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    Don’t Let Fear Take the Steering Wheel

    The Case for Shared Leadership (Part 5)

    The Case for Shared Leadership (Part 4)

    The Case for Shared Leadership (Part 3)

    The Case for Shared Leadership (Part 2)

    The Case for Shared Leadership (Part 1)

    More of Him, Less of Me

    You’ve Got a Friend

    3 Important Things You Should Know About Discipleship

    Discipleship Lessons from Star Wars

    Home

    Episode 26: Election, Free Will, and Flowers

    God Is Calling YOU to Rest (Part 2)

    Is metaverse or VR church a real church?

    Should we still listen to Hillsong?

    Easter Origin: Bunnies & Eggs?

    Before Christ Rose

    Our Misconception of the Body

    Is metaverse or VR church a real church?

    Can Christians go to multiple churches?

    The Relationship Between Frugalism and Stewardship

    Is metaverse or VR church a real church?

    Is metaverse or VR church a real church?

    Rejoice (Part 3)

  • LIVING
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    • Identity
    • Mental Health
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    Home Is Where Your Heart Is

    Interview: Transformation from Pole Dancing

    The Power of Names

    In a Difficult Season in My Life, I Joined the Production Team

    Wisdom from a Baby

    LET THERE BE LOVE — on Christian Veganism (Part 5)

    There’s Nothing Wrong With You

    LET THERE BE LOVE — on Christian Veganism (Part 4)

    LET THERE BE LOVE — on Christian Veganism (Part 3)

    LET THERE BE LOVE — on Christian Veganism (Part 2)

    The Addiction You Didn’t Know You Had (Part 2)

    The Addiction You Didn’t Know You Had (Part 1)

    LET THERE BE LOVE — on Christian Veganism (Part 1)

    Home

    Episode 25: What’s up with the education system?

    Our Misconception of the Body

    The Relationship Between Frugalism and Stewardship

    Home

    Episode 23: Why I changed my career

    What Consumes Us (Part 2)

    What Consumes Us (Part 1)

    Jesus and Minimalism

  • RELATIONSHIPS
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    • Church
    • Dating
    • Family
    • Marriage
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    Home Is Where Your Heart Is

    In a Difficult Season in My Life, I Joined the Production Team

    Wisdom from a Baby

    Dating for Jesus**

    A Short Letter to the Tired Single

    3 Important Things You Should Know About Discipleship

    Home

    Episode 27: How do you find the right person? Questions on singleness, boundaries and friend zones

    The Addiction You Didn’t Know You Had (Part 2)

    The Addiction You Didn’t Know You Had (Part 1)

    Is metaverse or VR church a real church?

    Can a Christian date a non-Christian, then convert him/her?

    Is metaverse or VR church a real church?

    Should we still listen to Hillsong?

    Home

    Episode 25: What’s up with the education system?

    Get Used to Different (Part 2)

    Is metaverse or VR church a real church?

    Is cohabitation a sin?

    Before Saying “I Will”

    Is metaverse or VR church a real church?

    Is metaverse or VR church a real church?

    Need for Companionship

    Local Man Discovers Gift of Singleness, Calls Off Marriage*

    Get Used to Different (Part 1)

    Talking with Family Members About Mental Health (Part 3)

  • CULTURE
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    Our Christmas Collection

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    Discipleship Lessons from Star Wars

    Ethical Consumerism

    Easter Origin: Bunnies & Eggs?

    Get Used to Different (Part 2)

    Home

    Episode 24: All about Crypto, NFTs, and the Church

    What Consumes Us (Part 2)

    Is metaverse or VR church a real church?

    Should Christians go to war?

    Home

    Episode 22: Enneagram Part Two

    What Consumes Us (Part 1)

    Jesus and Minimalism

    Home

    Episode 21: Enneagram Part One

    Get Used to Different (Part 1)

    Christian Cancel Culture: A Gospel for the Oppressors

    Christian Cancel Culture: A Gospel for the Oppressors

    Your Calling to Bring Shalom into a Deprived World

    Your Calling to Bring Shalom into a Deprived World

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    Episode 16: Cage homes and subdivided apartments, is this the reality of HK? // Ask Martin: Why does God elect some not to believe?

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    Baptism Numbers Skyrocket After Installation of Waterslide in Local Church*

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Talking with Family Members About Mental Health (Part 1)

Emily Kusunoki by Emily Kusunoki
2021/09/28
in Family, Mental Health
0

Part 1 – The Barriers

Talking with family members about mental health can be difficult. There is so much resistance at times that we can feel a bit defeated or stuck. 

Still, we love our family, and we want them to see us for our authentic selves. This includes the way we express our emotions, how we struggle, create boundaries, grow in our love of Christ, discover a greater awareness of our needs, grieve over things lost, and so on. We want to grow in our communication with family so we can love each other better, in ways that begin to restore the very core of our broken humanity.

Unfortunately, there are two common strongholds of resistance that rise up when trying to talk about issues related to mental or emotional health: stigma and shame.

Stigma is a mark of disgrace, a sign of disapproval or discrimination that creates division. Generally, it’s a bias based on certain characteristics that one carries consciously or unconsciously against another. 

Shame is an unpleasant emotion held against oneself. Those who struggle with shame tend to withdraw and experience increased feelings of distress, mistrust, powerlessness, and worthlessness.

Now, if bringing up mental health issues means confronting both of the above, it’s no wonder we end up feeling frustrated, misunderstood, or want to give up!

 

These obstacles in our conversations about mental health are reminiscent of how Jesus had to confront the Pharisees about sin.

 

The Pharisees, though they were human and fallen, believed themselves above sin. They cast out or punished those with obvious sinful behaviors, or even used physical deformities as proof of one’s unworthiness. They were completely blind to their own sins, and, to their own detriment, this prevented them from repenting and seeing Jesus for who he really was—God in the flesh, the true redeemer of all sin.

“And the scribes and the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, ‘Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?’” (Mark 2.16)

“The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, ‘Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?’ This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him.” (John 8.3-6)

“Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words. And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, ‘Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?’ But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, ‘Why put me to the test, you hypocrites?’” (Matthew 22.15-18)

So, given the stigma and shame from the examples above, how did Jesus address sin with the Pharisees? 

 

He more than once pointed out and recognized that they, too, were sinners in need of salvation. He stood his ground while showing compassion that they themselves weren’t able to do. He responded from a position of awareness – an awareness of sin and an awareness that the Pharisees were also sinners.

 

“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2.17)

“And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, ‘Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.’” (John 8.7)

“And Jesus said to them, ‘Whose likeness and inscription is this?’ They said, ‘Caesar’s.’ Then he said to them, ‘Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’ When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away.” (Matthew 22.20-22)

The Pharisees considered themselves completely holy and others unholy; they considered themselves healthy and others unhealthy. Jesus’s responses to their stigmatization of sin or their shaming of others did not compromise what he knew about sin, but instead highlighted the realities of it. Even the Pharisees, who denied their own sinful natures, learned still from the actions of Jesus and marveled at his careful responses. In the face of Jesus’s awareness, the Pharisees could not remain ignorant.

Continue reading: Part 2

Emily Kusunoki

Emily Kusunoki

Emily found lots of comforts in the pages of various books while growing up. Within her passion for reading and writing, she likes to combine her professional knowledge of mental health with her faith and love of Jesus. // Favorite book: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

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