In the first of this two-part series, Rachael Clinton Chen interviews Dan Allender about the origins of his work in helping people address and heal sexual abuse. You’ll drop into Dan’s story in the mid-1980s as he was finishing his doctoral studies. He was asked a question by one of his clients: “What do you know about sexual abuse?”

At the time, this very prevalent issue was not being addressed in secular culture, let alone by the church. Listen to how Dan grew into his unique role as a therapist, teacher, and innovative leader to help bring healing and transformation to those who have suffered harm and abuse.

Please note this does discuss the sensitive topic of sexual abuse and may not be suitable for some listeners.

As we continue our discussion about spiritual abuse, this week we’re looking at its impacts and how we can begin to move towards healing.

If this is a subject you’d like to continue to explore, or if you’d like to share this material with a loved one, we have a list of more articles, podcasts, and online learning opportunities in the show notes of today’s episode.

We invite you to stay tuned for the second part of this conversation next week. If you’d like to go deeper into this topic, consider enrolling in the “Confronting Spiritual Abuse Re-Release.” This is a full day of teaching from Rachael Clinton Chen that you may go through at your own pace. 

We offer this information not only to expose the harm, but because we believe that healing is possible. By doing this work, you can begin to reclaim spiritual beliefs and practices and reconnect with God and others in a deeper way.

Dan and Rachael continue their conversation from last week about post-traumatic stress. Once we identify and acknowledge it, how do we offer care for ourselves and those around us?

We hope this conversation inspires you to  contemplate some of the simple self-care practices and rituals you can implement in your own life, and the ways in which you can tend to yourself and others with mercy and care.

Discussing the topic of post-traumatic stress can feel particularly overwhelming because so many of us are currently in a state of ongoing post-traumatic stress. Dan and Rachael approach this conversation feeling weary, yet determined to unpack the impacts of PTSD so that we all might have more awareness, understanding, and grace for ourselves and those around us. We especially acknowledge the leaders and helpers - healthcare workers, teachers, parents, friends, and family members helping loved ones.

In this continued conversation on what it means to be wholehearted, Dan and Rachael ask one another - and you, dear listeners - to reflect on moments of wholeheartedness in our lives. These are the times when we are most present, most connected, and most alive. These are also the times when we can glimpse the fullness and glory of God.

What do you understand wholeheartedness to be? It often feels like an unattainable state, especially in this fallen world. 

In this conversation, Dan Allender and Rachael Clinton Chen break down their experiences with becoming more wholehearted: the desire for its joy, the shame that often prevents us from embracing it, and the simple practices in which we can have an embodied, intentional movement toward Shalom.

In the third and final episode of our Sexual Abuse series, Dan and Rachael are joined by theologian Dr. Chelle Stearns. They discuss a difficult, and often controversial, topic of the ways in which Jesus fully took on humanity with all of its vulnerability, humiliation, and shame in order to suffer with us in those dark places and then bring redemption to them.

Please note: This is a sensitive topic and you may want to use discretion if you are listening with younger listeners.

In the second episode of our series about sexual abuse, Dan and Rachael are joined by Linda Royster, licensed therapist and teaching staff at The Allender Center. 

Linda defines supremacy and the misuse of power as it relates to sexual abuse, violence, and racism, and how it is in direct opposition to true Shalom.

This week, we’re joined by Jay Stringer, a licensed mental health counselor, ordained minister, and author of the award-winning book “Unwanted: How Sexual Brokenness Reveals Our Way to Healing.” @jay_stringer_’s passion is to equip the church with resources to change the conversation on sexual brokenness. He shares with us some stories that can help us examine our own stories as we move towards redemption.

We were honored to sit down for a conversation with Ian Morgan Cron, best-selling author and renowned Enneagram authority. 

In this conversation hosted by Dan and Rachael, @ianmorgancron shares how to use the Enneagram to push past old, stale stories and unlock inner power for both spiritual and personal growth. 

In this episode, you’ll gain new insight about how to rewrite broken narratives and step into becoming your authentic self.

Are you ever officially “done” parenting your child when they become an adult? Listen to this insightful and playful conversation between this week’s guest, Amanda Christian, and her dad - Dr. Dan Allender.

As an adult child, you have a very different relationship with your parents than you did in your youth. If we are given the privilege of having a relationship with our parents as they age, how does that relationship evolve in order for us to engage with them and care for them? 

Listen as Dan Allender and Rachael Clinton Chen speak from their generational perspectives about the relationship between adult children and their parents throughout the aging process.

In this episode, Dr. Dan Allender and Becky Allender are joined by Dr. Steve Call and Lisa Call to share their experiences in addressing personal trauma in the context of marriage.

her life into living what she calls a “spacious life.” 

Listen as Dan Allender and Cathy Loerzel, co-authors of “Redeeming Heartache,” speak with Cary Umhau, author of “Burning Down the Fireproof Hotel” and find parallels between their work and their stories.

This conversation might make you feel like you’re sitting around a cozy table with close friends; we hope you enjoy it.

What does “grounding” mean? It’s engaging in practices that bring you back to your body and refocuses your thoughts when you may be experiencing the effects of stress, anxiety, or trauma.

Join Jeanette White, the Executive Director of the Allender Center, and Rachel Sanchez, the Manager of the Resilient Leaders Project at @theseattleschool to learn ways to find that moment of care for yourself. We think you’re going to love this one.

Change is inevitable, and transitioning through change often holds together two realities: grief for things that have been lost and hope for what lies ahead. How do we navigate these transitions when it feels as if we’re wandering through the wilderness? Listen as Dan and Rachael talk with Jon DeWaal of Liminal Space about how we might approach walking through seasons of transition in our lives, one step at a time.

With so many things fighting for our attention, how do we intentionally create space of goodness for ourselves and others? Join us as we contemplate what it means to focus on the things that matter as we begin this new year.

How do we begin to process this past year and look forward to a new year when so many things feel beyond our control? In this special New Year’s Day edition, husband and wife duo Dan and Becky Allender discuss establishing rituals and rhythms that can keep us grounded and centered as we enter 2022.

This season of gift-giving may prompt a myriad of layered feelings: excitement, pressure, anticipation, dread, hope, and inadequacy.

How do we give gifts that are truly meaningful and encourage a deeper connection with the recipient? Join Dan and Rachael as they discuss gifting in this special holiday episode.

