Individual Counseling Archives | Rockwall Christian Counseling

A Few Key Signs of Clinical Depression

A Few Key Signs of Clinical Depression

Stacy Davis, Kate Motaung2025-03-28T06:35:08+00:00March 28th, 2025|Depression, Featured, Individual Counseling|

Have you ever found yourself at odds with yourself? You may have told yourself to avoid engaging in certain behaviors, but despite yourself, you engage in the very behaviors you wanted to avoid. It can leave you feeling like you’ve betrayed yourself and can’t trust yourself. Being at odds with yourself in this way can be deeply unsettling, and it’s unfortunately one of the things that depression can do to a person. If a person has clinical depression, it can lead them to have thoughts that, while being untrue and unhelpful to one’s well-being, will nonetheless suggest themselves powerfully and ring as true. You can’t trust what your mind is telling you, especially when it causes you to endlessly rehearse negative thoughts. It helps to know the signs of clinical depression and to seek treatment for it. A Brief Breakdown of Clinical Depression Clinical depression is a mood disorder that affects how a person feels, thinks, and acts. A person’s ability to function in daily life is seriously hampered by depression because it can affect their cognitive ability and make them fatigued or lethargic. Clinical depression is also known as major depressive disorder, and it is a serious mental health condition marked by persistent feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and loss of interest. Depression is a common condition that affects around 5% of the global population, and it can occur at any age. It affects people from all walks of life. Women are more likely to experience depression, though that figure could be inaccurate because men are also typically less willing to report that they’re experiencing depression and seek help for it. There are several different types of depression, including major depressive disorder, postpartum depression, persistent depressive disorder, seasonal affective disorder, and bipolar disorder. A challenge that someone with depression [...]

Comments Off

Aging and Isolation: How to Prevent Loneliness

Aging and Isolation: How to Prevent Loneliness

Lori Askew, Kate Motaung2025-03-26T10:47:54+00:00March 20th, 2025|Aging and Geriatric Issues, Featured, Individual Counseling|

When you think about getting older, your first thoughts may be based on fear and dread. For example, you may have concerns regarding rising healthcare costs, physical ailments, slowing down, losing loved ones, or getting left behind from the metaphorical rivers of life. However, while those concerns are real and important, elderly people often develop full, meaningful, and fun lives. One of the key strategies to creating an abundant and fulfilling life as we age is to navigate isolation and, therefore, loneliness. While we can’t skip the natural ebb and flow of life’s highs and lows, we can safeguard ourselves from loneliness by making intentional choices. Ways to Guard Against Loneliness as You Approach Aging First, the most important way to prevent loneliness involves surrounding yourself with meaningful relationships. This may mean looking at your current relationships to see if they are serving you well, or even considering moving closer to family and friends. It may also mean moving to a community where there are many others in your age range. To form friendships and relationships that are meaningful and that can stand the test of time, it’s important to make sure you know how to build new ones. So, before you make any sweeping changes in your geography, ask yourself these questions: Am I around enough people I enjoy and with whom I could begin new friendships? Do I like the people I’ve surrounded myself with? Are the people in my everyday life leading a lifestyle that allows for hobbies and time with friends or are they too busy? If my top two friends right now were to move away or, sadly, pass away, would I have others nearby with whom I could deepen friendships or familial relationships? Are there community resources where I can turn to make new [...]

Comments Off

God’s Process: Prayer and Spiritual Development

God’s Process: Prayer and Spiritual Development

Logan Ashford, Kate Motaung2025-03-26T11:54:37+00:00March 19th, 2025|Coaching, Featured, Individual Counseling, Spiritual Development|

