Counseling Resources

As believers, we are called to show love and compassion towards ourselves and others, just as Christ did. Having compassion for others is to feel with them.  When we show God’s love through our own love and action, others begin to see the reality of our faith in life changing ways. Compassion is also linked to an increase in well-being. An article through Positive Psychology shares how studies have found that higher levels of compassion are related to decreased depression, improved parent-child relationships, and increased happiness, as well as buffers the impacts of stress and anxiety. This is just one of the many ways that God has commanded action from us that relates to our own mental health. 

Learning self-regulation and building resilience are vital tools for our children to learn as they grow into adulthood. Self-regulation does not mean you don’t experience emotions, but it is the ability to remain in control of your feelings, thoughts, and behaviors in order to react successfully to a situation while experiencing big emotions. Resilience is the capacity to adapt or recover from a difficult or challenging experience effectively. These two skills take time, practice, and consistency. Self-regulation and resilience can have the ability to offset other risk factors for mental health struggles. We need to look no further than the word of God to look at examples of what resilience looks like in action. God gives us so many words of encouragement in the face of adversity; to stand firm, to not grow weary in doing good, to press on and to persevere. 

Sometimes the world, social media, or even our friends can send us mixed messages about our identities. Scripture tells us that if we are believers we can have confidence, peace, and joy about who we are in Christ! There are great truths in Ephesians 1-2 about who God says we are. We are covered in the righteousness of Christ, we are chosen, adopted, included, blessed, forgiven and holy and blameless in the sight of God. Take heart in how Jesus describes you. We challenge you today to take captive the thoughts and lies that give a negative or shameful view of yourself and allow Scripture to change your mind and heart. 

One of the biggest things students struggle with is healthy friendships. God designed us to be in relationship with one another, so friendships are an important part of our lives. Building positive friendships also has a direct impact on our mental health; reducing stress and anxiety, and improving confidence levels. Positive and trusting friendships in students is not to be confused with being “popular”.  A study done by the University of Virginia found that “high school students with higher-quality friendships tended to improve in several aspects of mental health over time, while teens who were popular among their peers during high school may be more prone to social anxiety later in life”. How do we know if we have healthy friendships? The bible gives us examples of both positive and negative friendships and the impact they can have. Proverbs is also full of examples of what a true friend says and does. 

Last week, we were blessed as teachers and staff to hear valuable information from several professionals to better serve our students and families. One of those professionals was psychologist Dr. Kevin Chapman of The Kentucky Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders. The following is a small but important concept that was talked about during this time. We are so thankful for the wonderful Godly professionals who pour into our staff so that we can help our students to the best of our ability! 

While there are many benefits to the technology that is available to us today, we also know there is a harmful side to our screens and what is behind them. There is increasingly more data coming out that supports the idea that phones and screens can negatively impact our youth. According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), the amount of time spent on screens has been associated with lower psychological well being of teens and young adults. The increased and unmanaged use of phones and social media have a direct impact on self-control, social interaction and connections, family dynamics, and emotional stability. God designed us for connection with others, but the overuse of social media gives a false sense of connection that can leave people feeling empty and alone.