Latter Day Struggles

Send us a Positive Review! In this episode Valerie is interviewed by Kate Gregory, host of the growing podcast "In Her Image".  The main subjects addressed is the strange but undeniable fear that many in the orthodoxy seem to experience in the very idea of a living real-time relationship with a feminine divine.  Questions addressed include the following:  Why is fear associated with a fe...

Send us a Positive Review! Series Title: Faith Crisis Report [Part V of V] In this closing episode of this information-packed series, Valerie and Nathan walk through the final portion of the LDS Faith Crisis Report and share the research team's formal insights, their recommended strategies, and specific tactics to help heal our suffering members in crisis.  These findings fall into five categ...

Send us a Positive Review! Series Title: Faith Crisis Report [Part IV of V] In this episode Nathan and Valerie break down what the researchers call the “Perpetual Cycle of Disaffection”, the typical and predictable emotional experience of one who experiences the LDS faith crisis. The 8 stages are as follows: Initiation Search Troubling Discovery Betrayal Harsh Treatment Distancing Anger Magnificat...

Send us a Positive Review! Series Title: Faith Crisis Report [Part III of V] Join Valerie and Nathan breaking down the fascinating research done by a team of experts who wanted to help the general authorities of the LDS church better understand what is REALLY going on amongst thousands of people in faith and trust crises in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.   In this episode Valerie...

Send us a Positive Review! Series Title: Faith Crisis Report [Part II of V] In this content-packed episode, Val and Nathan go deeper into the LDS Faith Crisis Report, breaking down and analyzing a LOT of information discovered by the team of researchers trying to help the brethren at church headquarters better understand the nature of the problems we as a church are having.  Covered in this episod...

Send us a Positive Review! Series Title: Faith Crisis Report [Part I of V] In this episode Valerie sets the stage for a detailed analysis of a report compiled by a team of highly talented Latter Day Saint scholars in various professional fields endeavoring to help the General Authorities of the Church better understand the nature of the current suffering of so many multi-generational LDS church me...

Send us a Positive Review! In this episode Valerie addresses a listener's request to address her faith crisis grief from a psychological perspective.  Valerie uses this episode as an opportunity to talk about her own grief process both preceding her decision to start this podcast as well as her ongoing experience working through the grief that comes when our worlds are turned upside-down by f...

Send us a Positive Review! Join Nathan and Valerie as they tackle another listener question.  In this episode they address that haunting and refusing-to-die statement about how the prophet will never lead the church astray.  Many of us in our orthodox days took this as a given and simply applied the blinders when something didn't feel congruent with this.   Now it is time to take a look at wh...

Send us a Positive Review! In this episode Valerie and guest co-host and fellow relationship therapist Brannon Patrick talk about the goodness and badness that happens at the hands of well-meaning but not-professionally trained bishops in a system where they are often expected [and endeavor] to run a three ring circus in their office consisting of marriage counseling, trauma recovery, addiction co...

Send us a Positive Review! In this episode Valerie and Nathan tackle an excellent and challenging question from one of you listeners regarding how to handle their child's upcoming 8th birthday and eligibility to be baptized into the LDS church.   Many parents feel positively confused...wanting to integrate the "good stuff" of this faith tradition into their homes and family life whi...

Send us a Positive Review! In this episode Valerie walks you through a historic tragedy to demonstrate what happens when a community is trained to obey authority over honoring common sense, conscience, and sound judgment.   Valerie takes you back to the 1970s and recounts LDS church headquarter's handling of the national Equal Rights Amendment [ERA] and how large numbers of church members gla...

Send us a Positive Review! In this episode Nathan and Valerie break down some research called the "Systems Justification Theory" that shines a light on why most people choose the status quo over the hard work of challenging the systems we know need reformation.  The theory highlights four key reasons why we cling to status quo:  We feel reassured by the familiarity of our own institution...

Send us a Positive Review! Series Title: Diagnosing Spiritual Abuse [Part III of III] Nathan and Valerie break down 3 more indicators of a system (church or family) that is struggling on some level with spiritual abuse. The scholarship used in this episode comes from non-Latter-Day Saint researchers looking at religious systems in general and pointing out specific features of the churches that ten...

