Category Archives: Key Ministry

Understanding Depression and Comorbidity in Children and Teens

This is Part Four in our Winter 2013 blog series Understanding Depression in Kids and Teens…A Primer for Pastors, Church Staff and Christian Parents. Today, we’ll look at the phenomena we refer to as “comorbidity”… the propensity for other mental health disorders … Continue reading

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Kids and Depression…What Does the Data Say?

Suicidal thinking and behavior is very common among youth with depression. Approximately 60% of teens diagnosed with depression will experience thoughts of suicide…30% have made one or more suicide attempts. Continue reading

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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

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What we have in store for 2013…

One of my goals when we launched the blog in 2010 was to develop a comprehensive library of resources for church staff and volunteers working with kids with the full range of common emotional, behavioral and developmental disorders I see among kids served in our practice. We hope to complete that goal by the end of 2013.
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Road Trip…to the 2013 McLean Bible Church Accessibility Summit

On Friday evening, Katie Wetherbee will be teaming up with Amy Kendall, Disability Coordinator from Saddleback Church in California to present Comfort and Joy: Creating a Classroom Culture That Could Change the Kingdom.

Also on Friday evening, Harmony Hensley will be presenting on the topic of Volunteer Recruitment and Retention.

On Saturday, I’ll have the opportunity to share on the topic of Supporting Children and Teens who Struggle With Anxiety. Rebecca Hamilton will be participating as part of the panel in a discussion…Respite-The Gift of Time, led by Jackie Mills-Fernald and including Sib Nafziger Charles and Cameron Doolittle. Continue reading

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What our families experience…The “Bad Kid Fort”

“Instead of sending him out of the room or any other myriad of options, she fashioned a large cardboard box and placed the box around his seat, completely enclosing him, in front of 30 of his peers,” Dean said.

Dean alleges the teacher wrote “bad kid fort” on the outside of the box while he was in it. She has a picture of the alleged fort on her Facebook page. It was sent to her by a student who saw it the hallway and snapped a photo. Continue reading

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Reminding myself that we’re winning the war

Most of the disability ministry leaders I know are tired, underfunded and apprehensive about the future…like most of the families we serve. But the progress being made by the disability movement is unmistakable and real. It’s gratifying to see the ways in which God is mobilizing our colleagues to do great things on behalf of His Kingdom!
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Special Needs and Divorce: What Does the Data Say?

The level of understanding about autism in the community has progressed to the point that having a child with the condition has become more socially acceptable. The same is true of Down’s Syndrome, which is caused by a specific chromosomal abnormality. Mental health is still a taboo topic. It’s less stigmatizing to have a kid with an autism spectrum disorder than a kid with a psychiatric disorder. Continue reading

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Mental Illness and Mass Murder: Reflections From a Christian…and a Psychiatrist

Efforts to address the danger present in our society through gun control or better mental health services represent futile attempts to employ collective defense mechanisms to assuage our anxieties and enable our avoidance of the real issue…there is evil in the world, NONE of us is good, and we as individuals and collectively as a society are powerless to do anything about it. Continue reading

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The Pros and Cons of Medication for Kids

We’re looking back at our ten most popular blog posts from 2012. Here’s #4… The widespread use of medication among children with mental health disorders is the ultimate “hot-button” topic in our field today. Undeniably, the use of such medications … Continue reading

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