This week, Dr. Dan Allender is joined by Rachael Clinton, Assistant Director of Program Development and Admissions for The Allender Center, as we continue a series about one of the most common questions we receive: What should I look for when I am picking a therapist? Rachael shares from her own recent experience of stepping back into therapy, and she and Dan reflect on what to look for and how to take those first steps.

This week, Dr. Dan Allender wrestles with one of the most common questions we receive at The Allender Center: What should I look for when I am picking a therapist? Dan offers several categories for us to consider as we seek someone to join us in the deep places of heartache and hope in our stories.

This week, Dr. Dan Allender shares all about our first online course, Healing the Wounded Heart, coming later this fall, a series of nine dynamic sessions offering teaching by Dan, interviews with individuals engaging their stories of past harm, journaling prompts, and more. Dan talks about the heart behind this new offering, who it’s intended for, and how we hope it will serve as a companion on the journey to restoration.

This week, Dr. Dan Allender concludes a series engaging the sweeping, chaotic, sometimes tragic and sometimes glorious lives of four characters in the Old Testament: Jacob, Joseph, Jeremiah, and Jonah. Dan dives into the story of Jonah, which confronts us with the idea that the same forgiveness we receive is extended even to those who cause harm. Are we bold enough to follow the radical mercy of God?

This week, Dr. Dan Allender continues a series engaging the sweeping, chaotic, sometimes tragic and sometimes glorious stories of four characters in the Old Testament: Jacob, Joseph, Jeremiah, and Jonah. Dan dives into the life of Joseph, a story an epic story full of political intrigue, family division, betrayal, envy, and, ultimately, the bold hope that our own stories might join God’s story of reconciliation and new life.

This week, Dr. Dan Allender returns to a series engaging the sweeping, chaotic, sometimes tragic and sometimes glorious stories of four characters in the Old Testament: Jacob, Joseph, Jeremiah, and Jonah. Dan invites us to consider the story of Jeremiah, whose life leads us to wonder what it means to be a prophet, to wrestle with a world of extreme complexity, and ultimately, to recognize the cost of following God’s calling in our lives.

This week, Dr. Dan Allender continues a conversation with his friend Rick Maguire, who recently left a successful career at Microsoft to pursue work helping others as a life coach. Rick and Dan talk about what is required to walk with someone through significant moments and decisions in life, and what it means to move deeper into our calling and grow into who we were created to be.

This week, Dr. Dan Allender is joined by his friend Rick Maguire, who recently left a successful career at Microsoft to pursue work helping others as a life coach. Rick and Dan talk about what happens when you find new clarity about your life that leaves you facing a potentially foolish risk. What does it look like to live a big, bold, beautiful life?

This week, Dr. Dan Allender continues a series engaging the sweeping, chaotic, sometimes tragic and sometimes glorious stories of four characters in the Old Testament: Jacob, Joseph, Jeremiah, and Jonah. Dan invites us to consider the story of Jacob, a manipulative trickster who has much to teach us about the story of God and the nature of redemption.

This week, Dr. Dan Allender introduces a new series engaging the sweeping, chaotic, sometimes tragic and sometimes glorious stories of four characters in the Bible: Jacob, Joseph, Jeremiah, and Jonah. Dan invites us to let ourselves be swept up in the arc of a story, open to encountering what these characters reveal about our own stories and about the ongoing story of God.

This week, in the conclusion of the Spectrum of Trauma series, Dr. Dan Allender is joined by Dr. Angela Parker, Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies at The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology. Dan and Dr. Parker discuss a particular form of trauma that is often dismissed as insignificant: microaggressions that are born out of racism, bias, and prejudice toward others.

This week, Dan Allender launches a new series about the Spectrum of Trauma. Prompted by a recent article on our blog called “Post Traumatic Single Disorder,” Dan invites us to consider how subtle, seemingly minor experiences of harm might fit into our larger understanding of how we define trauma.

This week, Dan Allender and Rachael Clinton conclude the Binds of Leadership series by talking about the need for authenticity and humility in leadership. Authenticity has become a buzzword in our culture, but it is crucial to an understanding of leadership that allows us to be imperfect human beings committed to the process of growth. Rachael is a pastor, teacher, therapeutic practitioner, and member of the Allender Center Teaching Staff.

