Anxious Faith

Join James, Maddy and Ethan in our final episode of the year to take a look back on where Anxious Faith began and where we’re heading. From small beginnings in January 2023 to almost 25,000 podcast downloads and a growing online community, we’re so grateful for where God has brought us this year.  Tune in for a quick recap of all 21 episodes, as well as the team’s reflections on some key things we...

OCD is made up of intrusive thoughts that you can’t control around a particular issue–that’s the “obsession”–and those thoughts cause an incredible amount of anxiety unless you complete a certain action you feel compelled to do–that’s the “compulsive” part. Within the family of OCD, there are a number of different subtypes. But what if your OCD is about your faith? This episode we’re chatting to M...

Trauma is a big and complex thing, and a topic we want to unpack in more depth in the future; but in today’s episode, we’re sharing the story of one man’s trauma, and the addiction and mental illness it led to. Dr Mark McNear is a licensed clinical social worker in New Jersey in the US. As a child, Mark suffered significant trauma and abuse, which he did his best to numb himself from. It wasn’t un...

This episode, we’re speaking to Dr Sarah Morris, a clinical psychologist in Melbourne, Australia. Not only is Sarah a specialist who runs her own practice, but she is also a follower of Jesus who walks the road daily in both mental health and faith spaces.  Have you ever wondered, ‘What exactly does a psychologist do?’ Or maybe you’ve heard about cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) and ‘measurement-...

‘Mindfulness’ is one of the big practices that are often recommended or suggested to people who are struggling with their mental health. But as Christians, is mindfulness something that we should throw ourselves into without question? Do we need to be careful in following these exercises? This episode, we’re speaking with Dr Katherine Thompson, a mental health social worker, member of the Centre o...

As our Suicide Awareness Month comes to a close, we’re taking a look at some of the bigger questions that come along with the topic, such as ‘Was this my fault?’, ‘Could I have done more?’, and ‘How could God let this happen?’.  To do that we’re hearing from Al Hsu, a writer in the US who wrote the Discovery Series When Suicide Strikes for Our Daily Bread Ministries, our parent ministry. Al sadly...

If you listened to our last episode with Pippa, you’ll know that this month we’re opening up the conversation around suicide and hearing from people with firsthand experiences of it; whether they’ve lost someone to suicide or have considered suicide themselves.  In this episode we’re hearing from Joshua, a young guy from New Zealand who suffered depression as a teen and came to the point of wantin...

The topic of suicide is so often hidden away or only talked about in hushed conversations. But with all the fear and stigma surrounding it, those who might be struggling with suicidal ideation or the pain of losing someone to suicide run the risk of feeling like they’re alone; and here at Anxious Faith, we’re working to stop that. This month, as part of opening up the conversation around suicide, ...

This month, we're going to be focusing on suicide. If we thought mental health wasn't talked about enough in churches, suicide is a whole other level. This bonus ep gives us a brief overview at what we'll look at. Also head to our Suicide Resource Page on the Anxious Faith website for more resources and content. -- Anxious Faith website Follow us on Instagram Follow us on TikTok Subscribe on Youtu...

As you probably know, we started this podcast focussing on anxiety and how it plays out with our faith. But as our range of guests – and our audience – has grown, we’re now stepping back to look at a broader range of mental conditions.  This episode, we’re hearing from an expert about some of the different types of mental illnesses, their risk factors, and how we can respond to those struggling. A...

One of the recurring themes throughout Anxious Faith to this point has been one of people who in dealing with their mental illness sometimes coming up against well meaning churches or other Christians, who invariable may hinder more than help. But while many people have had that experience, it isn’t the only one. And in learning how to better address and engage mental health in our faith communiti...

Depression, self-harm and suicidal thoughts are far more common than we probably realise. Today, we’re chatting to Maddy; you may recognise her as our team’s Editor and Content Writer, or from Episode 6 where she and her husband shared on navigating a relationship with mental illness. But today, Maddy is sharing a new part of her story that she’s never opened up about publicly–her battle with depr...

