The Positive Talk Podcast

The world is such a terminal state of change, and we all hate it when change is done to us. Join Chuck and Julie as they unpack how we can move past contemplation into significant change. The Positive Talk Podcast merges faith and psychology to help our listeners discover a more peace-filled and purposeful life!

Welcome to change! For some of us, change is what we crave. But for some, change is a trip through "ulcer gulch." People don't always refuse change because they don't want to change. More often than not, people refuse to change because they believe they can't change. Understanding the nature and phases of change can help us navigate our way through healthy change, with healthy mindsets.  Join...

It is difficult to wrap your head or heart around pregnancy and postpartum mood disorders. On the one hand, the world wants you to be your happiest self. On the other hand, you can feel defeated, hopeless, and often, helpless. It's not simply a mother's challenge. Men experience this in significant ways as well. Back in the day, we knew this as the "baby blues," but today, we recognize this as a t...

Everywhere we turn, it feels like we are all walking on the edge of depression. With the constant instability of this ever-changing world in which we live, we could all use a positive word. If you or a loved one, maybe even an acquaintance feel like you are on the edge of depression, and need a little encouragement, join Julie Homrich, LPC for this powerful discussion. YOU ARE NOT ALONE! Reach out...

Let's face it, we all deal with anxiety. Some more than others, but the real question is the same for all of us. When is anxiety actually anxiety, and how do I recognize it, face it, and redeem it? Join the conversation as Julie Homrich unpacks "ANXIETY" in this week's episode of the Positive Talk Podcast.

Join Chuck and Julie for this powerful conversation about how we can take control of our own HOPE. Hope is the hardest when things are the most difficult. But that’s when we need it the most. We all have the opportunity to re-write the narrative of our story in some capacity and begin to identify ourselves in a new way. This is the fruit of hope. Join us as we learn how to answer this question, “I...

Is hope something we either have or we don’t or is it possible to actually BUILD our hope? Hope is directly related to our sense of possibility. The greater our perception of possibilities, the greater our hope. The most constricted view of possibility, of course, is hopelessness or despair. Hope is not the same as happiness or blind optimism. It is what we feel when we think that life is worth li...

This week is part four of a topic we all have to deal with - stress in our marriage and relationships and how to handle the resulting conflict that comes from stress. We’ve discussed many different positive approaches to conflict in relationships thus far and today, we are wrapping up our series with the topic of accepting influence. That sounds a bit daunting, but when we talk about accepting inf...

This week is part three of a topic we all have to deal with - stress in our relationships and how to handle the resulting conflict that comes from stress. Last week, we talked about solvable and perpetual problems and how to move past that feeling of getting “stuck” in a conflict (a term we referenced as “gridlock”).  We also discussed how 4 things: criticism, contempt, defensiveness, and sto...

This week is part two of a topic we all have to deal with - stress in our marriage and relationship s and how to handle the resulting conflict that comes from stress. Listening, connecting, honesty, empathy, and vulnerability are all interconnected. A key element for all relationships is trust, and trust is built through connection, listening, honesty, empathy, and vulnerability. People don’t have...

This week, Julie and Chuck tackle a topic we all have to deal with - stress in our marriage and relationships and how to handle the resulting conflict that follows. As a clinical therapist, Julie offers some practical and encouraging thoughts about the triggers that can lead to greater stress and unresolved conflict. Not only is it impossible to live a completely stress-free life, but research sho...

Peace is one of the most sought-after pearls of wisdom in life. If you search on Amazon for books on peace, you’ll find more than 50,000 results. The fact that there are so many books on this subject means peace is in high demand and is big business. We live in a stormy sea of anxiety and everyone wants to reach out for something that might keep them afloat. Without peace, there’s no contentment a...

When anger controls you, life gets incredibly hard. So many people suffer because of their anger or the anger of others. Here’s a great life lesson - Wisdom is the ability to control your anger. Handling anger is an important life skill. It’s incredibly important to understand the purpose of anger. When we feel angry, we tend to go toward one of two extremes psychologically: we either seek to repr...

We are living at warp speed, and often at the speed of no peace in our lives. Science and faith combine to offer a guaranteed solution to our weary and anxious souls - Quietude. Before you discount this topic, take a listen to Chuck, in this week's 17th episode of the Positive Talk Podcast. It will encourage you and hopefully equip you for brighter, better, more peace-filled days ahead.

If you missed last Thursday’s episode, be sure to listen in as Julie gives us some very real help in creating and sustaining healthy boundaries through the holiday season. 

We all need BOUNDARIES, especially through the holiday season. Join Julie as she helps us all set healthy boundaries for a far happier holiday!

Clinical Therapist Julie Homrich describes boundaries as “What I will and won’t tolerate in my life.” Boundaries mean we get to choose what and who we allow into our lives, and we also get to choose how we respond when someone doesn’t respect our limits. We can set boundaries with others, and we can even set boundaries with ourselves. Whether we are setting internal or external boundaries, at the...

The Holidays come with huge expectations. Those expectations are often external, but they can be internal. Ou hope for you is that you might create a season of joy through the lens of healthy expectations and how to best manage them this year. Join Chuck as he unpacks five sure-fire ways to create a healthy and happy holiday season with our expectations.

One of our core beliefs, here at Positive Talk is that we can integrate faith and psychology. This is never more evident than in our personal relationships…our friends. I’ve been blessed with some great long-term friendships. These are the ones that have taught me a lot about what it means to be supportive, caring, consistent, open, and more. CS LEWIS once said that: "Friendship is born at that mo...

Our social connections are as important to our health as proper diet and exercise. Research has linked social bonding to longer lives, lower incidence of depression and anxiety, and reduced risk of disease. And yet many of us feel lonely. A recent study quoted in Scientific American found that a staggering 47 percent of Americans often feel alone, left out, and lacking meaningful connections with...

Religious trauma syndrome occurs when an individual struggles with leaving a religion or a set of beliefs that has led to their indoctrination. It often involves the trauma of breaking away from a controlling environment, lifestyle, or religious figure. In some settings the symptoms of religious trauma can be similar to that of complex post-traumatic stress disorder. Listen in as Julie Homrich, LP...

How do you create or expect a church or religious leader to act, react, or lead? Jesus had a simple method for how we were to avoid the shame and guilt associated with much of the American Church and Her Leaders as He taught and modeled the simple power of GRACE. But in a culture that looks for electric atmospheres, powerful entertainers, and superstar preachers, it's no wonder the American Church...

What do you get when you integrate faith and psychology? You get solutions to many of life's most challenging problems. One of those problems might be that you have experienced manipulation that led you to a traumatic experience with the church or a pastoral leader. Julie and Chuck tackle this subject head-on in the ninth episode of the Positive Talk Podcast.

Episode eight of the Positive Talk Podcast jumps into the deep end of the pool, tackling Religious Trauma. What Do You Do When the Church Hurts You? All across the world, people are impacted by churches, typically attempting to do good. But often, people are deeply wounded and hurt by the actions of leaders and structures that have been created to be sources of hope and help. Join Julie and Chuck...

Forgiving yourself is not about forgetting. It is about not bringing the offense up to yourself in negative ways. Forgiving yourself is simply letting go of what you are holding against yourself so that you can move on with God. If God has moved on, shouldn't we do the same? Join Chuck Allen in this poignant chat about the freedom found in forgiving ourselves.