As we enter the Advent season, Dan and Rachael reflect upon Mary’s Magnificat with theologian Dr. Chelle Stearns from the Seattle School of Theology & Psychology. Join the conversation to consider what it means to let our hearts be open to our own places of ache yet also be open to the invitation to transform in response to this revolutionary idea of “God with us.”

As we continue to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of The Allender Center, we have two special guests from The Allender Center team joining Dan and Rachel this week: Linda Royster from the Training and Pastoral Team, and Sam Lee, the Director of Facilitator Development.

Linda and Sam candidly share their experiences as BIPOC leaders on The Allender Center team pursuing the work of defining and healing trauma.

Join Dan and Rachael as they explore the intimate relationships we have in our lives now - our spouses, children, roommates and friends - and how we can embrace grief and gratitude to engage with those closest to us.

As we prepare to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday, Dan and Rachael continue their discussion on the intersection of grief and gratitude, focussing on how to engage those categories in our families of origin. In this episode, they dive into how to balance these two realities in our stories while we’re in a season of family gatherings and celebrations.

Dan and Rachael start a new series on grief and gratitude. In this episode, they outline the importance of being open to grieving in order to be open to true gratitude and the ways our bodies naturally respond in both grief and gratitude.

Dr. J. Derek McNeil, president of The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology and Cathy Lorezel, Co-founder of The Allender Center join Dan and Rachael for a special anniversary episode. They share some beginning behind-the scenes stories of how The Allender Center was birthed and what drives us to stay in this work in the future.

This week, Dan and Rachael discuss how hiding keeps us from being authentic. Sometimes hiding can be an outright refusal to let others see, and other times, our hiding can be harder to notice. In the episode, Dan and Rachael talk about the ways we hide, how to let others know and see us more, and the freedom that comes with that kind of authenticity.

This week, Dan and Rachel discuss sabotage and its connection to self contempt, which has capacity to ruin communities and lives.

This week, Dan and Rachael discuss scapegoating as a kind of rage that moves into the dehumanization of others. Stemming from contempt and judgement, the topic of scapegoating also brings up the experiences of projection and envy. As they ponder these categories, the ask the question: How do we become aware of our own propensity towards scapegoating and our use of it to escape what we don't want to have to see and own in our own hearts?

What keeps us from engaging well with one another? 

For the next few weeks on the podcast, Dan and Rachael are going to be debating four categories that prevent us from connecting well, beginning with rage. In a time when people’s margins and capacity are thinner than ever, how do we differentiate between rage and anger and how we can attend to our bodies and wellbeing in the midst of someone’s rage?

When Cyndi Mesmer agreed to participate in the very first Training Certificate program in 2011 (now Certificate in Narrative Focused Trauma Care Level I), she anticipated a laid-back conference where she would gather a few insights and make small talk with other attendees. 

Instead, what she and fellow facilitator Scott Gibson encountered would change the course of their lives, relationships, and therapeutic practices. So today on the podcast, as we continue to celebrate 10 years of The Allender Center, Dan and Rachael engage Cyndi and Scott in conversation about how they first came to be involved with The Allender Center and why they’ve remained, how engaging their own stories and the stories of others impact their practices and relationships, and so much more. 

Today on the podcast, Dan and Rachael finish a conversation on spiritual and sexual abuse by discussing the impact of these types of abuse and ways we can begin to find healing. They acknowledge that at times it can be difficult to distinguish between the two, determine which came first, or how they affect the other, which is to be expected—these abuses are complex and nuanced. As you listen to the episode, can you begin to wonder: How can you begin to heal, to enter your story and honor your body without causing more harm to yourself?

In this episode, Dan and Rachael begin to talk about the connections between sexual and spiritual abuse. Sexual abuse is also spiritual abuse, but not all spiritual abuse involves clear sexual abuse. They discuss the nuances, definitions, and processes of these two types of abuse and the intimate connection between our bodies as image-bearers of our Creator and the violation that occurs when someone commits abuse against another. We enter into this episode knowing the topics of spiritual and sexual abuse carry a certain kind of heaviness for many of our listeners. Particularly in this season, please tend kindly to your body and know that you can return to listen another time if this is not right for you today.

What goes into the creation of a book? In this special episode, we take a deep dive into the making of Dr. Dan Allender and Cathy Loerzel’s new release, Redeeming Heartache: How Past Suffering Reveals True Calling. Special guest host Dr. J. Derek McNeil, President & Provost of The Seattle School, Dan, and Cathy discuss how the idea for the book came to be, the process and challenges of writing a book together, particularly in the midst of COVID, and the prophetic nature of the content. As they close the conversation, Derek poses a poignant question to Dan and Cathy—and to us all: What does it mean to celebrate our own stories?

No story is without its share of joy, anticipation, trials, and victories, and the same can be said about the founding of The Allender Center. This year we are celebrating 10 years as a center and place where people have found healing from trauma. It has been an immense honor to be able to hear and walk with you through your stories of harm into restoration. Today, Dan and Rachael share memories and tales with Becky Allender and Jeanette White, Interim Senior Director, both former guests of the podcast and founding members of The Allender Center. You’ll get to hear true behind-the-scenes stories of how The Allender Center came to be and what drives them to continue this work today.

For the final episode in our series on engaging stories, Dan and Rachael talk with therapist, podcast host, and Allender Center facilitator,  Adam Young. Many of you may be familiar with Adam from his podcast, “The Place We Find Ourselves,” and throughout this conversation you’ll begin to hear more about Adam’s story and how a life-altering encounter with his father set him on a path to become a mental health counselor. Follow along as Dan and Rachael engage his story by asking key questions, from how he experiences beauty to how he lives as someone attuned to and in the middle of the trauma around him.

Listener Resources:

• Learn more about Adam and his podcast “The Place We Find Ourselves”
• Curious about pursuing your own story work? Learn more about and apply to Story Workshop—applications due September 20, 2021

Listener Resources:

• Learn more about Sue and her counseling practice - susan-cunningham.com
• Curious about pursuing your own story work? Learn more about and apply to Story Workshop—applications due August 31, 2021: https://theallendercenter.org/event/story-workshop-october-2021/

Today is the start of a series of episodes we’ve been eagerly waiting to share with you. We're going to be engaging the stories of some of our dear friends and colleagues in order to help you—our listeners— get a better sense for how to look at and read your own story. In this episode, Dan and Rachael talk with Gwen St. John, a therapist and long-time Allender Center facilitator, about how her experience growing up shaped who she is today as someone with high sensitivity, and how this led her to become a “reader of people and the world.” Listen closely to the ways Dan and Rachael engage her stories of harm with care and kindness, and how they invite her to stay in her body while recounting these stories.

