Counseling News from the Week of March 13, 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. HV

Interesting Quotes

“You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.”

Dale Carnegie

“Man will only become better when you make him see what he is like.”

Anton Chekhov

“Whoever is happy will make others happy too. He who has courage and faith will never perish in misery!”

Anne Frank

“Nothing in this world is harder than speaking the truth, nothing easier than flattery.”

Fyodor Dostoyevsky, "Crime and Punishment"

Fascinating Facts

Older male humpbacks have the edge in the mating game

An interesting phenomenon: most people believe that older individuals are less attractive as they get older. Apparently that generalization does not hold true for humpback whales: older male humpback whales have greater success in attracting mates because they have more experience “singing.”

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Reza Pahlavi: 5 things to know about the man who wants to be Iran’s next leader

Normally I don’t include political articles in this newsletter, but since Iran is so much in our minds, I’m making an exception. His father was a brutal monarch, which was one of the reasons he was deposed. His son, Reza Pahlavi is a very different man than his father. Although he is often referred to as the Crown Prince (in exile), he doesn’t recommend Iran going back to having a monarchy, instead encouraging it to develop a democratic, secular republic, which would probably be a great relief to the many Christian believers in the underground church. This article from the Christian Post seems to give a very balanced view of him.

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Life’s Smallest Factories

Our lives depend on these tiny factories (our cells), which do many activities that keep us all alive. Most cells are microscopic, but the world biggest cell is about twice the size of a king-sized bed sheet.

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Counseling Articles

Loneliness Isn’t for Cowards; It’s for the Institution-less

This title isn’t a clear statement about the focus of the article. Loneliness is epidemic in our culture, but perhaps it has become so because we’ve forgotten the institutions, like churches, schools and families, that have traditionally been bridges to help people build friendships with other people. If people can make the choice to become part of one or more of these institutions the problem with loneliness will be improved.

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Decline in biblical worldview among Americans signals church to step up

This isn’t a counseling article, but it is somewhat connected to the topic of the above article. One institution that could help lonely people to feel less lonely is to become involved in a church. This article does talk about a couple important statistics: (1) less that ½ of Americans say that religion is very important to them, and (2) George Barna found that only 4% of Americans hold a biblical worldview. This clearly says that families and the Church have some work to do. On a very different front, the country where the church is growing the fastest is the country of Iran.

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How to Reverse Population Decline: The Crowbar Model

Another puzzling title. There is a recognition in all nations that we are heading toward a worldwide significant population decline—in most nations the birth rate is below the replacement rate needed to keep the population at the same level it has been. The problem is that most government incentives are too small to overcome the attitudes that cause some young people to want small families or not have children at all. The author of this article suggests instead that we look for young people who want to have children and then develop family friendly policies that encourage them to have three or four children rather than only two.

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Three False Claims Behind the Push for Universal Child Care

Many cities, states and even countries are encouraging a push for universal childcare. This author says there are three primary reasons given for offering universal childcare, and that all three are false. This article describes those three claims and why the author believes each of them are untrue.

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New Mothers Who Are Struggling Need Support, Not a Spotlight

There was recently a three-part series of stories about young mothers who regret having children. The author makes the point that she believes what these women need most is support (e.g., from older women that these years of early motherhood will soon pass, and that more fulfilling years lie ahead, rather than a spotlight on their present emotional state.

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To Boost Family Formation, Increase Stability for Men and Flexibility for Mothers

This author makes another important observation: to boost family formation, perhaps young men and young women need slightly different things. Young men need the promise of stable jobs, pay and benefits. And young women, even though many of them work full-time, would prefer jobs that offer more flexibility, allowing them to care for children at the same time as they work outside the home.

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Should grandparents be paid for looking after children? In South Korea it’s proving hugely popular

South Korea is experimenting with another way to make it easier for young adults to have children—paying grandparents to watch their grandchildren. It will be interesting to see how well this incentive works.

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The Birds and the Bees, Babies and Me

This article is written by a woman who wanted children, who tried for years with her husband and doctors to conceive, but never has been successful. The article talks about her journey to acceptance. Her story may be helpful to a client who also wants children but has been unable to have them.

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Torn on IVF, Evangelicals Turn to Natural Family Planning

Another article for couples who desire children but who for some reason have not been able to conceive. IVF treatments include things like in vitro fertilization (IVF), intrauterine insemination, sperm and egg donation, egg freezing, or embryo adoption. There is some debate about these methods. The Southern Baptist denomination declared them as “generally unethical,” which surprised some pastors and parishioners, but most denominations have not made statements about this issue. Some of the methods are quite expensive. So if you have a client who is struggling with infertility she may be interested in reading this article.

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How IVF Made Its Way into Evangelical Pro-Life Debates

This article was published in 2024 but seemed relevant to the issues raised by the previous two. Obviously one ethical issue is the fact that in IVF often many embryos are created and not used (there are reportedly 1 million embryos being kept frozen, which may eventually be destroyed). This author presents both sides of the issues surrounding reproductive technology.

