God Attachment Healing

Send Me Questions on Attachment
Addiction doesn’t usually start with rebellion. It starts with relief. Then relief turns into compulsion, and compulsion starts stealing your joy, your relationships, and even your sense of who you are. I sit down with my friend and colleague, Louis Alvey, an addictions clinician and soon-to-be Dr. Alvey, to put clear words to what so many people live in silence: doing the thing you don’t want to do, again and again, despite the fallout.

We break down a practical definition of addiction, then widen the lens beyond substances to process addictions like pornography, gambling, and endless scrolling, plus the emerging reality of AI “relationships” that can mimic connection. We talk dopamine and the pleasure-pain swing that keeps the brain chasing another hit of comfort, and we wrestle with a Christian framework that sees addiction as misplaced worship without turning every enjoyment into a moral panic.

The heart of the conversation is attachment and shame. If the core belief is “something’s wrong with me,” hiding makes perfect sense, from friends, from family, and even from God. We explore why “just try harder” is often what Christians get wrong, and what actually helps: safe community, truth told with love, and radical honesty that pulls people out of isolation and back into real relationship. We end with a challenge for the church to act like a hospital again, welcoming people who are already sitting in the pews and quietly struggling.

If this helps you, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find it. What question do you want us to answer next in a Q&A?
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God Attachment Healing

MY HOPE FOR YOU
I hope these episodes bring you closer to Christ and encourage you in your walk with Him. 
ABOUT ME 👇
I have been a Christ-follower for the last 20+ years of my life, and have seen the Lord's grace, strength, and faithfulness through it all. He led me to pursue a degree in higher education and has given me a gift for the field of counseling.

Send Me Questions on Attachment
The “psychology vs theology” fight sounds serious until you realize it often hurts the very people we’re trying to serve. I’m joined by Dr. Jichan Kim, associate professor of psychology at Liberty University and a researcher in forgiveness psychology, to map out a better way: a thoughtful integration of Christian theology, philosophy, and psychological science that doesn’t flatten human suffering or sideline Scripture. 

We unpack why many Christians feel suspicious of counseling, where that suspicion comes from, and what gets lost when churches replace soul care with pop psychology or, on the other side, reduce every struggle to “just pray more.” Dr. Kim makes a sharp distinction between science and scientism and explains why data never interprets itself. We also talk about how theology shapes our view of the person through creation, fall, and redemption, and why sin affects every aspect of life without making therapy pointless or faith optional. 

Then we go deeper into philosophy, naturalism, and supernaturalism, including why some people try to explain miracles away and why Christians don’t need to fear honest inquiry. We end with a sober conversation about suffering and theodicy, plus practical wisdom for pastors, counselors, and friends who want to avoid cheap answers and offer real empathy. 

If you care about Christian mental health, biblical counseling, therapy, attachment theory, and building a more faithful approach to healing, this conversation is for you. Subscribe, share this with someone who’s wrestling with these questions, and leave a review with the biggest takeaway you’re sitting with.
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FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM:
@godattachmenthealing

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God Attachment Healing

MY HOPE FOR YOU
I hope these episodes bring you closer to Christ and encourage you in your walk with Him. 
ABOUT ME 👇
I have been a Christ-follower for the last 20+ years of my life, and have seen the Lord's grace, strength, and faithfulness through it all. He led me to pursue a degree in higher education and has given me a gift for the field of counseling.

Send Me Questions on Attachment
Rejection doesn’t just hurt. For someone with anxious attachment, it can hijack your story about who you are. We got a listener question from Jameson in North Carolina: he asked a girl out, she turned him down, and now he keeps seeing her at church groups. The hardest part isn’t the no, it’s the constant reminder and the lingering feelings that won’t switch off.

We talk through what anxious attachment does after rejection: the obsession with “why,” the fear of abandonment, and the reflex to assume you caused it because you’re not good enough. Then we get practical about next steps that actually help you heal. Sometimes the mature choice is to treat her like a friend and let time soften the feelings. Other times you need real boundaries and a season of space because proximity keeps reopening the wound. We also explore why repeated rejection can push people into passivity and how continuing to ask people out can be part of growth, not desperation.