Listener Resources:

• Do you relate to high sensitivity? Take a quick survey, recommended by Gwen
• Learn more about Gwen and her counseling practice
• Curious about pursuing your own story work? Learn more about and apply to Story Workshop—applications due August 31, 2021

We all need space to play: a concentrated period of time that opens the door for the restoration that our hearts and bodies most desperately need. One of the ways Dan, Rachael, and good friend Dr. Steve Call find restoration is through fly fishing. Over the course of this podcast episode, you’ll hear both humorous and insightful anecdotes from all three about their various endeavors into fly fishing and, even if you yourself are not energized by fishing, you can’t help but be swept up by their delight. And as you listen, ask yourself: Why do we need something that so deeply captivates us?

Listener Resources:

Listen to the podcast series, “A Summer of Play”

Read blog post “It’s Summer, Let’s Play!” by Robyn Whitaker

Listen to podcast episode “Play, Anxiety and Resilience: How to Help Kids in a Pandemic” featuring special guest Dr. Pam Davis

In the final episode on hospitality, Dan and Becky step into the realms of ideas, experiences, and suffering. What does it look like to be hospitable to an idea, particularly a new idea, that is offered to us? How can we be more hospitable to suffering, and what does that look like? Throughout their conversation, Dan emphasizes the importance of being able to differ with an idea while also being able to welcome it and ask questions that are not defensive, but have a kind of hospitality that will allow us to be transformed by what we’re engaging.

Listener Resources:

Listen to the first two episodes of this series on Hospitality

Read Romans 12:9-21 (MSG)

Read a blog post by Dr. Dan Allender titled “Forgotten Hospitality”

Listen to the first episode in podcast series “A Summer of Hospitality”

Continuing a conversation about hospitality, Dan invites his wife, Becky Allender, back to the podcast to recount a personal, life-changing experience that changed their perspective of hospitality. Sometimes it is assumed hospitality is setting a ‘perfect plate’ for guests, however, we need to remove ourselves from the idea that hospitality is simply entertainment. How are you engaging others at the grocery store, in your neighborhood, or at work? What does it mean to offer care and welcome from the heart? Throughout the episode you’ll hear more of Dan and Becky’s stories as well as how they are actively changing in order to become more hospitable in their day to day practices.

Listener Resources:

Read a blog post by Dr. Dan Allender titled “Forgotten Hospitality”

Listen to the first episode in podcast series “A Summer of Hospitality”

Hospitality over this past year for many meant logging onto a Zoom call, however, as we step into a ‘new normal’ there is greater opportunity to not only embody hospitality but to expand our understanding of what it means to truly ‘welcome the stranger.’

Listen as Dan talks with friend and fellow professor, Dr. Tremper Longman III, this week on the podcast about Old Testament practices of hospitality, the inequality of hospitality, and much more.

Listener Resources:

Read a blog post by Dr. Dan Allender titled “Forgotten Hospitality” - https://theallendercenter.org/2021/07/forgotten-hospitality/

Listen to the first episode in podcast series “A Summer of Hospitality” - https://theallendercenter.org/2018/06/summer-hospitality-1/

Dan is back this week with Abby Wong Heffter to talk about trauma in light of their upcoming training, Effective Trauma Care, in just a few weeks. Today’s episode is invaluable for anyone navigating the lasting effects of trauma from this past year, but particularly so for parents. Abby shares her own experiences of parenting as a mom and step-mom in this season, ways to know if a child has been significantly affected by trauma, and how to tend to your own mental health. 

Effective Trauma Care is coming up this July 22-23! Learn more about what Dan and Abby explore over this two-day event and register today. 

Resources

• Read a blog post, “Good Enough Parenting in a Time of Crisis”
• Learn more about Effective Trauma Care

Listen to a podcast episode, “Parenting in the Midst of a Pandemic”

This week on the podcast, Dan begins the first of two conversations with special guest Abby Wong-Heffter, a teaching staff member at the Allender Center and coordinator of the Concentration in Trauma & Abuse at The Seattle School. Together they dive into the topic of trauma and the parts of Abby’s story that reveal how she found her way to becoming a trauma-informed therapist.

Picking up on the episode from last week, today you’ll hear the second half of a conversation on food and our bodies featuring guests Matt Tiemeyer, LMHC, and Diane Summers, RDN, CEDRD-S, CD. They discuss a range of topics from the connection between desire, shame, and food, to how we can heal our relationship with food and our bodies. And, as you listen, remember that no matter where you are at in your journey with food or in this season of heightened stress, it is never too late to “turn back to kindness.”

Listener Resources:

Matt Tiemeyer practices at Blue Harbor Counseling

Diane Summers practices at Hope Nutrition Therapy Center

Read an interview with Matt and Diane about Redeeming Food & Body

Food and how we feel about our bodies can be a place of great conflict, especially as  we emerge from the pandemic. It’s imperative we treat our bodies with kindness and be able to name the dangerous influence of diet culture. So today, we’re bringing this episode out from the archives! You’ll hear the first part of a conversation recorded in 2020 featuring guests Matt Tiemeyer, LMHC, and Diane Summers, RDN, CEDRD-S, CD about how we can step into greater kindness around food and our bodies.

This week on the podcast, Dan and Rachael continue their conversation about what flourishing looks like as we emerge into a different stage of the pandemic. Much is reopening, and yet we’re also waiting in anticipation for what is to come in the next few months. How can we continue to be faithful in the small without giving in to the urge to jump into major changes? What imagination can we grow for what we are anticipating in this next season of life, particularly as we begin to allow our hearts, bodies, and relationships to flourish?

As many communities are beginning to open back up and some semblance of “normal” returns, Dan and Rachael check in with each other and have an honest conversation about how they’re doing and what it means to be moving towards wellness. In some ways it feels like we’re engaging a new stage of a process versus a clear ending as the pandemic is very much ongoing in many parts of the world, and for some instead of gaining more energy we’re beginning to process the impact of this past year.  So, as Dan and Rachael discuss, how can we be honest with ourselves about expectations, what we’re feeling in our bodies, and how can we move into reopening with intentionality?

