Leading Saints Podcast

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Steven W. Shields, CMHC, CETII, CECII, is passionate about helping others regain their freedom by healing their root trauma. One of his greatest moments with clients is when he fires them. His hope is to help clients access that inner healing as quickly as possible so they can stop spending time and money in therapy, live the adventure, and experience the joys that life has in store for them. Steven loves dirt biking, Christian rap, and playing Pokémon with his kids.



Links

Is Mental Health Healing Possible? | An Interview with Steven Shields

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Watch the video and share your thoughts in the Zion Lab community

Transcript available with the video in the Zion Lab community

Highlights

Steve discusses the importance of community and authenticity within Latter-day Saint congregations, and how to foster genuine connections and address the challenges of secrecy and shame in church settings.

Key Insights

Community vs. Secrecy: Steven emphasizes the distinction between confidentiality and secrecy. While confidentiality involves honoring individuals’ stories, secrecy can hinder authentic connections and healing.

Authenticity in Leadership: Leaders are encouraged to model authenticity by sharing their own experiences and struggles, which can create a safe space for others to do the same.

The Role of Therapy: Therapy serves as an artificial container for healing, providing tools and support that individuals may not find within their community. However, true healing often occurs through genuine relationships and community support.

Cultural Challenges: Many members feel isolated or disconnected in their wards, often due to fear of judgment. Steven argues that this leads to a culture of silence, where individuals keep secrets rather than seeking connection.

Building Connections: Leaders should actively work to create environments where members feel safe to share their struggles, thus fostering a sense of belonging and support.

Leadership Applications

Encourage Vulnerability: Leaders can promote a culture of openness by sharing their own challenges and inviting members to do the same, which can help break down barriers of shame and secrecy.

Facilitate Small Groups: Organizing smaller gatherings or discussion groups can help members connect on a deeper level, allowing for more meaningful conversations and support.

Model Authenticity: By being transparent about their own journeys, leaders can inspire others to engage authentically, ultimately strengthening the ward community and enhancing overall unity.

00:03:43 – The Importance of Community

00:04:16 – Current Trends in Therapy

00:05:40 – Managing vs. Healing

00:08:10 – The Role of Worthiness

00:09:50 – The Journey of Repentance

00:11:32 – Addressing Pornography in Leadership

00:12:25 – Confidentiality vs. Secrecy

00:14:05 – The Nature of Confidentiality

00:15:10 – The Need for Vulnerability

00:18:25 – Creating Safe Spaces in Church

00:19:28 – The Power of Authenticity

00:21:11 – Building Connections in the Ward

00:23:29 – The Role of Community in Recovery

00:25:17 – The Importance of Sharing Stories

00:27:39 – Overcoming Fear and Shame

00:29:10 – The Cost of Speaking Up

00:30:57 – The Role of Therapy in Healing

00:32:19 – Building Community in the Church

00:34:06 – The Future of Healing and Community

00:35:17 – The Role of Therapy as an Artificial Container

00:37:14 – The Need for Organic Healing

00:40:10 – Therapy and Community

The award-winning Leading Saints Podcast is one of the top independent Latter-day Saints podcasts as part of nonprofit Leading Saints’ mission to help Latter-day Saints be better prepared to lead. Find Leadership Tools, Courses, and Community for Latter-day Saint leaders in the Zion Lab community. Learn more and listen to any of the past episodes for free at LeadingSaints.org.

Past guests include Emily Belle Freeman, David Butler, Hank Smith, John Bytheway, Reyna and Elena Aburto, Liz Wiseman, Stephen M. R. Covey, Benjamin Hardy, Elder Alvin F. Meredith III, Julie Beck, Brad Wilcox, Jody Moore, Tony Overbay, John H. Groberg, Elaine Dalton, Tad R. Callister, Lynn G. Robbins, J. Devn Cornish, Bonnie Oscarson, Dennis B. Neuenschwander, Kirby Heyborne, Taysom Hill, Coaches Jennifer Rockwood and Brandon Doman, Anthony Sweat, John Hilton III, Barbara Morgan Gardner, Blair Hodges, Whitney Johnson, Ryan Gottfredson, Greg McKeown, Ganel-Lyn Condie, Michael Goodman, Wendy Ulrich, Richard Ostler, and many more in over 800 episodes.