Because this is a faith-based podcast, we go deeper into God attachment too. When dating discouragement hits, it’s easy to think God is disappointed in you or withholding something. Instead, we practice honest prayer, grounded self-worth in Christ, and leaning into encouraging community so your confidence isn’t decided by one person’s answer. If this connects with you, subscribe, share it with a friend who’s stuck in the spiral, and leave a review with the biggest takeaway you’re working on.
Support the show
FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM:
@godattachmenthealing

FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK:
God Attachment Healing

MY HOPE FOR YOU
I hope these episodes bring you closer to Christ and encourage you in your walk with Him. 
ABOUT ME 👇
I have been a Christ-follower for the last 20+ years of my life, and have seen the Lord's grace, strength, and faithfulness through it all. He led me to pursue a degree in higher education and has given me a gift for the field of counseling.

Send Me Questions on Attachment
Some stories force a question most of us try to avoid: what do you do with God after life takes something you can’t replace? Ashley Glader joins me to share a journey marked by layered loss, starting with her brother’s death in the Columbine shooting when she was 11, and continuing years later with the medical crisis of her newborn son, months in the NICU and PICU, and his death shortly after coming home.

We talk honestly about Christian grief, trauma triggers, and the kind of doubt that doesn’t mean you’re walking away from Jesus, it means you’re trying to trust Him with your whole heart. Ashley explains why believers sometimes rush past pain with quick answers, why “everything happens for a reason” can wound, and what actually helps: steady presence, specific care, and friendship that can hold raw questions without trying to defend God.

You’ll also hear practical guidance for supporting a grieving friend, how marriage can strain when partners grieve differently, and what it looks like to parent children through loss as they revisit questions at each developmental stage. Ashley shares the Scriptures that anchored her, including Joshua 1:9 and 2 Corinthians 4:16–18, and why God’s greatest promise is not prosperity but His presence.

If you’ve been through infant loss, cancer, sudden death, or faith-shaking suffering, this conversation is for you. Subscribe for more Christ-centered healing conversations, share this with someone who needs hope, and leave a review. What part of grief do you wish the church understood better?
Support the show
FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM:
@godattachmenthealing

FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK:
God Attachment Healing

MY HOPE FOR YOU
I hope these episodes bring you closer to Christ and encourage you in your walk with Him. 
ABOUT ME 👇
I have been a Christ-follower for the last 20+ years of my life, and have seen the Lord's grace, strength, and faithfulness through it all. He led me to pursue a degree in higher education and has given me a gift for the field of counseling.

Send Me Questions on Attachment
Everyone seems to have an opinion about Jesus right now, but the hard question is the one most of us avoid: are we following the real Jesus or a version we’ve edited to fit our preferences? Sam sits down with Ryan Shieh, author of Counterfeit Christianity and a teacher of evangelism at Liberty University’s School of Divinity, to unpack how cultural Christianity creates people who recognize God but resist surrender.

Ryan shares his own story of growing up around church, mistaking “not doing the big sins” for discipleship, and eventually realizing that head knowledge without changed desires can’t hold up. From there we dig into the Western performance mindset that says you behave to belong, and why the gospel flips it: you belong by grace through faith, then your identity in Christ reshapes your life. We talk about the authority problem behind selective obedience, the danger of “fence riding,” and why “a Jesus you negotiate with is not a Jesus you surrender to.”

We also go deeper into the tension many people feel between the fear of God and the love of God. Ryan explains fear as reverence and awe, not hiding from a punisher, and why God’s justice and God’s love must coexist. Along the way we hit practical discipleship themes like holiness, repentance, gratitude, and the subtle apathy that grows when the gospel becomes familiar. Ryan closes with Jesus’ Matthew 13 picture of wheat and tares, a warning that convincing counterfeits can still lead to spiritual death.

If you’ve ever wondered whether your faith is more culture than Christ, this conversation is for you. Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review to help more people find the show.

Ryan's New Book: Counterfeit Christianity 
Support the show
FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM:
@godattachmenthealing

FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK:
God Attachment Healing

MY HOPE FOR YOU
I hope these episodes bring you closer to Christ and encourage you in your walk with Him. 
ABOUT ME 👇
I have been a Christ-follower for the last 20+ years of my life, and have seen the Lord's grace, strength, and faithfulness through it all. He led me to pursue a degree in higher education and has given me a gift for the field of counseling.