Fighting For Joy - Episodes Tagged with “Counseling”

Episode 32: Fighting for Joy As We Wait

Jodi Blick — Fri, 30 Oct 2020 06:00:00 -0500

Are you in the midst of a "waiting season"? Maybe your life doesn't look like you thought it would. Or you find yourself in the middle of really difficult circumstances that won't be changing anytime soon...or ever. You long for a different job. A different health journey. A spouse. A family. A different ending. A different story. Is there joy to be found in these longings? Can we experience hope and peace while we wait for God's plans to unfold? When we don't understand what He is doing? My guest today, Cathy DelSenno, speaks directly to these questions (spoiler alert, the answer is YES!) and shares her story of fighting for joy through some really hard things like miscarriage, major surgeries, divorce, loneliness, and anxiety. In many ways Cathy is still in the thick of things, still waiting, still fighting hard for contentment and joy, but I know you will be so blessed by the beautiful things that she is learning in the middle of it all...rich things about God's love and care, about the comfort of His Word, the power of prayer, the need for community, the process of forgiveness, and how transforming gratitude can be!

Cathy lives in Omaha, has 4 amazing kids, works at a local hospital, and has headed back to school. She is spinning a lot of plates in life right now but does it with grace and wisdom, aiming to just do "the next right thing". Over the past couple of years, she has grown to become a dear friend to me and I always walk away from our time together feeling encouraged, spurred on, and blessed. I'm sure you're going to feel the same way after hearing her insight today!

Episode 19: Fighting for Joy with Wholistic Care

Jodi Blick — Tue, 11 Feb 2020 06:00:00 -0600

My guest today is Naomi Adjei, a Licensed Mental Health Practitioner in Omaha. I met Naomi through a mutual friend and we’ve enjoyed using Instagram to develop an encouraging new friendship. She has been such a blessing to me these past few months and its been fun to cheer each other on in our various callings.

Naomi is passionate about wholistic care. She works to help people thrive with a healthy body, a healthy soul, and a healthy spirit. We are created as whole beings, so what is going on in our mind affects our body, and what is going on in our body affects our soul, and so on. Pursuing health in all of these areas better equips us to deal with the blessings and difficulties in life. Living wholistically is also a key tool in growing in our love for God and our love for others, and of course, helps our fight for joy.

The work that Naomi does through wholistic care is so special and unique and I’ve loved learning more about it. I’m thrilled to introduce her to you today and share another tool that can help you fight for joy!

Episode 17: Fighting for Joy with God’s Love

Jodi Blick — Tue, 03 Dec 2019 06:00:00 -0600

Today I am thrilled to have a new friend of mine, Jen Stutzman, on the podcast. Jen and her family are fellow Nebraskans and we met online through our mutual love for podcasting, being purposeful with social media, and looking for God in all things (many thanks to Laura Ruwe, my guest on episodes 8 and 14, for connecting us)! If you follow me on Instagram, you already know about the Stutzman's ministry, Heart of the Bison, because when I am encouraged by the wisdom and insight that Jen shares online I often share it with my followers. But if you aren't on Instagram, or you haven't learned about Heart of the Bison yet, I am so excited for you to listen in to our conversation. Jen shares about how her fight for joy began through struggles in marriage, parenting, loneliness, adoption, and the battle to stay healthy (physically, mentally, and spiritually). I think each of us can relate to at least one of these topics, can't we?!? With openness and tears, Jen shares about how she got to a place where she broke down, weary from leaning on her own strength, and realized that she didn't understand or know the love of God. She was asking lesser things in this world to bring her the joy and peace that her soul longed for - and she found herself deeply unsatisfied and lacking joy. You will be so blessed to hear about the tender ways that God drew her to Himself and taught her about His deep, and personal love, and how this led to Jen finding restored joy and a peace that only our heavenly Father's love can bring. She also shares a number of other practical tools that she implements into her life, and I'm confident that you'll find something that can be used in your own fight for joy.

I don’t think there is anyone who would argue that this world is not broken. There are so many hard things to deal with in this life…both big and small. But, I started this podcast to remind us all that there IS still hope to be found. Yes, the fight for joy can be hard-fought, but we can help one another keep fighting! Through our stories, we can point each other to the comfort, help, and peace of Christ, and encourage one another to keep pressing forward and keep moving towards God and His love - and today Jen does exactly that! I hope you are helped and encouraged by our special conversation.