This week, Dan Allender continues a conversation with Rachael Clinton about the binds faced by many pastors and Christian leaders, who are expected to live without any complexities or flaws. Rachael is a pastor, teacher, therapeutic practitioner, and member of the Allender Center Teaching Staff. She and Dan discuss the ways in which we place our leaders on pedestals, only to feel a sense of relief when they fall off, a bind that leads us to consider the nature of hope, envy, the brokenness in our stories, and the coming fullness of the kingdom of God.

This week, Dan Allender is joined by Rachael Clinton for a conversation about the binds faced by many pastors and Christian leaders, who are expected to live without any complexities or flaws. Rachael is a pastor, teacher, therapeutic practitioner, and member of the Allender Center Teaching Staff. Together, she and Dan invite us to consider what it might look like to live as an honest, authentic, human-sized leader.

This week, Dan Allender  invites you to consider joining the work of transforming lives and communities by giving to The Allender Center and The Seattle School. Dan invites us to consider that receiving a meaningful gift with gratitude always leads to the invitation to give.

This week, Dan Allender concludes a conversation with Dr. Keith Anderson, President of The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology, about Keith’s new book, A Spirituality of Listening. Dan and Keith talk about how authentic spirituality will always invite the language of lament and the hope of finding God even in the midst of pain.

This week, Dan Allender continues a conversation with Dr. Keith Anderson, President of The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology, about Keith’s new book, A Spirituality of Listening. Dan and Keith talk about what it means to embody both pragmatism and mysticism, and about how both perspectives can teach us to listen more deeply for the voice of God.

This week, Dan Allender is joined by Dr. Keith Anderson, President of The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology, to talk about Keith’s new book, A Spirituality of Listening. Dan and Keith discuss what it means to listen for the voice of God in a world that is inundated with screens and soundbites.

You’re listening to The Allender Center Podcast with Dr. Dan Allender. This week Dan concludes a series about the nature of wisdom by discussing how we might wisely engage conflict and difficult binds in relationships. Dan invites us to consider that a life of wisdom is not marked by conflict avoidance, but rather by the willingness to engage difficult binds in a way that leads to deeper goodness for ourselves and others.

This week, Dan Allender continues a series about the nature of wisdom by looking at the binds we will inevitably encounter throughout our lives. Dan reads excerpts from The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis, inviting us to consider the idea of an inner ring and wonder how we might engage harmful separations between the in crowd and the out crowd.

This week, Dan Allender continues a series about the nature of wisdom by discussing the opposing category of foolishness. Dan invites us to pursue wisdom by being open to instruction, willing to learn from our mistakes, and devoted to kindness and care for others.

This week, Dan Allender launches a new series all about the pursuit of wisdom in a culture that is so often marked by foolish arguments and accusations. Dan looks at Biblical stories of King David and Jesus to introduce the concept of wisdom as an artistic, imaginative, and physical quality that equips us to foster beauty out of the binds of our world.

This week, Dan continues to reflect on the upcoming film A Story Worth Living, which will be released on May 19 for a special, one-night event across the country.  Dan wrestles with the traditional idea of “mission trips” and invites us to pursue adventures that lead to deeper encounters with the heart of God..

This week, Dan shares about the upcoming film A Story Worth Living, which will be released on May 19 for a special, one-night event across the country. The film documents a backcountry motorcycle adventure Dan participated in last summer, inviting us to pursue the kind of adventure that crafts a more meaningful story and reveals the character of God.

This week, Dan continues the conversation with his long-time friend, Dr. Tremper Longman. Dan and Tremper share about how their friendship and collaboration have expanded the work that they each do individually, inviting both of them to new opportunities and new encounters with the goodness of God. And they invite us to consider how our own friendships might lead us into deeper engagement with God’s ongoing work in the world.

This week, Dan is joined by his long-time friend, Dr. Tremper Longman, in a conversation about ping-pong, college, and the nature of friendship. Dan and Tremper invite us to consider how our friendships might draw us into deeper and more life-giving participation in the kingdom of God.

This week on The Allender Center Podcast, Dan continues the “Training Wounded Healers” series all about our signature Training Certificate, a year-long program that guides individuals through engagement with their own stories of harm and trauma for the sake of learning to offer healing and restoration in the stories of others. Here, Dan is joined by Cathy Loerzel, MA, co-founder and Executive Director of The Allender Center, and Rachael Clinton, MDiv, a pastor, certificate facilitator, and member of our Teaching Staff. Cathy and Rachael are also graduates of The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology.

