged addiction, ADHD, broken, mental health system, New York Times, psychiatry, Richard Fee, society, stimulants
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What if Mom is depressed?
But for the sake of this discussion, it appears that in examining depression as a specific disability, regular involvement of either the child or the parent with depression at church not only produces spiritual benefits, but actually helps reduce the risk for the condition itself. Continue reading
Posted in Depression, Families, Hidden Disabilities, Inclusion, Key Ministry, Mental Health, Resources, Strategies
Tagged children's ministry, church, Depression, Faith Net, families, Family Ministry, Grace Groups, Inclusion, Key Ministry, Mental Health Grace Alliance, mothers, NAMI, youth ministry
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Redefining disability…and what it means for the church
But the newer thinking is that it’s not your body that disables you, it’s the environment around you.” For example, an environment full of stairs is actually what disables a person in a wheelchair. “That’s a much more interesting way to look at disability,” Continue reading
Church…A Hostile Environment? Harmony Hensley
For families and children impacted by disability church is all too often viewed as a “hostile” environment in which they feel judged or unwelcome. Sadly, I’ve met a number of families who would summarize their church experience this way. Continue reading
Posted in Families, Inclusion, Ministry Environments, Strategies
Tagged church, families, Harmony Hensley, hostile environment, Inclusion, Key Ministry, ministry environments
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What do kids and teens with depression look like?
Today, we’ll help readers develop a mental picture of what they might notice in a child or teen experiencing an episode of Major Depression. Continue reading
Depression…Definitions matter
The purpose of this series will be to help pastors, church staff, volunteers and Christian parents improve their ability to recognize the signs and symptoms of depression and children and teens and help them to most effectively support kids with depression and their families. Here’s a tentative outline of some of the topics we’ll be covering in the series… Continue reading
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