Discover podcasts, articles, virtual conferences, and live events related to callings such as the bishopric, Relief Society, elders quorum, Primary, youth leadership, stake leadership, ward mission, ward council, young adults, ministering, and teaching.

As a culture change enthusiast with hundreds of presentations under her belt, Dr. Christy Kane transforms audiences when she speaks. Her message is based on the belief that embracing mental health as a positive is essential to thriving.

 

All of Dr. Kane’s work has one goal: to help people care for their brains and live better lives. By incorporating brain-based research, storytelling, and a thought-provoking delivery, she makes difficult topics engaging and memorable.​

 

Dr. Kane has a Doctorate in Psychology and a clinical license (CMHC) in addition to being a successful business owner and leader. Dr. Kane has provided mental health corporate consulting, corporate training, and professional development training for school districts in multiple states. 



Links

KaneCounselingServices.com

Watch the video and share your thoughts in the Zion Lab community

Transcript available with the video in the Zion Lab community

Highlights

Dr. Kane discusses the complexities of mental health within the context of church leadership. The conversation focuses on how leaders can better understand mental health dynamics, set appropriate boundaries, and support members effectively.

Key Insights

Understanding Mental Health Trends: Dr. Kane highlights the rise of “gray divorce,” where older couples are increasingly seeking divorce after decades of marriage, often due to lack of growth and connection in their relationships.

Boundaries in Leadership: Leaders must establish clear boundaries to protect their mental health and avoid overstepping into roles that require professional training, such as therapy. This includes recognizing when to refer members to mental health professionals.

Curiosity Over Judgment: Leaders should approach conversations with curiosity rather than jumping to conclusions. Asking open-ended questions can help members feel safe and understood, allowing for more effective support.

Recognizing Mental Health Issues: Leaders need to differentiate between spiritual struggles and mental health issues. Persistent feelings of disconnection from the spirit may indicate underlying mental health concerns that require professional intervention.

Communication with Professionals: When referring members to therapists, leaders should ensure that proper releases of information are signed, allowing for effective communication between the therapist and the church leader.

Leadership Applications

Establishing Clear Expectations: Leaders can set the tone for their interactions by clarifying that they are not therapists and that they will refer members to professionals when necessary. This helps manage expectations and reduces the risk of burnout.

Promoting Open Dialogue: By fostering an environment of curiosity and openness, leaders can encourage members to share their struggles without fear of judgment, leading to more meaningful support and connection.

Utilizing Resources Wisely: Leaders should leverage available resources, such as mental health professionals, to assist members effectively while maintaining their own well-being. This includes participating in training sessions to better understand mental health dynamics and how to address them.

00:02:00 – Mental Health Trends: Gray Divorce

00:04:00 – Dynamics of Empty Nesters and Relationships

00:05:30 – Vision for Mental Health Content Creation

00:06:00 – Importance of Understanding Mental Health for Leaders

00:08:00 – Navigating Shame, Guilt, and Godly Sorrow

00:10:00 – Boundaries in Leadership Roles

00:12:00 – Comparing Bishop and Therapist Roles

00:14:00 – Recognizing Depression vs. Spiritual Issues

00:16:00 – Setting Boundaries in Conversations

00:18:00 – Importance of Curiosity in Leadership

00:20:00 – Referring to Professional Therapists

00:22:00 – Communicating with Therapists: Best Practices

00:24:00 – Managing High-Risk Conversations

00:26:00 – Maintaining Trust in Confidentiality

00:28:00 – Addressing Secrets in Relationships

00:30:00 – Importance of Self-Care for Leaders

00:32:00 – Strengthening Family and Ward Culture

00:34:00 – Addressing Feelings of Loneliness Among Women

00:36:00 – Upcoming Topics for Mental Health Discussions

The award-winning Leading Saints Podcast is one of the top independent Latter-day Saints podcasts as part of nonprofit Leading Saints’ mission to help Latter-day Saints be better prepared to lead. Find Leadership Tools, Courses, and Community for Latter-day Saint leaders in the Zion Lab community. Learn more and listen to any of the past episodes for free at LeadingSaints.org.

