The Influence of Good Men

father talking to his son

Recent studies continue to demonstrate the positive connection between having a father in the home and the influence that father’s can have on child development. The presence of a father in the home positivity correlates with higher levels of sociability, confidence, and self-control in children. Children with involved fathers are less likely to act out […]

Finding Peace in Christ

image of Christ holding out His hands

Elder D. Todd Christofferson said in this last General Conference, “What our Heavenly Father offers us is Himself and His Son, a close and enduring relationship with Them through the grace and mediation of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer.” (Our Relationship With God, April 2022) My life has been a pursuit of learning the order of […]

Building Emotional Intelligence Part 3

words emotional intelligence in circle around other things like stress, management, relationships

(Read Part 1 and Part 2) How then do we take all that we know about emotion and properly utilize emotions to make informed decisions? Well that is somewhat a trick question as emotions should rarely form the basis for making decisions. Let me explain. In Stephen W. Owen’s talk entitled “Be Faithful, Not Faithless” […]

Building Emotional Intelligence Part 2

drawing of head with thoughts inside

(Read Part 1 HERE). After I have successfully narrowed down and identified my emotions; where do I go from there? How then do I effectively manage such emotions? While utilizing the emotion/feelings wheel may offer a simple formula toward managing emotions… I will introduce a few more tools that can be utilized. Our first tool […]

Building Emotional Intelligence: Part 1

circles with types of emotions: social, intellectual, self-aware, relationships

Perhaps one of the most misunderstood pieces of the human experience is human emotion. Yet, one of my favorite facets within my clinical education has been coming to learn about emotion and the role that emotions can play within fully understanding what it means to be a person. Too often as individuals we may experience […]

A Warrior’s Prayer

soldier praying

One of my favorite times during any day is the opportunity I have to communicate with Heavenly Father. While I still feel as though I am continuing to learn what it means to pray and how I can properly communicate with my Heavenly Father there are a few principles within prayer that allow me to […]

The Younger Generation

group of teenage boys helping one who is depressed about something

“They’ll never make it in the world”, “they are too soft”, “they don’t need more love they need to be disciplined”, “they don’t know the value of true hard work”, etc. How often do we hear these kinds of statements in reference to the younger generations of today? How often do we find ourselves believing […]

Stop the Payments!

luxury car

To preface this dilemma I will share a story. I was working on a case one time and this man was claiming that he was poor and could not afford to pay his alimony payments to his ex-wife. The judge tasked my firm with finding out how much money this man was actually making, a […]

Budgeting, Your New Best Friend on the Road to Financial Freedom

Rock sitting on top of money that says Financial Self-Mastery

When you hear the word budget what do you think of? Many people think of a big list of dos and don’ts that restrict how you spend your money. Well, if that is what you think of then you are doing it wrong. Budgeting is the best way for you to spend your money the […]

4 Steps of Inquiry

4 Steps of Inquiry, Man thinking

One of the most intriguing and well known forms of therapy is cognitive-behavioral therapy or CBT. 4 questions we should all consider at times to better understand our own thoughts.

Dirt in the Eyes: A Christlike Remedy

blind man walking on street

One of my favorite Bible stories is when Christ heals the blind man by the pool. I hope we can all take the time to recognize the symbolism this story has within the journey of self-mastery.

Self-Worth, Self-Esteem, and Self-Confidence

young boy

One of my favorite lessons I learned as an undergraduate student at BYU-Idaho was a lesson taught in my abnormal psychology class. My professor taught us the difference between self-worth, self-esteem, and self-confidence. He asserted that many of us may confuse the concepts or interchange them without really recognizing it. However, to best apply the […]

Meaning and Situational Depression

man feeling depressed with hands on head sitting down

In my clinical internship at the BYU-Idaho Counseling Center I had the unique opportunity to assist students struggling with a variety of different issues. Perhaps one of the number one epidemics facing undergraduate students is anxiety and depression. Students begin to learn very quickly that adjusting to life can be complicated as they learn to […]

Value-Based Living

core values: integrity, trust, honesty, quality, ethics

What does it mean to live a value-based lifestyle? How does that impact a person in their ability to function and become the person they want to be? How does it compare to living a shame-based lifestyle and having a shame-based recovery?