by Rev. Michael Heath | Sep 3, 2024
Is masculinity bad ? Many young men are in crisis over what it means to be a man says Professor Scott Galloway during a recent interview on CNN’s Smerconish. Although Galloway has the data to back it up, very few are aware of or seem to care about it.
Galloway, who teaches marketing at New York University and knows a lot about social trends, contends that this masculinity malaise has put many young men in trouble. Scott Galloway: Young men feel abandoned by the Democratic party | CNN Politics
Men are falling significantly behind women in college graduation, jobs, and home buying. Worse, their suicide rate is the highest in 70 years. Suicides are spiking among young men – The Washington Post
Confusion in Context
In some ways, this confusion is understandable. It stems from the backlash women unleashed following the numerous high-profile sexual abuse scandals. The Me-Too movement’s anger, while legitimate, at times cast an overly wide net and intimidated men.
Many men feel under attack and that there is something inherently wrong with being a man. As a result, for folks under 40, relations between men and women have suffered. 50% report not having sex in a year.
What is difficult to understand is why so few, especially progressives, seem not to care. For example, Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’s website lists many special populations of concern and does not mention men.
This omission is disturbing because it ignores the problem of almost seeing men as the enemy for whom they have no empathy or concern. This attitude is ironic because most young men do not share the sexist views of older generations. They understand that traditional/abusive views of masculinity are unacceptable.
That said, what is healthy masculinity? To date, many efforts have tried to define healthy masculinity as being more feminine, i.e., less aggressive and more emotional. Frankly, many young men are confused about who they are.
Unfortunately, some conservative groups are trying to fill this void by attempting to resurrect angry, macho masculinity. In so doing, some openly insult and demean women, even a presidential candidate. Sadly, this approach is working with some alienated men. The ‘Empty Suit’ of Trump’s Masculinity (youtube.com)
by Rev. Michael Heath | Mar 26, 2021
Call or text (315) 380-1005 Rev. Heath Can Help! For your convenience and accessibility, all counseling is provided via Tele-therapy. Welcome, I’m Michael Heath and this is the Pine Ridge Pastoral Counseling Web Page. Pine Ridge is a place for...
by Rev. Michael Heath | Mar 9, 2009
The Good News About Stress :Stress Studies Link Mental Health and Faith Newsweek’s recent cover story on stress deserves a second look. After all the bad news we’ve had about the effects of stress on our health, this report offered some good news. It also has some...
by Rev. Michael Heath | Oct 3, 2025
Recently, a client contacted me to talk about the guilt and embarrassment he felt when talking to his wife about sex. Indeed, over the years, I’ve heard this concern many times. Not surprisingly, he came from a conservative Christian background.
While it is no secret that Christianity has had its problems with sex, many do not know that it was not always that way. Over the years, I’ve discovered that getting to know the history of how sex became an embarrassment helps explain the real source of the underlying conflict. Likewise, increased understanding reduces embarrassment and shame. So, let’s take a look.
History of the Early Church’s Views toward Sex
Jesus and Paul on Sex
Frankly, the New Testament doesn’t record Jesus talking about sex or say anything about his sexual life. We do know that he had compassion and did not shame the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11).
Stepping back, Christianity’s problem with sex begins with Jesus’s and his early followers’ belief that the end of the world was near and that the Kingdom of God was at hand. (Mark 1:15) Paul believed that Jesus would return and bring in the new age within his own lifetime. (Thessalonians 4:15–17).
From this point of view, sex becomes unimportant. The Kingdom of God initiated by Jesus was a spiritual reality. In it, male and female distinctions and sex would no longer exist. (Gal. 3:28)
And here is an important fact that is often overlooked. Even in this Apocalyptic context, early Christians did not have a negative view of sex. They shared Jewish beliefs, which held that sex was fine within the bounds of marriage. Sex for early Christians was not a negative thing. The Origins of Christian Teachings on Human Sexuality – World History Encyclopedia
by Rev. Michael Heath | May 18, 2025
Recently, the release of the audio recording of Special Counsel Robert Hur’s interview of Joe Biden exposed, in painful detail, evidence of the president’s cognitive decline. Biden’s Interview With Hur Confirms What Many Suspected – The New York Times
The tape confirmed what critics of the president had previously alleged. Likewise, it raised a firestorm and accusations of a cover-up. Republicans claimed that Democratic leadership conspired to keep his failing mental status from the American people.