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ADHD May Not Be a Disorder After All

In a finding that’s likely to cause lots of rethinking in the educational and psychological community, this new way of thinking suggests that ADHD may not be a disorder, but a mismatch between the way some children’s brains operate and traditional schools. Many children with ADHD have gifts in other areas (e.g., creativity) that have been overlooked because the focus has been on their hyperactivity.

This new way of thinking has some very respected spokesmen such as Daniel Amen, a world-renowned expert on ADHD. I encourage you to read this article: I think it has some interesting concepts to consider and is particularly relevant if you have any clients diagnosed with ADHD. In some cases it might involve more flexibility within the school setting (e.g., allowing children with ADHD more opportunities for movement during the day) or having parents consider home schooling or an alternative school that would allow more activity during the school day). It seems like ADHD may still require some medication to help students and adults adjust to the demands of school or work, but this new way of thinking allows us to consider alternative ways to help these children and adults succeed.

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It’s an Obscure Psychedelic Used to Treat Trauma. Could It Help Me?

This is from the New York Times, so you can’t read it without a subscription, but I wouldn’t bother even if you have a subscription. Ibogaine is an obscure psychedelic that some claims can cure PTSD, Parkinsonism, and other disorders. It produces a long “trip” (12 hours) that must be medically supervised and is ended by taking magnesium tablets. People often vomit one or more times during the trip. I’m not sure why people would subject themselves to this expense and discomfort for the experience.

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Woman thought she was a pedophile until a medical condition explained her symptoms

This woman thought she was a pedophile until a therapist who specializes in anxiety disorders told her that she actually had pOCD (a rare form of OCD), and that her recurrent sexual thoughts were symptoms of that disorder.

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They Feel Bugs Inside Them. Doctors Don’t Know Why.

This is from the New York Times, so you can’t read it without a subscription. The article describes a situation which to this point does not have an accepted diagnosis. But it affects several thousand people in the U.S. It includes the delusion that bugs are inhabiting their skin. It varies in severity from mild to severe, but for those with more severe delusions can be debilitating. Patients with these symptoms are encouraged to stay away from the Internet as far as researching possible cures since none of the “cures” promoted on the Internet have been scientifically shown to work.

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Paranoia and Bipolar Disorder: Coping with Irrational Thoughts

Julie Fast is a popular writer and blogger who has lived with bipolar disorder for many years. She talks about how suspicion and paranoid feelings can easily blossom in a person with bipolar disorder and how she deals with them.

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Managing Procrastination with Bipolar Disorder

Another article by a writer with bipolar disorder, and some of the symptoms she faces, particularly procrastination, and how she copes with it.

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Since When Is Cheating a Lifestyle? The NYT Dubs ‘Polyamory’ A Love Story

Our culture has gradually begun to accept polyamory and weaken the views of those who have held to traditional views of marriage. Four cities have already recognized legal protections for polyamorous “marriages,” and on Wednesday Portland caused headlines when their city council proposed adding polyamorous marriages to those marriages that have legal protections. (They will vote on making this a law in Portland next week.)

Polyamorous relationships are those of three or more individuals, regardless of gender, regardless of quantity. Albert Mohler said in a webcast Thursday “I’m going to make the argument that this isn’t most importantly, rightly understood from a Christian worldview, this isn’t most importantly an effort to promote polyamory, it is a far more subversive effort even than that, and that’s just to destroy any vestige of traditional marriage as the basic building block of civilization. It’s the basic way of saying, at this point, it’s not just same sex marriage, anything goes. And if anything goes, well, everything will go.”

There is also now a new trend called “hotwifing” where a woman may have multiple committed relationships with several other people, with her partner’s full knowledge.

This writer strongly condemns the acceptance of polyamory and other alternatives to traditional marriage by small groups in our culture as false beliefs that they are indeed healthy lifestyles.

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Longevity Doctor Defends Sensible Alcohol Use, Moderation

Even though recent research has been encouraging people to avoid any alcohol, this longevity doctor has been making headlines internationally by saying that moderate use of alcohol to enjoy occasions is fine. He doesn’t give any medical evidence to support his position and doesn’t seem to recognize that there are many other ways to enjoy situations that don’t require adding alcohol to them.

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30 Facts About Childhood Today that Will Terrify You

Here are 30 facts about children in the U.S. that, to use John Haidt’s description, probably should terrify us all. Having interacted with my four grandchildren regularly, although his generalizations may be true for many young people, I think there are at least some parents who are setting healthy boundaries for their children and these generalizations do not apply to their children. The question is what parents in general will do about the way they are raising their children.

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To end this week’s articles on a more positive note, let me add this one:

Many Seniors Gain Physical, Mental Fitness with Age

If you average the fitness of all senior citizens together, there is a general decline in physical and mental fitness as people age. But a study of 11,000 seniors found this is not true of all seniors. Some seniors improved their physical or mental fitness, or both, as they got older.

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I hope you have a wonderful week! If you haven’t signed up for the webinar on “A Case for Integrative Christian Counseling” next Saturday, please visit the SFACC website, review the content we’ll be covering, and sign up if you’re interested.

Sincerely,

Henry Virkler