Last week on The Allender Center Podcast, Dan launched a new series exploring our signature Training Certificate, a year-long program that guides individuals through engagement with their own stories of harm and trauma for the sake of learning to offer healing and restoration in the stories of others. This week, Dan is joined by his wife, Becky Allender, who shares about her own experience of going through the Training Certificate and the impact that it continues to have in her life.

This week on The Allender Center Podcast, Dan launches a new series exploring the heart and vision behind our unique Training Certificate, a year-long training that guides individuals through engagement with their own stories of harm and trauma for the sake of learning to offer healing and restoration in the stories of others.

This week, Dan Allender continues reflecting on his upcoming book, Healing the Wounded Heart: The Heartache of Sexual Abuse and the Hope of Transformation. In Part One of this series, Dan shared about the stance he hopes readers will take when approaching the new book, which is a 25-year retrospective about everything he has learned working with sexually abused men and women. In Part Two, Dan addressed the intent of evil to create orphans, widows, and strangers through the harm we have endured. Now, Dan addresses the Healing the Wounded Heart workbook and his belief that deep, lasting change must occur in relationship with God and others.

This week, Dan Allender continues reflecting on his upcoming book, Healing the Wounded Heart: The Heartache of Sexual Abuse and the Hope of Transformation. The new book is a 25-year retrospective about everything Dan has learned working with sexually abused men and women since publishing his first book, The Wounded Heart. In last week’s podcast, Dan talked about the openness and honor with which he hopes readers will approach Healing the Wounded Heart. This week, he reflects on evil’s intent to turn us into orphans, widows, and strangers through the harm that we have endured.

On this week’s podcast, Dan Allender launches a three-part series engaging the themes of his upcoming book, Healing the Wounded Heart: The Heartache of Sexual Abuse and the Hope of Transformation. The new book, scheduled for release at the beginning of next month, is a 25-year retrospective about what Dan has learned working with sexually abused men and women in the years since his first book, The Wounded Heart.

On this week’s podcast, Dan Allender continues to talk with his good friend, John Eldredge, about their upcoming Restoration of the Heart conference, March 4-5 in Colorado Springs. Be sure to check out the first part of this conversation if you missed it.

On this week’s podcast, Dan Allender sits down with his good friend, John Eldredge, to reflect on the themes behind the Restoration of the Heart conference, a joint venture from The Allender Center and Ransomed Heart. Restoration of the Heart, March 4-5 in Colorado Springs, will engage the questions and challenges that emerge when we dare to believe that true healing and restoration are possible for even our deepest wounds.

On last week’s podcast, Dan began responding to this question we received from a listener: “As I work deeper into my story, how can I honor my own heart, and my spouse, when he or she is not willing to engage his or her own story and suffering?” Many of us have experienced the heartache of having a friend, partner, or relative who is not just indifferent to our efforts to better engage our stories, but actively opposed.

On last week’s podcast, Dan Allender responded to a listener question about leaving and cleaving in dating relationships. This week’s question, one that will take two weeks to explore, will likely be familiar to many of us: “As I work deeper into my story, how can I honor my own heart, and my spouse, when he or she is not willing to engage his or her own story and suffering?” Before we can look at all of the implications that are packed in that one painful question, it is necessary to look at another question: “What does it mean to engage in story?”

Dan addresses a question that many people might be wrestling with after our recent marriage series: How do you negotiate leaving and cleaving in dating? And how do you transition from singleness to engagement while still honoring your parents?

On last week’s podcast, Dr. Dan Allender reflected on the end of the year, looking at what is required to be attentive and to bless what God is showing us through the past year. This week, we’re turning to the New Year. Dan discusses what it means to start a year with the same care and intentionality that goes into ending a year well.

On this week’s podcast, Dr. Dan Allender reflects on 2015 and the nature of ending a year. How do we mark the culmination of everything that the year held, both the good and the bad, when most of us are so exhausted by the time the holidays come around that we spend the last few days of the year in a kind of haze, already fretting about what’s to come in the new year?

Last week on The Allender Center Podcast, Dan and Becky Allender discussed their experiences of welcoming guests into their home. This week, as we continue our series about all of the complexity of the holidays, Dan is joined by his daughter-in-law Sassy to talk about the other side of that interaction: how to hold and offer goodness when you are a guest entering someone else’s home.

This week on The Allender Center Podcast, Dan and Becky Allender continue our series about engaging the holiday season in all of its beauty and complexity (you can listen to part one here). Dan and Becky reflect on their experiences of welcoming guests into their home, exploring what it looks like to receive others in hospitality and kindness, in a manner that is life-giving to the guests and the hosts.