Psychology can sometimes be a tricky topic, especially within the church. The practice of psychology–or any form of therapy, really–is often seen as taboo; something to avoid because it might not align with our faith. So isn’t going to a professional for our problems suggesting that God isn’t enough? Does seeing a psychologist–especially one who might not be a Christian–go against our faith? Can t...

In our early episodes, we’ve been sharing stories about people who struggle with Anxiety conditions, and learning how that plays out with their faith.  But what about all the other mental health conditions we can face? In this episode we’re speaking to Jemimah, a university student from Melbourne who was diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (commonly referred to as OCD).  OCD is something...

What's the story behind Anxious Faith? This episode we're switching things up - we're hearing from James not as the host, but as the interviewee, as he shared about his and his family's journey through mental health struggles, and how those experiences led to starting Anxious Faith. If you’ve ever wondered where God is in the midst of what you’re going through, James’ story is for you. And out of...

If you’re someone who has been around the mental health space for a bit, whether from reading or hearing things or dealing with it yourself, you’ve probably come across the concept of gratitude.  Gratitude is something that counsellors and psychologists suggest as a tool to help us when we’re struggling with our mental health, and you only have to walk into any stationery or book store to see how...

If you’re someone who is struggling with mental health challenges, be they anxiety, depression, or others, and you’re also someone of faith, surely throwing yourself into  learning everything you can about God, serving Him in every way possible, and making that the focus of your life is the way to deal with those challenges.  Right? This episode we’re chatting with Chris - who was part of Season 1...

  With mental health statistics so high – especially in Australia – the odds are someone we know and care about will suffer from a mental health condition during their life. But what do you do if it’s your partner?  What does that look like day-to-day? How do you support them? Or, even more broadly, how do you begin to tell someone you’re close to that you have a mental illness? This episode we sp...

Anxiety is never nice to experience. But is avoiding it always the best plan? What if we were able to stop avoiding the anxiety, and instead learn from it? This episode we speak to Dr Sarah, from  Season 2 Episode 1 , but this time in her capacity and experience as a pastor's wife and church planter. Sarah shares about how we can begin to unpack what is beneath the fear that is causing the anxiety...

Opening up about our mental health can be difficult - but for some reason it can be even harder at church. Will people understand what I'm going through? Will my pastor? This episode we're speaking with Jordan, a pastor from Melbourne who has lived the experience first hand. We hear his story, but also what he's learned along the way about how he views God, and how God views him. From this pastor...

If you’ve struggled with anxiety, depression, or any other mental health challenges, and you’ve been open about it – there’s a fair chance that you might be labelled that way by people.  Whether knowingly or unknowingly, to your face or when you’re just being described, you might be known as “that girl that has anxiety” or “the guy with depression”. It’s something we naturally do – we label and gr...

Anxiety comes in all forms, and affects people in different ways. For some it’s something that is only a challenge for a certain time period, for others it’s something they have to face for their entire lives. If we’ve been through a time of struggling with anxiety, do we just write that time off, try and move on, and not let it impact us any more? In this episode, we’re sitting down with Pip. As...

Anxious Faith website - anxiousfaith.org What better way to start Season 2 than by find out what anxiety is - from a doctor!  Sarah is a GP here in Australia (and we’re referring to her just as Sarah for her privacy), who has seen a lot of patients coming to her for the first time because of anxiety, especially after all that the last couple of years have thrown at us. She shares from her knowledg...

Someone opening up about their anxiety can be a huge, but how do you walk alongside them in that? Our guests share how we can support and care for those with anxiety. Anxious Faith is produced by Our Daily Bread and is part of a collaboration with YMI . As we look at the possibility of a second season, email australia@odb.org with the subject line "Anxious Faith"  if you'd like to contribute. To c...