Longing is a part of our lives as Christ’s followers. Often frustration accompanies it in between the time we have a God-vision and experience it coming to fruition. We place our faith in God, often for a specific outcome, anticipating the outward manifestation of all we have previewed in our imagination. However, the way that God transports us to a place He may have revealed doesn’t always align with how we think we will get there. Nonetheless, we pray, we proclaim the Scripture, and we make plans and create space to welcome all that He has promised. Hope is built into the verse that defines and describes our most basic understanding of what it means to believe (Hebrews 11:1). We apply the same principle of apprehending the unseen when we confess Christ and convert from our sinful state. The process of our spiritual development is challenged when faith is stretched by other factors, such as time and circumstance. They buffet our belief and weary our resolve, complicating what seemed simpler at one point in our journey. Sometimes, our faith flounders along the way, but God never abandons us. As Beginning and End, our Everlasting Father remains committed to the destination and the long path between prayer and manifested promise (Revelation 22:13; Isaiah 9:6). He is not daunted by time, as He created it to serve His purposes. Additionally, He fashions circumstances to work together for our good and His glory (Romans 8:28). Here, in the meantime seasons, He purifies, prunes, and develops patience in us. He processes us, preparing us for what’s next. God’s Process of Spiritual Development After decades of longing and years of waiting on a promised son, God tested Abraham, commanding him to sacrifice Isaac (Genesis 22). It seemed incomprehensible, but Abraham remained confident in the [...]

Comments Off

7 Steps for an Effective Personal Development Plan

7 Steps for an Effective Personal Development Plan

Logan Ashford, Kate Motaung2025-03-13T05:18:58+00:00March 12th, 2025|Coaching, Featured, Individual Counseling, Personal Development|

How is success achieved? Many of us have ideas and plans that don’t come to fruition. One reason ideas founder is that no plan is generated to put them in motion. If you’re thinking about developing some aspect of your life such as dealing with stress, getting married, or communicating better, it’s important to have a plan of action. Creating a personal development plan is something anyone can do for themselves. As you put your plan together, knowing yourself will play a huge role in the process. There’s no use having goals that don’t appeal to you, and there’s no use in creating a development plan that requires resources you don’t possess and have no way to acquire. In other words, a development plan should be realistic and tailored to your unique needs and situation. Steps in Creating Your Development Plan As you consider steps in your personal development plan, one of the most important things you can do is determine your goals. There’s so much that can get in the way of making things happen that the best chance you have is to pursue a goal that matters to you and one that will make the most difference in your life. Some of the steps to consider in putting your plan together include the following: Choose your goal and write it down Open your favorite note-taking app or take a clean sheet of paper and write down the goals that you’d consider worth pursuing. You can note today’s date and then put down seven to ten goals that you would like to accomplish in the next 12 months. As you write these goals down, write them in the present tense. That gives you a sense of immediacy as well as a clearer view of what matters to you. [...]

How Your God-Given Internal Cues Can Stop Emotional Eating

How Your God-Given Internal Cues Can Stop Emotional Eating

Lori Askew, Kate Motaung2025-03-26T12:17:11+00:00March 7th, 2025|Eating Disorders, Featured, Individual Counseling, Weight Loss, Women’s Issues|

Chronic stress, a silent predator, is a key instigator of a range of physical and mental ailments. Unfortunately, it also slyly fuels emotional eating. What happens is that we often turn to food beyond our physical hunger because we’re trying to fill a deep-seated void. God actually created that void in us to fill with Himself. Therefore, we know that food is not the answer. God has gifted us with a sophisticated system that signals when we need to nourish ourselves and when we should refrain from eating. This system helps us to effectively curb emotional eating by recognizing and responding to internal cues. Defining True Hunger The internal cues we possess to indicate hunger are natural and intuitive. Your body releases two hormones, ghrelin and leptin. Ghrelin stimulates the appetite, making your stomach feel empty and often causing it to growl. The growl or empty sensation may subside but return in 10-30 minutes as your body requires fuel. The other hormone, leptin, controls satiety. You experience the sensation of being full when fat cells release leptin, which leads you to stop eating. This hormone is released when it receives the signal from the stomach approaching fullness. Unfortunately, many individuals continue to eat even when they are already full or not hungry, making it difficult to gauge their satiety or control their eating. This can lead to physical discomfort, obesity, digestive problems, and even illness if it becomes a consistent habit. Understanding these potential health risks can be a powerful motivator to change our eating habits. Why We Eat Our Emotions If the empty feeling or stomach growl indicates hunger, why do we eat when not physically hungry? Thoughts and emotions fuel our actions. For example, you have had a stressful day at work. You arrive home, and everyone [...]