Episode 14: Fighting for Joy with Therapy & Medication

Jodi Blick — Thu, 17 Oct 2019 06:00:00 -0500

Laura Ruwe was one of your favorites on Season 1, so I am thrilled to have her return as a guest on the podcast for Season 2! Laura has made some beautiful progress in her continued fight for joy this year and I'm grateful for her willingness to come back on to share about two practical tools that have brought her tremendous help. I think a lot of you will resonate with what she shares today as depression impacts so many people and families. This discussion is a perfect follow up to episode 13, my conversation with our counselor, Claire Cunningham. Laura's story reiterates many of the points that Claire conveyed and wonderfully illustrates how tools like therapy and medication can bring hope, help, and restored joy.

Episode 13: Fighting for Joy with Counseling

Jodi Blick — Fri, 04 Oct 2019 06:00:00 -0500

My guest today on the Fighting for Joy Podcast is our counselor, Claire Cunningham. Going to counseling has been a huge help in my personal fight for joy these past 6 years - in fact when people want to know what has helped me keep progressing in grief, my appointments with Claire and the things that I have learned through counseling are always at the top on my list.
Not only does Claire help us help us navigate the things that we are in the middle of and dealing with now, but for our particular situation in grief, which is continually changing and shifting as the years go on, she helps us prepare for what lies ahead…what’s coming as we continue on in grief! Our sessions with Claire have been tremendously helpful and such a key component in our healing and progress as we continue to grieve. So whatever difficulties YOU are dealing with in life, big or small, I hope that today’s episode gives you a glimpse into how counseling can be a helpful tool to navigate the hard things in life and help you fight for joy!

Episode 4: Fighting for Joy after Losing our Baby Boy with Leanne Ballinger

Jodi Blick — Fri, 21 Dec 2018 06:00:00 -0600

It is such a privilege to introduce you to my special friend, Leanne Ballinger. Eric and I met Mike and Leanne in 2014 when we attended David and Nancy Guthrie’s grief retreat in Nashville together. My friendship with Leanne began with a long hug and tears, and God immediately began knitting our hearts together in powerful ways.

Mike and Leanne's second son, Andrew, was born with complications and he was given a 25% chance of survival. After enduring 7 and 1/2 months of traumatic ups and downs, sweet Drew went to be with the Lord in July of 2013. With Jackson dying in June of that same year, our grief journey has been on a very similar timeframe. Our stories are different and our sons died at different ages and through different circumstances, but God has given us such likemindedness in one another. It has been such a help to have a kindred spirit like Leanne to walk through grief with. In the midst of such heartbreaking circumstances, we have seen our friendship as a kindness of the Lord. I think you will be touched by this tender conversation between two grieving moms who have become friends and confidants through great loss and great hope.

Episode 2: Fighting for Joy after Losing My Mom with Cathy Brown

Jodi Blick — Fri, 30 Nov 2018 06:00:00 -0600

Today I’m going to introduce you to one of my oldest and dearest friends, Cathy Brown. We were roommates in college and our almost 30 year friendship is one of the biggest blessings in my life. I’m excited for you to get to know her just because she’s a phenomenal woman and friend, but she’s also an ideal guest for this podcast because Cathy fights for joy in beautiful and inspiring ways.

Shortly after we graduated from college, Cathy experienced the sudden and traumatic loss of her mom. Listen in as she shares some of her story of loss and how it has shaped her life and faith. Cathy is such an encouragement to me, and I know she will be for you too!

Episode 1: Our Story

Jodi Blick — Mon, 19 Nov 2018 06:00:00 -0600

Today my husband, Eric Blick, joins me on the podcast as we share a little bit about why this fight for joy is personal for us. As I mentioned in the preview episode, this podcast will be full of stories, and I thought it was appropriate to “go first” with our story. Eric and I met at Wheaton College and have been married for 24 years. We have four children and live in Nebraska. Our firstborn son, Jackson, died at the age of 16 in 2013.

Our goal in this first episode is not to fully or perfectly tell our story. In fact, there are a few details that we almost edited out because we remembered them differently. But, that is part of trauma...and part of going through grief together, but separately. So we didn't make any edits. With this podcast, I've decided that "done is better than perfect". Grief is messy...and this podcast will be messy at times as well.

I'm thankful that Eric agreed to be my first guest. He has believed in this project from the start and I seriously couldn't have gotten it started without him. So I'm excited for you to get to know him a little bit as we share our hearts and help you better understand the “why” behind this podcast.