Articles from the Week of June 6, 2025
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. HV
Interesting Quotes
“Man will only become better when you make him see what he is like.”
Anton Chekhov
“The greatest use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.”
William James
“Whoever is careless with truth in small matters cannot be trusted in important affairs.”
Albert Einstein
“A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower
"Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are."
John Wooden
"Change, although it involves risks, is the law of life."
Bobby Kennedy
Fascinating Facts
A map of 14 million galaxies and quasars deepens a dark energy mystery
Not a counseling article, but the fact that our universe contains at least 14 million galaxies and quasars gives us one more inkling of what an incredible God we have! And Scripture tells us He has a name and number for each star He has created!
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Amazon Is Selling a 3-Bedroom Tiny Home with a Customizable Layout and Inviting Veranda for Under $11K
If you need a starter home, here is a complete prefabricated home available from Amazon. The $11,000.00 home comes with all amenities and can be delivered in three weeks.
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Flying motorcycle zooms at 124 mph without touching the ground
A flying motorcycle that reportedly flies at 124 mph, does not require that a person has aeronautical training, and only weighs about 80 pounds (most motorcycles weigh several hundred pounds) is in development. It reportedly would be able to fly in tight spaces, which might make it feasible for getting through alleys and city traffic much more quickly.
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Wild elephant raids a grocery store in Thailand
When you’re hungry, you’re hungry. (You might need to watch a 5 to 10 second advertisement before viewing the video).
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Counseling Articles
Women Still Marry Up—But the Spousal Income Gap is Narrowing
This may not be the most important statistic, but it still is a reality. Some 60% of women continue to marry men who have a higher income than they do. Only about 30% of women have a higher income than their husband’s. Since men are less likely than women to go to or finish college, to encourage marriage, it’s important for men who don’t go to college to have access to well-paying jobs.
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How to Make Marriage Great Again
Young people today are often tempted to simply cohabit rather than get married. Married couples tend to be happier, more purposeful, less lonely, more likely to thrive, and have higher life satisfaction than those who are single. However, increasing numbers of couples are choosing to live together and raise children without being married. This article discusses what we could do to help young couples see the value of marriage.
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The Child Tax Credit Can Put Parents to Work
This research found that child tax credits can encourage both moderate and lower-income parents to work.
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The Success Sequence is for Students from Diverse Family Backgrounds, Too
This study found that encouraging young people to complete at least high school, work, and get married before having children were more likely to avoid poverty (the “success sequence”), have less chance of family breakdown, and less chance of experiencing emotional distress as adults. These insights have led some states to develop high-school education programs that attempt to instill these ideas in young people.
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Rite of Passage or Road to Early Liver Damage?
Although this article is written for psychiatrists, it could be relevant to anyone who counsels teens and young adults. What doctors are finding are that young adults, some even before legal drinking age, are showing signs of serious liver damage from alcohol. Drinking by young people is rarely mentioned to doctors before it becomes a serious medical problem. So it may be wise to have some discussion about drinking even if the client does not bring it up.
The article discusses a second issue that is causing early liver damage—childhood and teenage obesity. So if you work with young people it may be wise to talk about these two issues (the second only if it is relevant) even if they do not bring them up.
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The Gen Z Worship War
Although this isn’t a counseling article, it does speak thoughtfully to the differences in worship experiences within our churches.
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Freespira Receives FDA Clearance for Adolescents Ages 13–17; Clinically Validated, At-Home Treatment Reduces Panic Disorder Symptom Severity by 54% and PTSD Symptom Severity by 44%
The FDA has approved an at-home treatment that includes both respiratory therapy and some 1:1 video coaching sessions and reportedly reduces symptoms of both panic disorder and PTSD. It would be interesting to see how these results compare with in-person therapy for these two disorders.
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AI Friends Are Not Your Friends, Here’s Why
Many people have three or fewer friends and may at times feel lonely. Those who are comfortable with technology sometimes develop chatbots as AI friends. This article discusses some of the downsides of using chatbots to replace real human relationships.
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Marijuana users issued warning by new study
Even though a growing number of states are approving marijuana use, the negative health effects continue to mount. This new study found that either smoking marijuana or the use of edibles produced negative cardiovascular effects in otherwise healthy individuals. If you have clients who believe marijuana is harmless, please encourage them to read the growing number of research articles to the contrary. Another article (not included here) discusses the fact that marijuana use remains high among the older population, even though marijuana use causes increased problems among older users.
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The Brain Benefits of Forgiveness
Many of us have read anecdotal stories about the benefits of forgiveness, but if you have a client who is having problems letting go of resentments and need a good summary of the benefits of forgiveness this article could be helpful.
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Growing Evidence for the Healing Power of ‘Forest Therapy’
A movement that started primarily in Japan, but that now is being discussed worldwide involves spending time walking in the forest, sometimes referred to as “forest bathing.” Time spent varies from as little as 10 minutes to two-hour walking sessions. If you have clients whom you believe could benefit, this might be an inexpensive adjunct to therapy.
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Naked and Hogtied: Florida Woman Breaks Free from Captivity
I normally would not include an article like this, but I do for three reasons—it happened right here in Florida, the assault was perpetrated by a known family member, and the woman managed to escape using her own ingenuity.
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Breaking Down the Walls with Your Teen
You may have parents who despair at ever being able to get through to their teens. Here is an article by Mark Gregston that is packed with good suggestions you might share and discuss with them.
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Why Screens Mesmerize Our Teens — and How to Break the Trance
This article was written for parents of ADHD teens, a group who have a heightened danger of becoming addicted to screens, but the content could be applicable to all parents who are concerned about the time their children and teens are spending on screens.