Listener Resources:

Read a blog post “Honoring Our Bodies in the Midst of Embodied Trauma”

Listen to a podcast, “Parenting in the Midst of a Pandemic”

Listen to a podcast episode with guest Dr. Steve Call, “Connection in Marriage During a Pandemic”

Today Dan and Rachael revisit one of the most listened-to topics on the podcast: spiritual abuse. However, before we dive into the conversation, we recognize that we cannot address the reality of spiritual abuse without taking into account that many, many people have encountered violations of various kinds within spiritual contexts. Over the course of their conversation today, the first of two on this topic, you’ll hear more about how to define spiritual abuse in Christian contexts, tools used by spiritually abusive leaders to maintain power and control, and the insidious nature of spiritual abuse.

Listener Resources:

Register to attend Confronting Spiritual Abuse on June 5

Listen to a podcast episode, “Narcissism and the Church with Chuck DeGroat”

Listen to our very first, three-part podcast series on Spiritual Abuse

Listen to a podcast episode about the particulars of “Mind Control and Dogmatism in Spiritual Abuse”

Over the past few weeks on the podcast we’ve talked about grief on a more personal level in our lives, but we also recognize we’re in the midst of an unrelenting season of trauma and grief on a collective scale. So today, Dan and Rachael invite guests Danielle Castillejo, Rebecca Wheeler Walston, and Rev. Michael S. Chen to the podcast to continue a conversation about the nature and impact of collective grief. As you’ll hear Dan say, you may not see how your story fits into this conversation, but “part of the development of wisdom is to enter a world we may not be familiar with” and we encourage you to be open to hearing the wise words these guests have to share.

Listener Resources:

Read a blog post by Danielle Castillejo “Emergency Mental Health Care: How Therapists of Color Contend with Racial Trauma”

Dan and Rachael continue a conversation about grief on the podcast, this week engaging Jeanette White, Interim Senior Director of The Allender Center. Jeanette, a dear friend and colleague of our hosts, graduated from The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology with an MA in Christian Studies in 2007 and has been an essential member of The Allender Center since its founding in 2011. As you listen to their conversation, you’ll hear them discuss in more depth Jeanette’s story and the two sides of grief—one that is messy and hard, and the other that opens your heart and eyes to the realities that we cannot engage without walking through the valley of the shadow of death. As we are in a season of collective loss, trauma, and grief, it is our hope that grief would move us to a deeper understanding of the suffering of others and ways we can come alongside and be a catalyst for care.

Listener Resources

• Listen to the first episode in this series, “Encountering Grief: Mary Ellen Owen”
• Read a blog post by Jeanette titled “The Loudness of Grief”
• Listen to a podcast series about “Grief, Emotions, and Essential Oils”

Listen to a podcast series about “The Grief of Miscarriage”

This week on the podcast, Dan and Rachael begin a new series that takes a deeper look into the topic of grief. In this particular episode they engage in conversation with special guest Mary Ellen Owen, who is a core member of The Allender Center team as well as a mental health therapist with over 20 years of experience. Rachael describes her as a woman with wild depth and someone well acquainted with grief, both in her own life and the lives of those she serves. 

So, what are we talking about when we talk about grief? Over the course of their conversation, you’ll hear more about the necessity of and different kinds of grief, what boundaries we put up to avoid engaging grief, and how grief connects us to the work of Jesus and the tenderness of God.

Listener Resources

• Read a blog post by Mandy Hughes about “Embracing Grief, Embracing Joy”
• Listen to a two-part podcast series about engaging Grief and Gratitude

In these days of what feels like endless ache and wave after wave of trauma and demand for resilience, we have the opportunity to develop a greater capacity to know who we are and who God is in the midst of this season. Today we’re re-sharing the second part of a series on qualities of a well-lived story, and we’re excited for you to revisit these conversations with our friends and partners in this work. You’ll hear from one of the most courageous people we know, Danielle Castillejo, who is a therapist, writer, activist, and podcast host, and Jimmy McGee, President and CEO of The Impact Movement, who is someone who exhibits Gospel curiosity in his life and ministry.

Every day we’re reminded what it means in this odd and heartbreaking season to live well the Gospel story and the story we have been uniquely called to live. That being said, we feel right now is timely to revisit a podcast series we did about qualities of a well-lived story. Stories so deeply influence how we respond to crisis, events, the people around us, and how we live in the world, particularly as we talk about the qualities of courage, commitment, care, and that deep need for kindness. Throughout this series we talk with our spouses, friends, and colleagues that we’ve looked to to say, “this is someone who’s living well in the midst of their story,” and it is our hope that you’ll be invited to engage these themes in your own life and story.

Today we’re pausing to share an important conversation with you from our partner, The Impact Movement. They host a series of panel discussions called "Real Talks" which are live conversations about real-time topics at the intersection of faith and justice. A few weeks ago, they hosted a Real Talk called "Stop Asian Hate: Christian Responses to Anti-Asian Racism" featuring Rev. Dr. Soong-Chan Rah, Rev. Sabrina Chan, and our colleague Sam Lee and former colleague Jen Oyama Murphy.

We are honored that Impact Movement and the panelists have given us permission to share this conversation with you. You'll hear this important and timely discussion about the surge in anti-Asian racism and violence taking place across our country. We hope you take the time to listen to this conversation and let the words and experiences of the panelists bring you closer to the truth and impact of the gospel. 

Listener Resources

• Learn more about The Impact Movement

Follow the Impact Movement on Facebook and Instagram

Today we’re pausing to share an important conversation with you from our partner, The Impact Movement. They host a series of panel discussions called "Real Talks" which are live conversations about real-time topics at the intersection of faith and justice. A few weeks ago, they hosted a Real Talk called "Stop Asian Hate: Christian Responses to Anti-Asian Racism" featuring Rev. Dr. Soong-Chan Rah, Rev. Sabrina Chan, and our colleague Sam Lee and former colleague Jen Oyama Murphy.

We are honored that Impact Movement and the panelists have given us permission to share this conversation with you. You'll hear this important and timely discussion about the surge in anti-Asian racism and violence taking place across our country. We hope you take the time to listen to this conversation and let the words and experiences of the panelists bring you closer to the truth and impact of the gospel. 