Comments Off

Chronic Alcohol Use: Finding Freedom from Alcohol Dependence

Chronic Alcohol Use: Finding Freedom from Alcohol Dependence

Jennifer Kooshian2025-03-06T07:17:47+00:00March 6th, 2025|Chemical Dependency, Featured, Group Counseling, Individual Counseling, Men’s Issues, Women’s Issues|

If you struggle with chronic alcohol use, help is available at Texas Christian Counseling in Rockwall, Texas. You can experience freedom and hope. One set of the sayings in the biblical book of Proverbs reads thus: Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes? Those who linger over wine, who go to sample bowls of mixed wine. Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly! In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper. Your eyes will see strange sights, and your mind will imagine confusing things. You will be like one sleeping on the high seas, lying on top of the rigging. “They hit me,” you will say, “but I’m not hurt! They beat me, but I don’t feel it! When will I wake up so I can find another drink?” – Proverbs 23:29-35, NIV While wine may look good to begin with, your use of it may lead to damaging results such as woe, sorrow, strife, complaints, and needless bruises, to name a few. The Bible has a nuanced understanding of how to address the question of alcohol. As with other areas of our lives, one of the things we’re required to do is exercise wisdom in how we handle things like alcohol. One reason for this is that even if it’s good, it’s easy to fall under the influence or mastery of something, and for you to no longer be in control (1 Corinthians 6:12). Alcohol can be a cruel master, affecting your health and every area of your life. What is chronic alcohol use? There’s a difference between taking a little wine, for whatever purpose (1 Timothy [...]

Comments Off

PTSD Help: Treatment Options for Trauma Recovery

PTSD Help: Treatment Options for Trauma Recovery

Logan Ashford, Kate Motaung2025-02-20T11:18:19+00:00February 20th, 2025|Featured, Individual Counseling, Trauma|

Have you been diagnosed with PTSD and wondered, amid your struggle, whether life will ever feel normal again? The answer is yes. No matter how impossible it may look right now, your life does not have to be forever defined by your trauma. You can access effective PTSD help. With the help of God and a trained mental health professional, you can learn how to reframe your experience, cope with your symptoms in a healthy way, and live a happy, fulfilling life. You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn how to surf. – Jon Kabat-Zinn PTSD Defined PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) is a disruptive mental health disorder brought on in some people by the shock of experiencing or witnessing a terrifying event. Symptoms may include reliving the trauma through flashbacks or nightmares, severe anxiety, or uncontrollable, intrusive thoughts about the event that last long after it has ended. Common Symptoms of PTSD Though everyone’s experience with PTSD is unique, there are some common symptoms most people share. Intrusive memories Frequent intrusive memories that cause you to relive the trauma may manifest as nightmares or flashbacks. These can be upsetting and give rise to panic attacks, disrupted sleep, palpitations, headaches, and digestive disorders, as well as feelings of fear, guilt, shame, or anxiety. Avoidance You try to prevent triggering distressing emotions by avoiding anything that evenly remotely reminds you of the trauma. This could include staying clear of certain places, avoiding people who remind you of an abuser, or even specific sounds or smells. A heightened state of arousal Your body may continue to remain in a state of high alert even if the trauma happened months or years ago, causing you to overreact to everyday occurrences and be easily startled. A veteran, for example, may panic at [...]

Comments Off

Overcoming Anger and Resentment in Marriage

Overcoming Anger and Resentment in Marriage

Ronald Jenkins, Kate Motaung2025-02-13T12:02:05+00:00February 12th, 2025|Anger Issues, Couples Counseling, Featured, Individual Counseling, Marriage Counseling, Relationship Issues|