Past guests include Emily Belle Freeman, David Butler, Hank Smith, John Bytheway, Reyna and Elena Aburto, Liz Wiseman, Stephen M. R. Covey, Benjamin Hardy, Elder Alvin F. Meredith III, Julie Beck, Brad Wilcox, Jody Moore, Tony Overbay, John H. Groberg, Elaine Dalton, Tad R. Callister, Lynn G. Robbins, J. Devn Cornish, Bonnie Oscarson, Dennis B. Neuenschwander, Kirby Heyborne, Taysom Hill, Coaches Jennifer Rockwood and Brandon Doman, Anthony Sweat, John Hilton III, Barbara Morgan Gardner, Blair Hodges, Whitney Johnson, Ryan Gottfredson, Greg McKeown, Ganel-Lyn Condie, Michael Goodman, Wendy Ulrich, Richard Ostler, and many more in over 800 episodes.

Discover podcasts, articles, virtual conferences, and live events related to callings such as the bishopric, Relief Society, elders quorum, Primary, youth leadership, stake leadership, ward mission, ward council, young adults, ministering, and teaching.

Jeff Strong worked nearly 30 years in the consumer products industry as a senior executive at Procter & Gamble and global president and chief customer officer at Johnson & Johnson. He then taught in the Marriott School of Business at Brigham Young University and worked as an advisor to the Church before serving as a mission leader in the Arkansas Bentonville Mission.

Jeff has since spent several years doing research on why people are leaving the Church. He recently published the book Torn: Why People We Love Are Leaving the Church and What We Can Learn from Them. Jeff lives in Midway, Utah, and stays busy with a little lavender farm, some business consulting, and enjoying family.



Links

Torn: Why People We Love Are Leaving the Church and What We Can Learn from Them

What to Say When Loved Ones Leave the Church | An Interview with Jeff Strong and Joseph Grenny

The Data Behind Church Culture | An Interview with Jeff Strong

TornByJeffStrong.com

Instagram: @tornbyjeffstrong

Facebook

Watch the video and share your thoughts in the Zion Lab community

Transcript available with the video in the Zion Lab community

Highlights

00:02:42 – Competing Narratives in Church Growth and Disaffiliation

00:04:22 – Personal Connection to Disaffiliation

00:06:36 – The Journey to Understanding Disaffiliation

00:09:05 – The Role of Data and Personal Experience

00:10:54 – The Complexity of Disaffiliation

00:12:11 – The Challenge of Measuring Disaffiliation

00:15:09 – Research Methodology and Findings

00:17:29 – Understanding the Audience for “Torn”

00:19:30 – The Importance of Accurate Understanding

00:20:36 – Celebrating Strengths While Facing Challenges

00:22:03 – The Impact of Local vs. Global Growth

00:25:41 – The Role of Missionary Work [CORRECTION: Jeff’s rough estimate of 275,000 baptisms per year is the GLOBAL number. The U.S. number is a portion of that.]

00:27:06 – The Need for a Balanced Perspective

00:29:26 – The Misconception of Resurgence Among Young People

00:31:03 – The Data on Disaffiliation

00:35:02 – The Four Waves of Disaffiliation

00:40:53 – Wave One: Lifestyle and Depletion

00:43:17 – Personal Anecdote on Depletion and Church Experience

00:44:19 – Wave Two: Doubt and Disbelief

00:46:05 – Wave Three: Cultural and Social Factors

00:48:12 – Wave Four: Institutional Issues

00:50:00 – The Importance of Understanding and Addressing Disaffiliation

Key Insights

Competing Narratives: The church is experiencing growth in certain areas, such as baptisms and missionary work, but disaffiliation remains a significant concern, with many individuals quietly stepping away from their faith.

