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Protected Areas Policy Undermines Safety for ALL
As of January 27, 2025 this is the latest from the National Immigration Law Center. There is a section for churches. Stay current by visiting www.nilc.org and for LGBTQIA rights:
​https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/lgbtq-rights
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Recognizing Responses to Stress
Harriet Lerner is a clinical psychologist who has authored several books about emotions and relationships. In her book The Dance of Fear, she identifies five “patterned ways we move under stress.” We under-function, over-function, blame, distance, and/or gossip. Learning to recognize these responses as part of human nature can help us respond in ways that will calm the situation, rather than make it worse.
Bias and Defense Mechanisms: Theory and Practice
Challenging the way individuals define themselves triggers their psychological defense mechanisms. Denial is probably the most famous defense mechanism, but there are forty-seven others, all of which serve a common goal: to shield us from shame and blame.​
Channeling Emotions Toward Constructive Outcomes: Theory and Practice
Reality is not objective, we build it for ourselves. We do this as individuals and as people groups. The good news is that since we constructed it -- we can deconstruct it and then construct it in a new direction. To do this we need to understand our emotional landscape, name our feelings, and then choose to channel them toward a constructive outcome.