Resentment is a slow fade. It has the potential to creep into your marriage, drain out the love and leave you feeling bitter and angry toward your spouse. But, did you know that when you approach resentment correctly it can be a catalyst to address key relationship issues and solidify an even stronger marriage? Getting a Clear Understanding of Resentment in Marriage Defined by some dictionaries as a feeling of anger because you have been forced to accept something that you do not like, resentment in marriage happens when there is a buildup of negative feelings between your spouse and yourself. You may feel harmed, ignored, disappointed, deceived, or poorly treated. This feeling is toxic to any relationship, especially as one precious as a marriage, and will, over time, poison the mutual love, trust, and respect necessary for it to be successful. The hurt that you experience because your partner has purposefully or accidentally broken the agreements of your relationship is a broad but effective way to understand why resentment starts to form. Unmet expectations at various levels have an equally corrosive effect. Perhaps it is the manner you are treated, how you thought your marriage would mature, or the characteristics of the life you are building together. The hurt solidifies into disappointment, frustration, and anger toward your spouse. How Resentment in Marriage Starts Off Imagine your marriage relationship as a beautiful, exotic motorcar. Resplendent in design and function. You and your spouse love it and treasure it. While you are both out driving, a loose piece of gravel flicks up and nicks the glass on the windshield. That evening you look at it and see that it has left a chip but not much more. You decide that because he was behind the wheel when it happened, he should [...]

Comments Off

Practical Coping Tips to Prepare a Single Mom for Childbirth

Practical Coping Tips to Prepare a Single Mom for Childbirth

Stacy Davis, Kate Motaung2025-02-07T05:48:19+00:00February 7th, 2025|Featured, Individual Counseling, Women’s Issues|

Gladys was elated when she discovered she was pregnant, and although she was a little scared of the impending childbirth, she’d be okay with the support of her loving partner, Greg. She never gave any thought to the possibility of being a single mom. Greg was her high school sweetheart, and although they were still in their early twenties, she had already envisioned herself spending the rest of her life with him. The pregnancy may have been unplanned and unexpected, but she was nonetheless excited to start a new phase in their relationship. The last thing Gladys expected was for Greg to suddenly turn around and announce that he was leaving her. He decided he didn’t want to be a part of the child’s life. The breakup hit her like a sudden storm, and she suddenly realized she was facing the prospect of childbirth with no partner, and no one close by to lean on. Gladys was raised in a traditional Christian family of generations of solidly married parents and grandparents who stayed married for decades. The concept of facing pregnancy and motherhood alone was foreign to her. Facing childbirth as a single mom was the most daunting challenge she had ever faced, and she realized she had no clue how to walk this path alone. Gladys’s Ray of Hope As sad and dejected as she was, as her belly grew somehow, Gladys knew she had to find the fortitude and tools to face this journey head-on. One thing she knew was that she needed to come out of her pit of sorrow and confide in someone. She hadn’t even told her family any of this. Then she remembered the friendly neighborhood shopkeeper, Emma, who lived just down the road. She remembered that she had lost her husband before [...]

Comments Off

Healthy Parenting Tips to Help You Raise Your Kid Well

Healthy Parenting Tips to Help You Raise Your Kid Well

Stacy Davis, Kate Motaung2025-01-25T04:02:17+00:00January 27th, 2025|Family Counseling, Featured, Individual Counseling|

Having kids can be a beautiful challenge to take on. To be honest, it can be overwhelming, too. Being able to turn to others for wisdom can indeed be helpful, but you need to make sure that whatever wisdom you receive makes sense, really works, and fits in with who you are and what you desire for your children. Sometimes you can try things out, but if they aren’t working out, it’s okay to take a step back and try something new. Below are a few healthy parenting tips that you can try out to help you raise your kids well. You may be facing various or specific challenges with your kids, and that can affect the kind of help you need. Sometimes, making simple tweaks to what you’re already doing will do the trick; at other times, you’ll need a whole new approach. At other times, it may be prudent to seek professional help. Parenting Tips to Help You on the Way You know your kids better than anyone else, and one helpful pointer as you think about your parenting is to learn to trust your instincts more. Of course, our instincts need to get sharpened, and it always helps to be informed, but trust that the Lord gave you those kids for a reason. Yes, you’ll make mistakes as a parent, but you can learn from them and grow in your ability to parent well. Here are some healthy parenting tips you can implement to raise your kids well: Leading by example Parents sometimes fall into the trap of wanting their kids to do what they say, and not to imitate what they do. The reality is that kids learn by imitation, and so they will often pattern themselves after you and what they see you do. [...]

Comments Off

12 Next

Individual Counseling

CONTACT INFO

Rockwall Christian Counseling

ABOUT US