Listener Resources

• Learn more about The Impact Movement

Follow the Impact Movement on Facebook and Instagram

After spending a few minutes remembering the joys of celebrating Easter last weekend, Dan and Rachael turn to the text to walk through the resurrection story. In today’s episode, you’ll hear them step back into what the resurrection brings, which is “deadly serious play” as we get to stand before evil and darkness and say, “Oh death, where is your sting?” 

Listener Resources

• Read Luke 24
• Listen to last week’s episode, “Disruption and Defiance in the Resurrection”

Read a blog post published last spring that discusses themes of Holy Saturday titled “Noticing the Dead Things”

It feels as though we’ve been living in a year of Lent, Dan comments, let alone the past forty days as we near the end of Holy Week. So, on this Holy Saturday, Dan and Rachael begin a timely conversation about the reality, disruption, and defiance of the resurrection. The resurrection is not meant for only sometime in the future, but for the here and now. We need to remember that though death persists, it does not have the final say. This is why, as Rachael notes, we can hold onto hope and follow in the way of Jesus, doing the holy work of living in a way that stands at odds against the status quo structures of this world.

Resources:

Follow @aapi.liturgy on Instagram

Listen to an episode on “Holding the Tension of Holy Saturday”

Read an article by Abby Wong-Heffter titled “Racism and Sexual Harm: Seeds of White Supremacy and Anti-Asian Violence”

Dr. Pam Davis again joins Dan and Rachael to continue their conversation about how to help kids in this year of pandemic and the many other global and social events our kids are exposed to. This week, she talks about how we can differentiate between normal mental health struggles in children, when we may need to seek help, and how to tell the difference. Listen and learn what steps you can take to engage children’s mental health and be reminded that this is not a normal time—we need an abundance of kindness both towards ourselves and those around us as we navigate this challenging season.

Dr. Pam Davis, Associate Professor of Counseling at Gordon-Conwell Seminary and Director of the Counseling Department at Charlotte campus, joins Dan and Rachael to engage the immense difficulty of parenting in a pandemic and speak directly to those working with children. You’ll hear understanding affirmations and how Dr. Davis addresses the oftentimes overwhelming challenge of needing to care for yourself in order to care for your children, the importance of play, and other vital resources to utilize in this season.

Resources:

Learn more about Dr. Pam Davis and her work

Listen to an episode from the early months of the pandemic titled “Parenting in the Midst of a Pandemic”

Read an article by Dr. Pam Davis recently published in Psychology Today titled “Fostering Resilience in Children during a Pandemic”

Read a blog post by Jay Stringer about “Good Enough Parenting in a Time of Crisis”

Following their conversation from last week about the impact of trauma on our body and our brain, Dan and Rachael turn their attention to ways we can begin to find healing in the midst of ‘trauma overload.’ This is not a prescriptive list of all the things you must do, but rather options available to you to start where and when you can. Ultimately, as Dan and Rachael come back to time and time again, it’s about being faithful in the small and the kindness of God that brings about the transformation and healing we’re most meant for.

Resources:

Register for “Trauma and the Body,” an online event exploring the impact of trauma on relationships, self, and body

We’re coming up on a full year of living in the midst of not only a global pandemic, but multiple crises on a national, communal, and personal scale. So today, Dan and Rachael dive into a much-requested topic from our listeners: What is trauma, and what happens to our bodies in the midst of trauma? It’s important to name and honor what you’re experiencing as many of us, if we’re being honest, are not doing well, having hit our “pandemic wall” long ago. You’ll hear our hosts begin to provide language and a framework for how trauma impacts our brains, our physical bodies, and share examples of what this looks like from their own experiences.

It is our hope that by providing these definitions and categories you will be able to name what is happening in your body, be more prepared to engage trauma, and be able to tend to yourself, your family, and your community in this season.

Resources:

Register for “Trauma and the Body,” an online event exploring the impact of trauma on relationships, self, and body

Listen to the podcast episodes Dan refers to on “Not Doing Well”

Listen to a podcast episode from the beginning of the year titled “Love and Courage in a Global Pandemic”

Picking up their conversation from last week, Dan and Cathy turn their attention to uncovering the roots of conflict in relationships and how we can move towards true connection. Oftentimes conflict arises because we cannot name what we truly need, or we cannot see past our own contempt—ultimately there is something keeping us from seeing the other well. Redemption is possible, but we must be willing to engage our conflict in a way we’ve not experienced before.

Resources:

Listen to the first episode in this series, “Conflict in Relationships”

Purchase access to the recording of the one-day conference “From Conflict to Connection: A Conference for Couples”

Listen to a podcast that introduces the archetypes of orphan, widow, and stranger: “Calling and Character: Prophet, Priest, King”

Listen to a podcast episode titled “Reconnection in Marriage with Dr. Dan Allender and Dr. Steve Call”

There is no doubt that we are living in a time that heightens levels of conflict and contention in our relationships. Having just finished a one-day conference on this topic, Dr. Dan Allender and Cathy Loerzel talk today on the podcast about their recent, personal experiences with conflict, particularly in this pandemic era. In this season, the ways we engage in and relate to conflict look different. You’ll hear Dan and Cathy talk about the reality of this conflict, what we can learn from our styles of relating in conflict, and how, underneath it all, is a deep-seated war with desire.

Resources:

Purchase access to the recording of the one-day conference “From Conflict to Connection: A Conference for Couples”

Listen to a podcast episode on “The Reality of Marriage in COVID-19”

Read a blog post by Jay Stringer titled “Good Enough Parenting in a Time of Crisis”

“How is your Sabbath?” As he opens the conversation on this week’s podcast, Dr. Dan Allender invites us to consider this question of ourselves. You’ll hear him and Rachael discuss the particulars of their own Sabbath practices, the wildness and play they each experience, and how Sabbath is not bound to a certain day or strict code of conduct. A true Sabbath is meant to engage both beauty and heartbreak, to stretch us, to grow us, and to show us the places where we long for the Kingdom of God in the here and now. 

A “day of delight” is not an easy topic to engage in the midst of this season. Nevertheless, it is a vital practice that is needed more than ever before and, as Dan surmises, is less engaged than at any other time. Listen as Dan and Rachael engage the true meaning of Sabbath, how it is meant to be a taste of the coming Kingdom of God and what we are meant for, and common misconceptions that accompany this day of restoration.