Send us a Positive Review! Series Title: Diagnosing Spiritual Abuse [Part II of III] Nathan and Valerie break down 3 more indicators of a system (church or family) that is struggling on some level with spiritual abuse. The scholarship used in this episode comes from non-Latter-Day Saint researchers looking at religious systems in general and pointing out specific features of the churches that tend...

Send us a Positive Review! Series Title: Diagnosing Spiritual Abuse [Part I of III] Nathan and Valerie break down 9 consistent markers of spiritually abusive systems [family or churches]. The scholarship used in this episode comes from non-Latter-Day- Saint researchers looking at religious systems in general and pointing out the specific features of the churches that tend to perpetuate the most un...

Send us a Positive Review! In this episode Valerie honors feminist writer Kynthia Taylor and unpacks an excerpt from her essay called " The Trouble with Chicken Patriarchy ".  She follows up with thoughts on how as a therapist she sees the damage done to both men and women in the prescribed and deeply embedded gender roles that the church inherited in its 19th century inception and has i...

Send us a Positive Review! Join Valerie and Nathan as they break down a variety of missionary-service related topics, including the following:  What's with the hyper focus on missionary service of late? misdiagnosis of the problem Unrighteous dominion Thoughts on mission reform...offering those who serve more personal ownership of their mission experience as a place to grow psychologically an...

Send us a Positive Review! In this episode, Valerie free-associates about her weekend spent reading, studying and thinking about the recent AP article regarding allegations that the LDS church is under-reporting sex abuse shared with ecclesiastical leader--protecting the predators at the expense of the victims.   While this is a complex issue and Valerie does not pretend to know many answers, as a...

Send us a Positive Review! Did you miss the AMAZING Sunstone Symposium 2022?  No worries!  In this episode you'll catch at least one lecture!  Join Valerie as she shares her session formally called "The Jungian Shadow and Mormon History" where she will cover: 1.  The meaning of the Jungian Shadow How we all try to DENY our personal shadows in creative ways that estrange us from owni...

Send us a Positive Review! Imagine attending an LDS meeting where people from the extremes of belief and practice come together and enjoy one another's company, share their stories, experiences, thoughts, opinions, and struggles, and are met with openness, curiosity, compassion, and non-judgment?  This was our experience at our very first Sunstone Symposium--an annual gathering we just attend...

Send us a Positive Review! Can't make it to the Sunstone Symposium 2022?  Join Valerie on this episode as she walks you through one of her Sunstone Presentations breaking down the following: Scott Peck's Stages of Faith Development Characteristics of institutions in lower stages of faith development Valerie's theories on why we as an institution are stuck Actual comments from podcas...

Send us a Positive Review! Join Val as she breaks down one gay man's reasons for staying in the LDS church.  This episode highlights the reality that every person must search for and choose for themselves their own authentic reason for staying (or not staying) in the church and that this decision is deeply and profoundly personal.  Book Referenced in this episode: Why I Stay 2: The Challenges...

Send us a Positive Review! Join Valerie in her analysis of Zina Petersen's progressively new lyrics to the classic primary hymn "I Am a Child of God", written to emphasize the importance of moving beyond childish simplicity, black and white thinking, right and wrong belief structures, and a covert belief in the prosperity gospel.   In this episode Valerie walks through the power and...

Send us a Positive Review! Join Val and Nathan as they break down the research findings regarding why people finally overcome their tribal desire to “fit in” and and “not make waves” and move into a place of courage, self validation, and even heroism.  One's process of growing brave enough to speak truth to power and against the majority narrative involves heightening ones attention and reali...

Send us a Positive Review! Join Valerie as she shares some words of wisdom straight from one of her spiritual heroes, father Richard Rohr.  In this episode she shares highlights from one of the most influential thought-provoking and growth-inducing books she has ever read:  Falling Upward.   Discover for yourself whether you are in the "first half of life" or the "second half of lif...