My colleague, Isa Bischoff Jones, reached out to me a day after we had received the news of the USA elections result and shared with me some of her concerns and the distress she was seeing with many of her clients — an experience I was also having with mine. We decided to host a “Facebook Live” event where we would take questions, comments, and experiences and address as many as we could from the perspective of validation, self-care and mental... Read more
It’s difficult to believe that it’s only been a year since the leak of the policy changes in regards to LGBTQ+ members in our church. I remember having a guest in our home I had never met before — one of the wonderful things of LDS communities… she needed a place to stay since she was auditioning in our city… friends through trusted venues connect us… next thing you know we are having a lovely time connecting and sharing stories.... Read more
I am extremely heartened by the changes we have seen announced last week, October 26, by Brigham Young University after an investigation was launched into how they were previously handling cases of sexual assault. Among some of the most important changes: Title IX workers, who help provide services to sexual assault victims, will be located in an entirely different office than that of the Honor Code, Information taken by the Title IX office will not be shared with the Honor... Read more
Last week there was so much going on in the Mormon world, that I did the classic response of not writing about any of it. Goodness. It’s my goal to address many of these topics this week. Tyler Glenn came out with his album, Excommunication October 21. An album I know has everything to do with his reaction to the November 5th policy dealing with homosexual members of our church — which was leaked just last year — and his ensuing... Read more
As a therapist, I have never before taken a public stance on who people should vote for within the political spectrum. This year that has drastically changed — and I am not alone: America’s Therapists Are Worried About Trump’s Effect on Your Mental Health. I was taking a stance against Trump long before the Washington Post leak due to many disgraceful things he has said from the very beginning of the campaign — things that should have us alarmed as a country.... Read more
Due to a variety of circumstances, I often contemplate suicide. I really do believe that my loved ones would be better off without the sadness and difficulties I bring into their lives – especially my children. They tell me otherwise but how do I get past what I know to be true? They say it would be a selfish choice, but I don’t see it that way. I commend your courage to be so frank and open about your suicidal thoughts.... Read more
With three colleagues of mine – all experienced therapists working within the Mormon community and all Certified Sex Therapists – we decided to write the following op-ed after receiving several concerned questions from parents about the Fight the New Drug organization being allowed to present their materials in public school settings. We will be using The Mormon Therapist in the next week or two to be able to elaborate (since op-eds are limited to 600 words) on what else we wish we... Read more
With General Conference among us, I know we are bound to hear much about the ideal Mormon family status: a heteronormative couple married with children. We already had this be the case in the General Women’s Session. Unfortunately, this type of focus continues to discount and minimize the presence of many other types of family systems among us (singles, one-parent homes, blended families, grandparents raising children, foster families, etc.). But most of all, it erases our gay, lesbian and queer... Read more
Today, faculty members of John Hopkins University published an op-ed in The Baltimore Sun, Hopkins faculty disavow ‘troubling’ report on gender and sexuality stating their stark disapproval of the review that had been published in The New Atlantis, Sexuality and Gender. On September 8, I wrote a blog post titled, Atlantis Article… Are you kidding me?, where BYU professor Dr. Mikle South and I share our serious concerns about the implications of how such information would be received in a religiously conservative culture... Read more
I’ve been seeing a therapist lately for depression. And one of the things she keeps bringing up is perfectionism. I kind of get what she’s saying. But I want to be the best person I can be. I am overwhelmed on a pretty regular basis as to how to go about this. I have 5 kids under the age of 10, I have a time-intensive calling in young women’s, my husband is also busy with work and a calling as... Read more
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