Personal Connection: Jeff shares his personal journey of grappling with his son’s disaffiliation, highlighting the emotional impact and the need for a deeper understanding of why individuals leave the church.

Research Findings: Jeff’s research indicates that approximately 40% of active members have disaffiliated since 2000, with various reasons categorized into “waves,” including lifestyle challenges and deeper faith crises.

Cultural Dynamics: The discussion emphasizes the importance of recognizing the cultural pressures within the church that may lead to feelings of depletion rather than spiritual fulfillment for some members.

Engagement vs. Disaffiliation: While many active members report strong engagement and purpose, a significant portion of young adults are less affiliated with organized religion, indicating a complex relationship with faith.

Leadership Applications

Fostering Understanding: Leaders can benefit from understanding the reasons behind disaffiliation to create a more inclusive and supportive environment for those struggling with their faith.

Encouraging Open Dialogue: By promoting open conversations about faith challenges, leaders can help bridge the gap between those who feel fulfilled in their faith and those who are struggling.

Addressing Cultural Pressures: Leaders should be aware of the cultural dynamics that may lead to feelings of depletion among members and work to create a more nurturing and understanding community that supports individual spiritual journeys.

The award-winning Leading Saints Podcast is one of the top independent Latter-day Saints podcasts as part of nonprofit Leading Saints’ mission to help Latter-day Saints be better prepared to lead. Find Leadership Tools, Courses, and Community for Latter-day Saint leaders in the Zion Lab community. Learn more and listen to any of the past episodes for free at LeadingSaints.org.

Past guests include Emily Belle Freeman, David Butler, Hank Smith, John Bytheway, Reyna and Elena Aburto, Liz Wiseman, Stephen M. R. Covey, Benjamin Hardy, Elder Alvin F. Meredith III, Julie Beck, Brad Wilcox, Jody Moore, Tony Overbay, John H. Groberg, Elaine Dalton, Tad R. Callister, Lynn G. Robbins, J. Devn Cornish, Bonnie Oscarson, Dennis B. Neuenschwander, Kirby Heyborne, Taysom Hill, Coaches Jennifer Rockwood and Brandon Doman, Anthony Sweat, John Hilton III, Barbara Morgan Gardner, Blair Hodges, Whitney Johnson, Ryan Gottfredson, Greg McKeown, Ganel-Lyn Condie, Michael Goodman, Wendy Ulrich, Richard Ostler, and many more in over 800 episodes.

Discover podcasts, articles, virtual conferences, and live events related to callings such as the bishopric, Relief Society, elders quorum, Primary, youth leadership, stake leadership, ward mission, ward council, young adults, ministering, and teaching.

Robin Ritch has spent her career building things that matter. She has led teams at Microsoft, Intel, and Cisco, and most recently served as President and Publisher of Deseret News Publishing Company, where she helped transform a 172-year-old institution into a nationally recognized digital voice.

Throughout her career, Robin has had a knack for seeing around corners. She has launched new products, modernized organizations, and brought together unlikely communities around conversations that matter.

She gives back through board service at The Policy Project, WikiCharities, Social Venture Partners, and Mission Edge, organizations working to make communities stronger.

For as long as she can remember, Robin has been fascinated by women and their relationship with God. That lifelong curiosity is what led her to write “Using Friction to Grow”, her first book.

Robin examines case studies of Latter-day Saint women who navigated significant social and ecclesiastical changes during the 1970s. She discusses how these women managed friction from society, family, and the Church to develop deeper discipleship and personal sanctification.



Links

Using Friction to Grow: Stories of Strength and Resilience, LDS Women 1968-1976

Watch the video and share your thoughts in the Zion Lab community

Transcript available with the video in the Zion Lab community

Highlights

Key Insights

The Purpose of Friction: Friction is a divine design intended to slow individuals down, allowing them to refine their relationship with God and smooth away “rough edges” of character.