This week on the podcast, Wendell Moss, a Teaching Staff member of The Allender Center, hosts special guest Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil for a conversation about her work in racial reconciliation. Dr. Salter McNeil is internationally recognized for her work in reconciliation, is an Associate Professor of Reconciliation Studies at Seattle Pacific University, and is the Associate Pastor of Preaching and Reconciliation at Quest Church in Seattle. You’ll hear more about Dr. Salter McNeil’s background, the transformative changes she’s made in her work of racial reconciliation and her exhortations to both the White evangelical church and People of Color in the church.

As a follow up to last week’s conversation, Dr. Chuck DeGroat returns to the podcast to answer listener questions about narcissism with Dan and Rachael. How are we to engage a person who might be a parent, spouse, or spiritual leader who has narcissistic characteristics? How do we engage a narcissist with wisdom? And, on a larger scale, how do we recognize the symptoms of a narcissistic church culture?

We are deeply grateful for our community, for your bravery in asking these vulnerable questions. We ask that, as you listen to this conversation, you pay attention to what it stirs in your body and give yourself the care and space you need to engage.

Listener Resources:

Follow Chuck DeGroat on Twitter

Read Chuck’s book, When Narcissism Comes to Church

Learn more about Chuck and the resources he offers

Listen to the first podcast episode in a series on Spiritual Abuse

Today on the podcast, Dr. Dan Allender and Rachael Clinton Chen have a timely conversation with Chuck DeGroat, professor of Counseling and Christian Spirituality at Western Theological Seminary, licensed therapist, and spiritual director. He is the author of Leaving Egypt: Finding God in the Wilderness Places as well as When Narcissism Comes to Church, which serves as the primary topic of conversation throughout this episode. In this special episode, you’ll learn more about the characteristics of narcissism, how Chuck came to address narcissism in the context of the church (particularly in the realm of church planting), and the reckoning that is taking place in the church today to dismantle structures of narcissism.

This past year was unlike any other we’ve experienced. Our plans, goals, resolutions, and carefully crafted calendars for 2020 were all but thrown out the window as a result of the pandemic. It’s normal to look back at the year with grief  for all that was lost and not accomplished. The feeling of regret, however, can become so heavy that it pulls us down into a cycle of negative thinking, contempt, and judgement. How then are we to begin a new year with grace for ourselves in order to move forward into all that 2021 has to offer?

Last year, Dan and Becky addressed the issue of regret, and how so often our regrets inhibit us from reflecting well on the past. To address regret, Dan says, we need to be able to acknowledge that it is a “cheap counterfeit” of what we are afraid of, which is allowing our hearts to open to what we most desire in relationship with others. Regret has the ability to open ourselves to dreams and desires, but we need to ask ourselves: Can we bless our desires, even in the midst of this sadness?

We may be at the start of a new year, but that does not mean we leave all of what transpired in 2020 behind—this season will continue to ask much of us. As you’ll hear Dan comment, it’s no surprise we now find ourselves at the “intersection between dread and incredible hope.” While not the typical tone that accompanies a New Year’s podcast episode, Dan and Rachael instead present us with an unusual invitation to slow down, to be gentle with ourselves, and allow ourselves to taste something of hope.

How do we remember a year well, particularly a year that many of us may not want to look back and reflect upon? What is there to gain in remembering 2020? In the final podcast episode of the year, Dan and Rachael have a conversation about the necessity of engaging and learning from this tumultuous year and share their answers to three, reflective questions: What haunts me? What comforts me? What thrills me?

In the final episode about what it means to enter the Advent season at such a time as this, Rachael Clinton Chen invites her husband, the Rev. Michael S. Chen, to engage this question together on the podcast. What follows is a tender, vulnerable conversation about what it means that God came to be present with us in an embodied, vulnerable way, how we can enter into a season of expectant waiting, and how “God with us” meets us in our shame.

Continuing a series of conversations about how we are to live into the tension of Advent in this season, Rachael talks with Cole Arthur Riley—writer, speaker, and founder of the project Black Liturgies, “a project seeking to integrate the truths of Black dignity, lament, rage, justice, and rest into written prayers.” Throughout their conversation you’ll hear about the role and function of liturgy, the radical trust of God in a woman’s body, and practical ways we can lean into embodied practices this Advent season—including a guided breath prayer towards the end of the episode. 

We want to hear from you! Tell us about your experience listening to the podcast by filling out this quick, 10 minute survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TACPOD

“How shall we live into this Advent season at such a time as this?”

Each year, the season of Advent invites us to lean into the story of God, to the tension and expectation that surrounds the birth of Jesus. This year, however, amidst a global pandemic and heightened racial tension, anticipation has become akin to a feeling of dread rather than a thing to look forward to with hope and excitement. How then, Rachael asks, are we to live into the season of Advent in this year? As she begins a series of conversations around this very question, today you’ll hear Rachael talk with Dr. J. Derek McNeil, President and Provost of The Seattle School, and Kate Davis, Director of Resilient Leaders Project, about this unique season of expectation and what it means for us to be truly embodied and co-regulated.

We want to hear from you! Tell us about your experience listening to the podcast by filling out this quick, 10 minute survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TACPOD

Though we are just now emerging from the season of Thanksgiving, tomorrow marks the first Sunday in Advent. We hold much gratitude, grief, and tension as we approach this Christmas season not only because of the anticipated flurry of gift-purchasing and gift-giving, but the coming of Jesus and the “tense, complex, wild narrative” of the Christmas story itself. Listen as Dan and Rachael enter into these topics with grace and guidance as we move into this wholly unpredictable holiday season.

This season of Thanksgiving looks quite different than previous years, many of us not gathering  with families and loved ones around a table with one another. Acknowledging this heartache, Dan and Rachael have a weighty conversation about the necessity of engaging both grief and gratitude.

Picking up on the theme from last week, Dan and Rachael have a fiercely honest and grief-filled conversation about the influence of polarization, idolatry, and the prevalence of fear in both the United States and our own hearts. We must consider what it means for us as Christ-followers to live out the kingdom of God not only today but in each and every day that comes.

As a nation the United States is in the midst of great uncertainty, and Dan and Rachael took time to reflect together on what is a contentious and divisive election and the fear it generates for many. What does it mean, Dan asks, to live faithfully in the context of not being bound to one party or another, but to live out our calling as members of God’s kingdom in the midst of this uncertainty?

“I think we radically need to rethink how we imagine leadership.”