This week on The Allender Center Podcast, Dan and Becky Allender launch a new series reflecting on the holiday season—and all of the complexity it brings.

Last week on The Allender Center Podcast, we shared a conversation with Dan Allender and his daughter, Amanda, and son-in-law, Jeff, as they welcomed their newborn daughter. (Listen here: Grace Is in the World.) This week, Dan and his wife, Becky Allender, reflect on the glory of a new life in the world and the experience of becoming grandparents again.

It seems appropriate that, on the heels of our six-part Marriage series, Dan and Becky flew to New York to welcome their new granddaughter into the world. This week on the podcast, Dan is joined by his daughter Amanda, his son-in-law Jeff, and their cooing, hiccuping baby, Grace Harper.

This episode marks the conclusion of our six-part Marriage series, a conversation between Dan and Becky Allender. In case you missed any of it, you can still catch up on past episodes, including Leaving (Part One, Part Two), Cleaving (Part One, Part Two), and Part One of Weaving.

On this week’s podcast, Dan and Becky Allender continue our six-part Marriage series, which began with Leaving (Part One, Part Two), moved to Cleaving (Part One, Part Two), and ends with Weaving—what it means for a couple to weave together as one flesh. To put it another way, we’re talking about sex.

On this week’s podcast, the fourth part of our ongoing Marriage series, Dan and Becky Allender continue talking about the idea of a couple cleaving together, by looking at the contempt and bitterness that can take root and create so much division in a relationship.

This week on The Allender Center Podcast, Dan and Becky Allender continue our series on Marriage: Leaving, Cleaving, and Weaving. In Part One and Part Two of this series, Dan and Becky reflected on the difficulties they encountered in leaving their families of origin and growing in love and loyalty toward each other. Here, they discuss the idea of cleaving together, being bonded to each other in the sort of one-heartedness that marks a life-giving marriage.

This week on The Allender Center Podcast, in part two of our Marriage series, Dan and his wife, Becky Allender, continue to talk about what it looks like to leave our families of origin and grow in love and loyalty for one another.

This week on The Allender Center Podcast, Dan’s wife, Becky Allender, joins him to launch a new series all about the beauty and brokenness that is part of a healthy, life-giving marriage. The themes at the heart of this conversation—leaving, cleaving, and weaving—are also a foundational part of the book Intimate Allies (which Dan co-wrote with Dr. Tremper Longman III) and The Allender Center’s Intimate Mystery Conference.

This week on The Allender Center Podcast, Dan sits down with his long-time friend, John Eldredge, to share the story behind the upcoming Restoration of the Heart Conference, a joint offering from The Allender Center and Ransomed Heart.

This week on The Allender Center Podcast, Dan concludes our Design of Desire series by looking at the relationship between the desires of our hearts and our ability to delight in God. That can be an uncomfortable connection to make, since many of us are all too aware that the things we desire sometimes seem to be very far from the heart of God.

So far in The Allender Center Podcast’s Design of Desire series, Dan has discussed the war against desire and the idea that God-given desire fosters creativity. On this week’s podcast, Dan continues the series by confronting the idea that not all of our desires are healthy. How does God deal with conflicted desires that are deeply legitimate at times and that, other times, swing into madness?

This week on The Allender Center Podcast, Dan continues the Design of Desire series that opened last week with the idea that much of desire is opposed and that pursuing meaningful desire requires stepping into the war against desire. Here, Dan looks at Genesis 1 and 3 to discuss two categories—the so-called “cultural mandate”—that are at the heart of God’s intention for desire: fill and multiply, and subdue and rule. These categories refer to raising children and tending the earth, but also to so much more than that.

This week on The Allender Center Podcast, Dan launches a new series, Design of Desire, all about the desire rooted deep in our humanity—where it comes from, how it manifests in our lives, and the war that is constantly waged against it.

Dan continues our series on play by reflecting on the anticipation and preparation that are required for ventures of deep, meaningful play.

This week, after opening with an excerpt from Diane Ackerman’s Deep Play, Dan discusses what is at stake. What is it that rich, meaningful play requires of us?

Dan begins a two-week series discussing the nature of play and the importance of embracing play in our lives.

On this week’s podcast, Dan sits down for a conversation with his long-time friend, John Eldredge.

