Shaun Hardie

If you’ve lived with anxiety for any amount of time, you’ve probably tried to control it. Most people do. It’s our natural instinct: if something feels uncomfortable, painful, or threatening, we try to push it away or shut it down. And that works beautifully for external problems. If a light switch doesn’t work, you change it out. If your phone freezes, you restart it.If the car makes a noise, you take it to a mechanic. Control works in the physical world. But when you apply that same...

If you sit with couples long enough, you start to notice a pattern. Most partners who walk into my office don’t begin by saying, We don’t love each other anymore.” They say something much more familiar: “We just can’t communicate without a fight.” “I never feel heard in the relationship.” “We talk, but nothing changes.” Usually, beneath those words is a shared ache — two people who care deeply about each other but keep missing one another emotionally. They’re talking, but they’re not...

“But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.” — Job 23:10 I’ve lived with anxiety most of my life, and didn't even know! For years, I did what most people do — I tried to ignore it, numb it, or control it. I told myself to calm down. I tried to think positive thoughts. I pushed away the feelings. And the harder I tried not to feel anxious, the more anxious I became. My heart would race faster. My breathing would tighten. My mind would grow louder, or...