Counseling News from the Week of August 7, 2026
Explanation: Although I scan the Internet primarily for counseling articles, in the process I run across quotes and interesting facts that I sometimes include in these first two sections. If you’re just interested in the counseling articles, you can skip these first two sections and go directly to the section called Counseling Articles.
Interesting Quotes
"Talent without effort is wasted talent. And while effort is the one thing you can control in your life, applying that effort intelligently is next on the list."
Mark Cuban
“Each day that dawns bring some new lesson with it.”
Euripides
“No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new heaven to the human spirit.”
Helen Keller
“If the time is not ripe, we have to ripen the time.”
Dorothy Height
“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”
Benjamin Franklin
"No one has ever become poor by giving."
Anne Frank
"Correct what you can; learn from what you can’t."
Toni Morrison, from "God Help the Child"
“In a just cause the weak overcome the strong.”
Sophocles, "Ajax"
Fascinating Facts
These articles have been moved to next week to leave room for this week’s counseling articles.
Counseling Articles
Women Are Too Controlling, She Wrote. Her Message Still Resonates.
This is from the New York Times, so you won’t be able to read it without a subscription, so I’ll summarize its major thesis and give you my response, for what that is worth.
Quoting from the article, she says she was a “former shrew,” thought she knew better than her husband as a young wife, “nagging” him to eat healthier, maintain the car on schedule and wear what she thought he should wear. That begging and cajoling only made him turn up the TV and drove him from their bed.
“The message she is spreading is that with her marriage “in a ditch,” she reluctantly started taking the advice she received from happy wives to practice gratitude, apologize to her husband for emasculating and disrespecting him, metaphorically “duct tape” her mouth to curb her criticisms, make herself open to sex anytime, and relinquish control — even of their finances, even if it meant sitting in the dark because he forgot to pay the electricity bill (which actually happened). That taking care of herself (naps, beach volleyball) would help her show up better. That trying to change her husband got her nowhere, but changing herself gave her the marriage she had always dreamed of. The intimacy in her marriage returned so strongly that, nine years after marrying, she took her husband’s name. That the “intimacy skills,” as she came to call her findings, would work for other wives, even ones facing abuse, adultery or husbands with addictions.”
Laura Doyle has started a movement that has blossomed in the last 30 years. Her book, The Surrendered Wife has now been translated into 19 languages and is now going to celebrate its 25th anniversary She has trained at least 600 relationship coaches who teach her method to women worldwide. In her seminars she and her coaches have worked with at least 15,000 women. Although her approach doesn’t work in every situation, thousands of women now credit her methods with saving their marriages and in many cases, finding that their husbands have changed because of the changes they have made.
The wide success of this program worldwide means I think it makes sense to become aware of its teachings and appropriate the ideas that we believe are valid. It certainly seems accurate that sometimes changing ourselves can prompt our partners to become willing to change themselves also. Human nature being what it is, perhaps in secular marriages that are not going well, having wives initiate the change process is wise.
In Christian marriages I think ideally God calls both husbands and wives to “submit to one another” so it should not be up to wives to initiate all the changes. In a good marriage we can give each other honest feedback, help each other grow into better people, and help us make better decisions as a team than we would by making decisions on our own.
But for women who are not married to Christian husbands, perhaps her approach of having women change themselves first may be the best way to motivate their husbands to do likewise and to hopefully improve their marriages as a result.
Click here to read the full article
What a Best-Selling Divorce Memoir Does Not Say About Marriage
A best-selling book about divorce in 2026 (Stranders: A Memoir of Marriage) is written by a woman who was married for 20 years, whose husband abruptly left her, and refused to say why (it later came out that he was having an affair).
The author of this article suggests there are various responses women can take: one is to avoid marriage altogether, but as we saw in the article on Heteropessimism last week, many women who buy into this idea, in their 30s and 40s, discover that they want both marriage and children, but find it is harder to have this if they didn’t start earlier in life.
Another approach is to have a strong pre-nup and maintain financial independence through the marriage.
A third approach is to attempt to avoid divorce by strengthening marriage and de-emphasizing independence. The antidote to a widespread divorce culture is a marriage culture that prioritizes commitment, unity, and family life over individual satisfaction. This is consistent with the message of Laura Doyle (discussed in the previous article) in the Surrendered Wife¸ about women taking the initiative in changing themselves, something that often motivates their husbands to become better husbands.
These are issues that counselors need to be prepared to discuss with clients, especially young women, as they are planning their lives.
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Hiker's unexplained death exposes deadly alcohol withdrawal risk many don't recognize
This is an article that substance abuse counselors, but probably all counselors, should be aware of. When a person has a serious alcohol abuse problem and then quits abruptly, it can trigger a neurological problem that can lead to death, as it did in this young woman’s case. See article for more details.
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What Christian Families Must Know Before Addiction Strikes
A former teen addict who has now become an addiction counselor identifies four mistakes Christian families commonly make when a child becomes an addict.
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4 Ways Journaling Reprograms Your Brain
This 11-minute video covers scientific studies that demonstrate that people who take a few minutes each day to journal are healthier, visit the doctor less, perform better in school or at work, process emotions better, work through problems and even fall asleep more quickly. Some interesting information to share with your clients.
