A VENTURE REVISITED

Greetings my friends in the Lord’s Name.  Here you have before you the new newsletter of the AACT.  It has a new look and it has a new way of presenting itself.  Previously we kept the newsletter up for two months and then redid the whole thing.  Our approach this time is different.  We will add up to five articles and rotate one off each week and add another… so each article will be viewable for about 5 weeks.

We will be adding some of the articles that are on the new AACT CD… You may request one and for a small offering to AACT and postage, we will send it to you.  Dr. Alan Kitay, our Vice President will be featured often on this newsletter, he is now preparing a second CD to be available to you to assist in your counseling ministry.

AACT is starting Regional Conferences.  We have one tentatively scheduled… in the early planning stages for the 6^th and 7^th of October, 2006 in the Washington DC area.  We are also planning one for Houston area and possibly one in Southern California.

So read on… and if you are not a member, become one now as this established, highly esteemed organization continues to grow and make a difference for Christ through Pastoral Counseling.

Sincerely,

Dr. Gary Barkman

President AACT

WHAT ABOUT ANXIETY

By Virginia Bieber BCC, MBC

Everyone at some time experiences anxiety.  If we are Christians, the question is often asked should we be experiencing anxiety?  Yes we trust God, and He is always with us.  Yet we live in frail human bodies that beat fast during anxiety.  Yes even with great faith, we can occasionally be vulnerable to anxiety.  In physical terms, anxiety is a condition of varying levels of discomfort, driven by the fear response that takes place in the lower part of our brain.  When we are in a emotional state that is commonly associated with  apprehension, a sense of turmoil, uneasiness or both, anxiety can come upon you at any time and last either minutes or days.  Mild anxiety can appear when something worries us, when we can’t make an immediate decision about something and often when the memory of a stressful situation from the past occurs.  Serious anxiety doesn’t appear without a cause.  It could start over a simple response to emotional and physical pain.  Eventually, anxiety responses can be learned in the lower part of the brain just like other habit patterns, such as anger and addiction.  Anxiety can be triggered by memories or learned responses.

There is also beneficial results of anxiety.  Anxiety can also be helpful as well as harmful to us.  When disaster approaches us, we become highly anxious.  Our senses become focused, our blood pressure and heart rate increase, and our adrenaline flows.  This is called hyper-vigilance.  Our bodies produce hormones to speed up our metabolism while our digestive system slows down, to preserve blood for our muscles.  The liver releases stored cholesterol for long-term energy, and adrenal glands release cortisone (an anti-inflammatory) as well as cause an increase in sugar burning for fuel).  Anxiety can help us cope effectively with most emergencies. 

Never-the-less, anxiety can also cause problems.  This happens when the brain declares an unwanted emergency.  When we experience a little stress, the lower part of our brain may respond as though we were facing a life-threatening situation, causing the release of adrenaline and other neuro-chemicals that make us tense and hyper-vigilant.

The body does not need constant emergencies or excess adrenaline, especially if we are not physically active.  When anxiety is chronic, it can harm us emotionally and physically.  So often the increase in emotional pain leads to greater anxiety.  With chronic anxiety a imbalance takes place in the brain chemistry, and is followed by  depression taxing the nervous, circulatory, and digestive systems  Besides making us alert in a crisis situation, anxiety has an additional function.  It serves as an antidote to emotional and physical pain.  Since anxiety can create emotional pain, how can it also stop emotional pain.  In small amounts anxiety is an effective smoke screen, a diversion from other emotional pain that may be occurring in our lives.  It can mask our emotional pain in two ways.  One, it draws our attention away from what really bothers us (this is the root).  Two, just like anger, anxiety stimulates the release of endorphins.  These serve as a temporary solution to ease emotional and physical pain.  The problem is that if we let anxiety get out of hand it can create more problems than it really solves.

It is necessary to accept the presence of emotional pain in our lives if we want to handle it in a healthy way.  If we fight against the presence of anger, difficulty in our lives and emotional pain, we end up very ill.  We do have hope, there are healthy response patterns that we can learn in our lower brain to supersede the unhealthy ones.  There are many practical methods that can be used to break the destructive pattern of learned anxiety.  But before we can learn, it is necessary to make sure our response to our emotional pain is healthy.

We must first accept the fact of emotional pain in our lives, then we are to handle it in a healthy way.  If we fight against it or deny it, then we are fighting against the world that God created for us.  One can not control all our pain and stress.  This is why it is necessary to accept it and TRUST GOD to manage it. 

How do we accept the pain?  We must learn to grieve our life’s losses and hurts.  This grief is not feeling sorry for ourselves, it is simply allowing ourselves to feel the pain that already exists.  We are so afraid to allow ourselves to feel pain that is already there.  What do we do, we deny it.  We cover it up with something else.    We need to recognize our pain (which is the root of anxiety).  Some people bury the pain with drugs, compulsions, and habits that are not healthy (these are the symptoms). 

First, pay attention to your body’s response to stress.  Remember that your body is simply demonstrating a survival skill, just trying to survive.  Often when the symptoms are so uncomfortable and we think something terrible is going to happen, fears set in.   

Second have patience and trust God to manage it.

"Steps to Overcome Problems"

by Dr. Don Dunlap

"All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for
teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
II Timothy 3:16-17

Teaching

The Scriptures contain significant principles for a successful life and relationships.

"Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him ..."
II Peter 1:2-3

1. Genuine faith in Christ

2. Dealing with personal offenses

3. Guilt resolution

4. Self-Identity

5. Overcoming worry, anxiety, and stress

6. Family responsibilities

7. Response to difficulties and suffering

8. Attitudes and actions regarding matters

Reproof

This is God's means of bringing us to an awareness of how we may have violated or neglected His Word and commandments. This may be accomplished through God's Word, the Holy Spirit, or the reproofs of life.

1. Depression, anxiety, stress

2. Family or Marriage Conflict

3. Traumatic Circumstances

4. Work Difficulties

5. Financial Problems

6. Substance Abuse

7. Relationship Problems

8. Physical pain

Correction

This process involves applying scriptural principles to specific life situations.

1. Insights from Scripture related to particular needs

2. Practical and specific steps of action

"No testing has come upon you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tested beyond what you can bear. But when you are tested, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."
I Corinthians 10:13

"For these commands are a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the corrections of discipline are the way to life."
Proverbs 6:23

Training In Righteousness

This principle involves developing biblical skills for consistent growth in the Christian life.

1. Learning to pray

2. Understanding and ingesting the Scriptures

3. Principles for living the Christian life

4. The importance, purpose, function, and membership of the local church

5. Ministry to others

"Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever."
I Corinthians 9:25

"You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."
Ephesians 4:22-24

TREATMENT PLAN

SUBSTANCE-USE DISORDERS--(_________________)

      Substance

Client: ___________________________________  Date: ______________

I.  OBJECTIVES OF TREATMENT--Dependence or Abuse

    (select one or more)

1.  Confront denial of substance abuse.

2.  Recognize and accept abuse as a disease.

3.  Refer to AA, NA, or rational recovery group.

4.  Sustain sobriety.

5.  Increase quality of life.

6.  Understand self-sabotaging behavior.

7.  Reduce/eliminate shame/guilt.

8.  Identify people, places, and things that trigger abuse.

9.  Prevent relapse.

II. SHORT-TERM TREATMENT GOALS AND INTERVENTIONS

    (select goals and interventions appropriate for your client)