-Cathy Loerzel, Executive Vice President

In their final conversation about archetypes within the kingdom of God, Dan, Cathy, and Rachael unpack what it means to be a widow or widower, and how one can become a thriving king or queen. What are the wounds that impact a king or queen, what does true leadership look like, and how does a king or queen bring order to God’s kingdom?

Continuing a conversation about what it means to live out the character of God in the context of the kingdom of God, Dan, Cathy, and Rachael engage the archetypes of stranger and prophet. You’ll hear more about what it means to be a stranger who, in the redemptive process, can begin to use their sense of alienation and isolation on behalf of the kingdom as a prophet. As Dan notes, in our world today we desperately need to listen to prophets who tell the truth, and open the door to imagination and redemptive hope.

“Stories are what change the human heart.”

- Cathy Loerzel

This week, Dan, Rachael, and Cathy take a deep dive into and further reflect on the archetype of priest. What is required for a priest to grow in their ability to do what priests are meant to do? In this episode, you’ll hear our hosts and Cathy talk about the importance of archetypal thinking, how the archetype of an “orphan” relates to the calling of a priest archetype, and the process by which an orphan is transformed.

In this episode of the podcast, Dan and Rachael are joined by Cathy Loerzel, Executive Vice President of The Allender Center, to begin a conversation about a particular aspect of The Allender Theory: prophet, priest, and king/queen. During the conversation, they invite you into each of these three categories and to consider what it means to have been given a kingdom in which you are a priest, prophet, and king/queen.

• Listen to a podcast series with Cathy Loerzel about “The Complexities in Leadership”
• Listen to Dan and Rachael talk about “The Particulars of Spiritual Abuse” on the podcast

Since it has been a few weeks since Rachael and Dan hosted together on the podcast, they decided to sit down and check-in both with each other and the state of the world before launching into more of our regularly scheduled fall content. It’s been a hard season and a hard year. Feeling scattered, fragmented, numb, and isolated are normal. Yet, at the same time, we must also continue to ask ourselves the question: Who do we want to become, how do we want to live in this crazy period?

Resources:

• Listen to a podcast series with Dan and Rachael about “Not Doing Well”
• Listen to a recent podcast series about “Love and Courage in a Global Pandemic”

Read a blog post by Rebekah Vickery entitled “Honoring Our Embodied Trauma in the Midst of a Pandemic”

“We all have something to offer and we all have something to learn from each other in all of our various stages of life and relationships.”

-Beau Denton

As the month of conversations about marriage draws to a close, Dan and Becky invite Beau Denton and Ashley Wright on the podcast to talk about how single people and married people can relate better together. Beau was a former Content Creator for The Seattle School and played an integral role in synthesizing podcast episodes, and Ashley serves as the Director of Marketing and Communications for The Seattle School, overseeing the production and planning of The Allender Center podcast. In a couple-oriented world, single people can often feel excluded, or feel they do not have a lot to say about marriage as they are not in a marriage relationship. Beau and Ashley provide deep wisdom and perspective for how single people can, in truth and trust, engage married couples, and invite those who are married to do the same for single people.

Resources:

• Purchase a bundle of our new marriage offerings, including our Marriage Conference, Marriage Online Course, and Date Nights for 15% off—only until October 10, 2020
• Listen to a podcast episode in the Family of Origin series about triangulation. 

Read an article by Abby Wong-Heffter entitled “Post Traumatic Single Disorder.”

Dan and Becky Allender invite Paul and Sara Steinke into a conversation about creating and living rituals in marriage, particularly in this era of COVID-19. Paul is the Vice President of Students and Alumni at The Seattle School and Sara is a private practitioner, yoga instructor, and poet. Throughout the episode, they talk about the presence of ritual in their relationships, the specific kinds of rituals they practice to enhance and grow their marriage, and the difference between creating a ritual and a habit. 

Resources:

• Purchase a bundle of our new marriage offerings, including our Marriage Conference, Marriage Online Course, and Date Nights for 15% off—only until October 10, 2020

Listen to a podcast series about the Marriage Quadrants, a system of sorting and classifying patterns and structures that are highly intricate and complex.

This week on the podcast, Dan and Becky Allender talk about triggers in marriage with their good friends Dr. Steve and Lisa Call. You may recognize Steve and Lisa from the new Marriage Online Course.What follows is both a humorous and deeply insightful conversation. Triggers can undermine a marriage relationship as a couple often does not have language or context to understand what provoked their partner, or how to engage one another after someone is triggered. 

Resources:

• Purchase a bundle of our new marriage offerings, including our Marriage Conference, Marriage Online Course, and Date Nights for 15% off—only until October 10, 2020
• Listen to a podcast episode, “Reconnection in Marriage with Dr. Dan Allender and Dr. Steve Call”

Listen to a podcast episode about “Dissociation in Marriage”

“Can you be faithful with the small?” 

-Dr. Dan Allender

As we enter a fall that is full of complexity, we’re going to be having conversations over the next few weeks on the topic of marriage. Before we dive in, however, we want to emphasize that this is a series for everyone—whether you are single, about to be married, just married, or have been married for a long time. Today, you’ll hear Dr. Dan Allender and his wife, Becky Allender, talk about the elements of disruption they have been experiencing in their own lives and marriage, what spending more time together exposes in their relationship, and what they continue to learn about one another during this season of deep change and growth. 

Resources:

• Purchase a bundle of our new marriage offerings, including our Marriage Conference, Marriage Online Course, and Date Nights for 15% off—only until October 10, 2020
• Listen to a podcast episode with Dr. Steve Call, “Connection in Marriage During a Pandemic”
• Listen to the “Love and Courage in a Global Pandemic” podcast series

Read the blog post “Dance with Me” by Robyn Whitaker

Today we’re revisiting a conversation that Dr. Dan Allender had a few years ago with Dr. Chelle Stearns, Associate Professor of Theology at The Seattle School, exploring her ongoing work of developing a theology of abuse. She believes that as a theologian, an artist, and a witness of other artists, she is called—and we are called—to hold together immense sorrow and stunning beauty. Ultimately, Chelle invites us to wrestle with how we address trauma in view of the embodied life of Christ, and how this might change the way we tend to the stories of harm in our own lives and communities. 