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Is ‘Brain Rot’ Real? What Short Videos May Do to Cognition
This interesting article says that continuously viewing short videos (1 to 2 minutes) may be unhealthy, but viewing longer documentaries may not be. Important information, especially for educators, but for all of us as consumers. You are affected by what you watch.
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First-in-Class Drug for ADHD Wins FDA Approval
A new drug to treat ADHD has been approved for those children over 6 who weigh at least 44 pounds (it apparently was not approved for younger children because of fear of weight loss). It works by preventing the reuptake of 3 neurotransmitters, with the purpose of increasing attention and behavioral control. Time will tell whether this drug is an improvement on the ADHD medication already available.
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California’s Case Against Second Chances
This article is from the Wall Street Journal, so you won’t be able to read it without a subscription, so I’ll summarize its major points. Since many states do limit abortions to those that are medically necessary to save the lives of mothers, many women in these states who wish to have an abortion call a telemedicine provider in a state that allows abortions and talk to a doctor or nurse practitioner about getting a prescription for mifepristone mailed to them (mifepristone is now the most common way women have abortions). Having mifepristone prescribed over the phone without seeing the patient themselves has been done even though many doctors do not believe it is safe for the mother without an in-person visit and an ultrasound to determine if she has an ectopic pregnancy, where mifepristone administration could have lethal consequences for her. There is also the concern with mifepristone that sexual abusers and husbands not willing for the woman to have a baby may force the woman to take the medication against their will or even to slip it into their drinks without them knowing.
The states of California and New York are trying to sue two prolife organizations for giving information to pregnant work who take abortion pills and realize moments later that they wish to save their babies. The authors of this article, two Roman Catholic bishops are making the point that groups that call themselves “prochoice” are trying to force their policy of causing the death of any child onto women who may change their minds.
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Ohio Man Is First to Be Federally Convicted for Deepfake Porn
This issue may come up in counseling settings. AI programs such as Grok can create “nudified” images by altering fully clothed photos to make people appear unclothed and even engaged in sexual acts, sometimes with family members (such as fathers having sex with their daughters). Because nudification programs are increasingly being used by high school students on their peers (but it occurs in other contexts, usually on women), counselors should expect to encounter clients who have been abused in this way.
Click here to read the full article
6 Tips for Mending A Broken Heart
People sometimes come to counselors because someone has “broken their heart.” While there is no quick fix in these kinds of situations, this article includes 6 tips which may help the process of healing.
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The Fertility Premium for Today's Working Moms Is an Involved Dad
With many women working these days, one of the primary factors that incline women to have more children is a man who is a good father and who is willing to share a significant amount of the work involved in raising the children.
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The Best Thing for Your Brain Is Other People: Even Annoying Ones
We have known for a long time that relationships are healthy for people, and that isolation is not. But the surprising finding is that even the people you disagree with can be good for you. They may help you think through some of your beliefs and change or modify them based on what you discover. So keep encouraging yourself and your clients to keep up a healthy social network.
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Beyond Red vs. Blue: America's Real Family Crisis
Most of us have never thought of the difference between red and blue family models, but once we do, we have probably seen examples of both kinds of marriages in some of our political leaders. This article introduces us to some interesting concepts about red and blue family relationships and how couples can develop healthy relationships using either of these models.
Since you are likely to be working with a variety of couples, I think it would be helpful to acquaint yourself with these models so you can use that awareness as you help young couples negotiate the kind of family model they want to develop.
Click here to read the full article
Children’s Hospitals to Begin Offering Restorative Care for Detransitioners
Texas Children’s Hospital is the first to announce that it will begin offering restorative care to those who wish to detransition, and other hospitals that were part of providing cross-gender surgeries are expected to follow in the coming months.
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The film ‘Amazing Grace’ seeks to inspire new generation with Wilberforce's faith
Many Christians are not aware of William Wilberforce, but he is known as the British parliamentarian who tried every year for 20 years to submit a bill to abolish slavery in Britain and finally succeeded. (This bill not only caused Great Britain to end the slave trade but also encouraged British citizens to make other changes in the ways they treated peers.) This film could inspire our family members with the importance of courage and persistence in standing for our values, even when the surrounding culture does not agree with us.
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The Science Behind Being Kind
This brief article summarizes several medical reasons why being kind is helpful to the sender.
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The Forgotten Christian Discipline That Could Transform America
In our modern society we have become accustomed to things happening rapidly. We become impatient with wars that continue after six months, forgetting that many wars took at least a few years to conclude, and the Iranian conflict with the U.S. and Israel has been going on for 47 years. In our personal lives we sometimes become impatient when God does not answer our prayers immediately (or when a sermon lasts longer than we want it to). But as this article reminds us, God’s timeline sometimes spans more than our lifetimes, and it is not uncommon for God to work out his plan over one or more generations. The article reminds us, this is a Christian discipline that could transform our spiritual lives for the better.
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Stop Controlling Teens and Start Trusting Them
This article by Mark Gregston discusses the fact that many parents today are discovering that they can’t control their teens and that a better way is to start trusting them to make wise decisions, and how to encourage them to do so.
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I hope you enjoyed this week’s articles and have a wonderful weekend!
Henry Virkler