Dan shares his post-reunion reflections, marveling about how returning to specific faces, names, and places of our lives can offer a taste of restoration.

Dan and John discuss how delight in and desire for beauty can shape the way that we engage trauma and brokenness.

John and Dan discuss the meaning and importance of beauty through the lens of the theology of Jonathan Edwards.

Dan wrestles with that ambivalence as he and his wife, Becky, prepare to return to Ohio for their 45th high school reunion.

On this week’s podcast, Dan sits down for a conversation with Susan Cunningham, a therapist, poet, and facilitator with The Allender Center.

Dan engages four remaining questions that he often hears from people interested in working with their own stories, particularly through one of our Story Workshops.

This week, Dan discusses the fear that so many of us hold about confronting the stories of our past.

How do I trust my memory? What if the way I remember an event is not what really happened? It’s a legitimate question, even a kind and righteous question, says Dan, rooted in a desire to know and tell the truth.

On this week’s podcast, Dan begins a new series about the beauty and power of living, telling, and hearing meaningful stories.

This week, Dan continues his disussion on endings by examining something most of us are all too familiar with: endings that have gone terribly wrong.

Dan concludes this series on endings by inviting us beyond procrastination and sabotage in an effort to learn to end well. This is a process of acknowledging the sacrifices we have made and the work we have accomplished, as well as the grace and gifts that have allowed us to reach this point.

On this week’s podcast, Dan continues a series on endings by discussing the role of sabotage—the moment when celebration gives way to indulgence and we sabotage our ability to enjoy our endings, potentially undoing everything we have just accomplished.

Dan begins a new series about endings—how we handle them, avoid them, sabotage them, grieve them, and celebrate them.

On this week’s podcast, Dan discusses how we are all invited to carry the burdens of others, even if we don’t feel like we have anything to offer.

This week, Dan continues the series on trauma care in Galatians 6 by addressing how we can help carry those who are harmed by the sins of others.

On this week’s podcast, Dan begins a new series, based on Galatians 6, about trauma care and the effect that it has on you, the person engaging the trauma. For the next three weeks, Dan will address how to help restore those who are struggling with the effects of their own sin, how to help carry those affected by the sins of others, and how to own your own life in the process of helping other people.

This week’s podcast marks the conclusion of a series on trauma care in the local church. In Part One, Dan discussed the crucial idea that we all—not just trained professionals—need to be aware of the reality and effects of trauma for people in our communities. In Part Two, he reflected on the particular types of trauma that form in the context of marriage. This week, Dan talks about the reality of vicarious traumatization that comes as we engage the crises, stresses, and heartaches of the people around us.

This week, Dan addresses the particular types of trauma that form in the context of marriage, including trauma that comes after death, divorce, and the betrayal of domestic violence.

On this week’s podcast, Dan introduces a series on the role of trauma in the context of the local church. He offers three overall categories for trauma, arguing that it is far more widespread than many acknowledge, then discusses the body’s telltale responses to traumatic events. What would it look like for our churches to exist as communities of priests, prophets, kings, and queens who are aware of the pervasive, devastating nature of trauma and who offer hospitality, healing, and the possibility of redemption? “Hospitality is the core of what the community of God brings,” says Dan—“inviting people to goodness, to a feast, to sustenance, to solace, to healing.”

Dan invites us to see and to name the beauty in our lives, the parts of our stories that reflect the light and goodness of God. Knowing and telling our stories means finding the beauty and inviting others to share it. And we cannot talk about this without talking about worship, which is our response—in awe and gratitude—to the beauty and goodness of God.

On this week’s podcast, we are continuing our preview of the material explored in our To Be Told conferences. Dan discusses the necessity of looking at the wounds in our lives—the places in which we have experienced shame, loneliness, and betrayal. Evil entices us and hardens our hearts, naming us as orphans, strangers, and widows. But we are called to so much more.

For the next three weeks on the podcast, while Dan is on the road, we are excited to offer a preview of the material explored in our To Be Told conferences. In this week’s audio, Dan discusses the idea that God is the author of your life’s story, and we are all called to enter our stories in a way that reflects the character of God and reveals the nature of the Gospel.

Dr. Dan Allender talks about his hopes for his sabbatical and the imporatnace of Sabbath.

Dr. Dan Allender talks about his new book "God Loves Sex" in this honest conversation talking about sexual desires and holiness.

Dan addresses some of the quesitions about his new book, "God Loves Sex." The question answered here is how did the writing process and collaboration work on this book.