Resources:

• Watch Dr. Chelle Stearns speak on ‘Lament and Hope Through a Trauma-Informed Theology’ at The Seattle School’s Seventh Annual Stanley Grenz Lecture
• Watch Rachael Clinton speak at the 2019 Theology & Trauma Conference 

Read “Let the Lament Come” by Heather Stringer

This week, we’re re-sharing the second half of a series Rachael Clinton Chen and Dr. Dan Allender recorded last year on the particulars of spiritual abuse. Throughout their conversation, you’ll hear them discuss the effects that spiritual abuse has on our bodies, including dissociation and shame. Because spiritually abusive leaders rarely stop with mind control, they work to create a system in which they can control every aspect—including the bodies—of the people under their authority. Rachael and Dan also explore the long, slow movement of healing in the wake of abuse and the work of tending to small areas of growth, trusting that God is contending for us in the big areas.

No matter how long it takes, how can we begin reclaiming our minds and moving back into our bodies? What are the small steps we can take on the long road to healing? As we attune to that which is beautiful and true, and to that which honors the dignity in who we were created to be, we may begin living into the hope that trauma, death, and spiritual abuse do not have to have the last word.

Resources

• Read an article “Enigmas, Myths, and the Shame of the Strong Silent Type” by Beau Denton
• Read “Leading out of Healing” by Wendell Moss
• Read “When Shame is Deeper than Salvation” by Andrew Bauman

Last year, Rachael Clinton Chen and Dr. Dan Allender dove into a series on the dynamics of spiritual abuse and forms of trauma that can emerge in situations of spiritual abuse. This week, we’re sharing with you their conversation about some of the particulars of spiritual abuse including mind control, dogmatism, suspicion, and loyalty. One of the first categories you’ll hear them unpack is mind control, including the implications and consequences of abusive mind control which distorts desire for attunement in order to grow suspicion and mistrust. 

All of these systems and categories, however, are ultimately about control—structuring power and authority in such a way that spiritually abusive leaders have total control over the minds and bodies of those in their communities. Ultimately, though, Dan and Rachael invite us back to that which spiritual abuse most fundamentally sabotages: hope.

Resources:

• Listen to an episode of the podcast where Dan and Rachael address listener questions about spiritual abuse. 
• Read a blog post, “Dogma, Abuse, and Embodied Theology”

Read a blog post, “Tuning in to the Unseen”

Dr. Dan Allender and Rachael Clinton Chen welcome back former podcast guest Jimmy McGee, President and CEO of The Impact Movement, to have a conversation about the final two qualities of a well-lived story: curiosity and commitment. According to Dan, Jimmy is one of the most curious people (and voracious readers) that he knows. As they talk with one another about these two qualities of a well-lived story, you’ll hear how Jimmy came to be so deeply curious and his commitments to wholeness and formation and to passing on the gifts that he has been given. 

Resources:

• Read Between the Dreaming and Coming True by Robert Benson
• Read Living Prayer and The Echo Within by Robert Benson
• Read Great Negroes, Past and Present by Russell L. Adams 
• Read How to Be a Christian Without Being Religious by Fritz Ridenour

Learn more about pioneer civil rights organizer C.T. Vivian

As our hosts, Dr. Dan Allender and Rachael Clinton Chen, continue to explore the qualities of a well-lived story, they invite friend of The Allender Center Danielle Castielljo to engage the topic of courage. Danielle is a writer, mother, and recent graduate of both The Seattle School’s MACP graduate program and The Allender Center’s Certificate in Narrative Focused Trauma Care Level I and II. Through their conversation, you’ll hear many stories from Danielle’s life, including her courageous journey to graduate school and the work she is called to do in the world. 

Resources:

• Read A Shining Affliction 

• Learn more about Danielle and her work by visiting her website 
• Listen to a podcast series on Love and Courage in a Global Pandemic 

Learn more about Danielle’s practice, Wayfinding Therapy

“Kindness is disruptive for our good.” 

Dr. Dan Allender and Rachael Clinton Chen begin to explore the qualities of a well-lived story, beginning with kindness, in a conversation with their spouses Becky Allender and Rev. Michael S. Chen. They talk about how both Becky and Michael embody kindness, and throughout the episode, you’ll hear how stories of both hope and heartache impact how they extend kindness to their spouses and those around them. 

Resources:

• Learn more about and apply to Virtual Story Workshop
• Read a blog post about “The Courage of Kindness”

Read a blog post about a Story Workshop participant’s experience

What draws you to a human being?

This week, Dr. Dan Allender and Rachael Clinton Chen begin a new series on the podcast about what makes up the various qualities of and what it means to live a well-lived story. Our own stories are not enough to guide us into living well—we need other people, pictures of, and examples who reveal the very qualities that our stories are meant to reveal. In this episode, you’ll hear Dan and Rachael discuss the characteristics of a well-lived story worth emulating and how, over the coming weeks, they’ll be inviting special guests to share with us how some of these characteristics have come to be a part of their own life and story, 

Resources:

• Watch a video about Wendell Moss on the Unique Honor of Story Work with Dr. Dan Allender
• Listen to a podcast series about a deep dive into one of our online courses, Story Sage

Listen to a podcast episode, What If I Fear My Story?

Today on the podcast, Dr. Dan Allender and Rachael Clinton Chen have a conversation with special guest Sarah Bessey, an author, writer, and self-described recovering know it all. She is the author of Jesus Feminist, Out of Sorts: Making Peace with an Evolving Faith, and Miracles and Other Reasonable Things. Throughout the episode, you’ll hear more about her most recent book, her own story and engagement with trauma, and the ways in which she embodies faith, hope, and love while holding the tension of being human. 

Resources:

• Read Sarah’s books: Jesus Feminist, Out of Sorts: Making Peace with an Evolving Faith, and Miracles and Other Reasonable Things
• Follow Sarah on Facebook and Instagram

Sign up for Sarah’s newsletter, Field Notes

In this brief episode, Dr. Dan Allender and Rachael Clinton Chen take an intentional pause from our regular rhythms on the podcast. We hope that for each of our listeners this holiday weekend holds moments of not only rest, but also reflection on our collective story as a nation. Stay tuned as we pick back up next week for a conversation with a very special guest and dive deeper into what it means to have a well-lived story throughout the summer. 

Resources:

• Explore our brand-new online course, To Be Told
• Learn more about Virtual Story Workshop

Learn more about our Certificate in Narrative Focused Trauma Care Level I