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7 Ways to Empower Yourself with Hope
Although this article is written for people with bipolar disorder who during mood episodes sometimes struggle with feelings that their situation is hopeless, I think these 7 ways could be helpful to many people who are going through periods of discouragement.
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Bipolar Mixed Episodes: What They Feel Like — and What Can Help
Probably no one who is not bipolar can fully understand what it is like to be in a mood episode that has symptoms of both mania and depression simultaneously. This author explains what it feels like and six practical steps she has discovered to get through them.
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Why it’s time to start treating revenge as the potentially deadly addiction that it is
When I first started reading this article some of the statistics seemed implausible, but the theory articulated in it apparently is supported by brain scans, and the article is based on a book by a psychiatrist. The theory articulated in the book is certainly consistent with what we know from Scripture about the benefits of forgiveness.
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Human vs AI: Who’s Better at Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
CBT is considered one of the best therapies for many mental issues. So the question of how the latest version of ChatGBT would compare with human therapists in offering CBT. This research study found that human therapists outperformed AI on empathy and several other relevant counseling variables.
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A Former OnlyFans Recruiter Reveals the Dark World of Amateur Pornography
Some of you who counsel girls and young women might have clients who are tempted to become rich by going on OnlyFans. This article, about a woman who was a recruiter for OnlyFans, tells young women the reality of what life would be like if they decide to try that out. I don’t think anyone who reads this article will be tempted further.
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Catholic bishops sue over law forcing priests to violate the seal of confession
A few weeks ago the state of Washington passed a law that required Catholic priests to break their vow of confidentiality if a penitent confessed that they had abused a child. Catholic bishops have now responded with a lawsuit confronting this law and saying it is unconstitutional, since lawyers are not required to report clients who confess to child abuse. Clearly the state has a responsibility to protect children, so it will be interesting to see how the conflict between the state’s responsibility to protect children and confidentiality provisions is resolved.
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TV and Hallmark need to rethink their tired sitcom dad trope
For decades Dads have been the butt of TV comedies, and probably at least some of the humor was warranted. This article playfully reminds us of some of those comedies, some of which we have probably watched in the past. But it also ends with ten suggestions for Dads and husbands about how to be a good biblical fathers and husbands.
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Don’t let trans rapists choose gender, UN warns police
The UN has not been a reliable source for moral advice in the past, but this time they give some moral advice with which most of us can agree. This article is from the Telegraph, a popular British newspaper with a generally conservative bent. Since you will not be able to read it without a subscription, I’ll summarize some of its major points. Transgender females (natal males) have routinely been placed in female prisons in Britain and have frequently raped natal females. Now the UN is calling on Britain and all countries to place inmates in prison based on their natal sex, not their alleged gender identity. The U.S. has experienced a similar situation, and some of the more progressive states that had been placing prisoners in prisons based on their chosen gender identity are now rethinking that practice.
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Validity in Psychiatric Diagnosis: DSM and Mood Conditions
Much of what we know about bipolar disorder has been refined by research in the last two years. This article, from Psychiatry Online, gives a good summary of the latest information and treatment recommendations for clients with bipolar disorders. If you learned about bipolar disorder two years or longer ago, I recommend you read this update.
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Therapy That Isn’t Psychotherapy
In contemporary society the public is sometimes broadening psychotherapy to include such things as text-messaging, self-help programs, coaching, AI chatbots, and other processes. There are also political movements that tend to externalize all blame rather than help people accept personal responsibility and develop the skills and resources to respond to the challenges that life and society throws at them. This article thoughtfully articulates what true psychotherapy is and how it differs from some of these other approaches.
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Alternatives to Traditional Public Schools
In the last 60 years several alternatives to traditional public schooling have developed. Back in the 1960s the unschooling movement was born, primarily developed by hippies on the West Coast who didn’t want their children indoctrinated by traditionalists. Rather than having a set curriculum and objective educational goals, they let their children’s interests guide them into what they would study. One major concern about this approach was whether children would be satisfactorily prepared for the challenges of adult life. One reference (there are many) that gives more information on the unschooling movement is found here:
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A variation to the unschooling movement is the homeschooling movement. There are several different versions of homeschooling, many of which have been developed by Christian parents, who were concerned about what their children were learning in the public schools. There is the classical Christian education model, and then there are several more personal variations of Christian home schooling. Most use some type of curriculum, so students learn the basic academic subjects, as opposed to students only studying the things that interest them. And some parents have their children attend private secular, Christian or public schools for advanced subjects they do not believe they are qualified to teach.
For parents who are interested in any of the above options, they should check with their state about laws related to the type of non-traditional schooling they are considering for their child.
Why women should drink no more than six glasses of wine a year
This article is from the Telegraph, a leading British newspaper, so you can’t read the article without a subscription, so I’ll summarize its major point. The reason to limit or totally avoid alcohol is that your body turns it into acetaldehyde, which is a compound known to cause cancer. While the headline suggests women drink no more than six glasses of wine a year, the article itself encourages women to drink no alcohol, because even smaller amounts can increase the likelihood of breast cancer.
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Phylicia Masonheimer on How Erotic Fiction Harms Women
Pornography is a bigger problem for men than for women, but according to the statistics in this article, a significant percentage of women, especially young women, read erotic fiction and some of the results are as harmful to them and their marriages as porn is to men who watch it. To be informed, read this article.
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I hope you enjoyed these articles. Have a wonderful week!
Henry Virkler