Personal vs. Organizational Revelation: Individuals may receive personal revelation for their own lives that precedes broader organizational shifts within the Church.

Historical Resilience: Women in the 1970s drew strength from the stories of their suffragette grandmothers, recognizing that navigating tension within a faith community is not a new phenomenon.

Individual Agency and Revelation: The women Robin interviewed did not view Church counsel as a reason to stop their personal progression; instead, they used it as a prompt to seek their own confirmed answers through prayer and fasting.

Grace for Diverse Paths: These women practiced deep empathy, recognizing that God provides unique answers for different individuals and that one person’s path does not dictate the “correct” path for everyone else.

Leadership Applications

Validating the Struggle: Leaders can help members understand that feeling “friction” with a policy or teaching is not a sign of unworthiness but an opportunity for a sanctifying “wrestle” with God.

Managing Implementation: Recognizing the gap between revelation and organizational implementation helps leaders be more patient with institutional changes and more supportive of members who see needs before the organization adapts.

00:02:00 – Robin’s Book: Using Friction to Grow

00:03:00 – The Importance of Women’s Stories

00:04:00 – The 1970s: A Time of Friction for Women

00:06:00 – The Equal Rights Amendment and Church Response

00:07:00 – Personal Stories of Friction and Faith

00:09:00 – Navigating Friction in Faith Communities

00:10:00 – The Role of Personal Revelation

00:12:00 – The Nature of Friction in Growth

00:13:00 – Engaging with Friction for Personal Growth

00:15:00 – The Evolution of Church Practices

00:17:00 – The Importance of Change and Growth

00:18:00 – Balancing Hope and Disappointment in Faith

00:20:00 – The Role of Friction in Personal Development

00:21:00 – Story of a Woman’s Experience with Church Leadership

00:24:00 – Finding Strength in Christ Amidst Friction

00:25:00 – The Impact of Personal Stories

00:27:00 – The Need for Women’s Voices in the Church

00:29:00 – Encouragement for Women in Parenting

00:30:00 – Broadening Engagement Beyond Parenting

00:32:00 – The Importance of Sharing Light

00:33:00 – The Role of Leaders in Navigating Friction

00:37:00 – Understanding Different Perspectives

00:40:00 – The Influence of Social Media on Women’s Stories

00:41:00 – The Responsibility of the Hearer in Storytelling

The award-winning Leading Saints Podcast is one of the top independent Latter-day Saints podcasts as part of nonprofit Leading Saints’ mission to help Latter-day Saints be better prepared to lead. Find Leadership Tools, Courses, and Community for Latter-day Saint leaders in the Zion Lab community. Learn more and listen to any of the past episodes for free at LeadingSaints.org.

Past guests include Emily Belle Freeman, David Butler, Hank Smith, John Bytheway, Reyna and Elena Aburto, Liz Wiseman, Stephen M. R. Covey, Benjamin Hardy, Elder Alvin F. Meredith III, Julie Beck, Brad Wilcox, Jody Moore, Tony Overbay, John H. Groberg, Elaine Dalton, Tad R. Callister, Lynn G. Robbins, J. Devn Cornish, Bonnie Oscarson, Dennis B. Neuenschwander, Kirby Heyborne, Taysom Hill, Coaches Jennifer Rockwood and Brandon Doman, Anthony Sweat, John Hilton III, Barbara Morgan Gardner, Blair Hodges, Whitney Johnson, Ryan Gottfredson, Greg McKeown, Ganel-Lyn Condie, Michael Goodman, Wendy Ulrich, Richard Ostler, and many more in over 800 episodes.

Discover podcasts, articles, virtual conferences, and live events related to callings such as the bishopric, Relief Society, elders quorum, Primary, youth leadership, stake leadership, ward mission, ward council, young adults, ministering, and teaching.