As big as this story has been, I believe its real significance lies elsewhere. Indeed, Joe Biden’s decline shines a spotlight on the larger issue of age-related cognitive decline.
Hopefully, the president’s situation can be a wake-up call for America. We must start talking about this universal human problem: How to understand and deal with age-related cognitive decline that’s gone too far.
Due to its emotionally painful nature, talking about and confronting cognitive decline is often avoided. Here are some thoughts concerning this difficult topic.
by Rev. Michael Heath | Oct 1, 2023
People often ask me about the origins of pastoral counseling. While I have written about what pastoral counseling is Pastoral Counseling ? | Pastoral Counseling Syracuse NY (revmichaelheath.com) , I haven’t spent much time explaining its history or its therapeutic foundations.
Historically, clergy have always counseled people with their problems but often their guidance was given clinical training or expertise. However in the early 60s, things changed.
A group of ministers who were also trained psychotherapy got together to form a professional group of pastoral counselors. They called their organization the American Association of Pastoral Counseling.
AAPC’s goal was to elevate the quality of pastoral counseling by requiring more clinical training, supervision and personal therapy for therapists.
Pastoral counselors offered a holistic approach to psychotherapy which included religious experience. This new perspective integrated the psychological and spiritual dimensions of life and its problems.
Not everyone cheered this development. Fundamentalist skeptics condemned professional pastoral counselor for putting psychology ahead of the Bible and of turning to psychotherapy. They viewed science as a threat to traditional religion.
Rather than being a threat to faith, pastoral counseling sought to reduce the tension between religion and science. Pastoral counselors understand science and religion as complementary. Rather than conflicting, they function on two different levels of reality: the physical and the metaphysical (spiritual).
Although religion and science dwell in different realms, they are not disjointed. Earlier in the 20th century, Christian theologians like Rudolf Bultmann believed that the mythic husk of tradition religious language contained a valuable kernel of truth which needed to revealed to fully understood .
Pastoral counseling uses existential psychology to translate/de-mythologize religion’s supernatural/pre-scientific language into expression which are more understandable to the modern world. Psychology provides a way to understand ancient religious wisdom in modern terms.
The existential theologian, Paul Tillich, identified anxiety as the human experience which bridges both worlds of religion and psychology. In his book ,The Courage to Be, he explains how spiritual anxiety underlies psychological anxiety. Paul Tillich – excerpts from “The Courage to Be” – Religious Naturalism
To fully appreciate the significance of Tillich’s insights, it’s important to understand how anxieties differ and how to tell them apart:
by Rev. Michael Heath | Dec 15, 2020
Where to begin ? 2020 has been an absolutely horrible year for so many with increased social and racial tensions, violence, economic ruin, sickness and death all under the never ending threat of the COVID virus. Indeed, these have been depressing times. Worse, the unexpectedly long duration of this plague has worn down the our resolve and exhausted our energy and dampened the joy of the holiday for many . This year depression is not simply a clinical diagnosis. For many it is a daily reality.
Nonetheless, the end of the year has brought signs of hope. We have new president who acknowledges the reality of the viral threat and is committed to waging a vigorous and unified attack against the disease. Most importantly, the arrival of effective vaccines will mean that the end of the devastation and death is in the foreseeable future.
Whether you suffer from depression which pre-existed COVID or whether life over the past few months has simply become too much, here are some tips to help you cope with the holidays and make it to the new year:
by Rev. Michael Heath | Apr 16, 2020
As the Covid-19 crisis drags on and the isolation restrictions take their emotional toll, how to deal with increased irritability and anger is one of the of the most commonly asked questions by many cooped-up couples and families.
For me, both as a pastoral counselor and a psychotherapist, The Bible is filled with stories which can help us in times such as these. The Old Testament book of Job offers some especially valuable guidance.
What is remarkable about Job’s anger is how it is expressed and where it is directed . Unlike most of us when we get mad, Job did not externalize or displace his frustrations onto others or God. He did not become verbally abusive or name-call nor did he blame or make excuses. What he did in perfect I-statement form, was to talk about his experience and his pain and what he wanted.
Applying this illustrative story to our situation, here are the key points to remember about Job’s model for dealing with anger and frustrations while living in cramped quarters and restricted circumstances:
by Rev. Michael Heath | Mar 18, 2020
Okay, everyone needs to just take a deep intentional breath or two and reflect for a moment. Although it is unprecedented and very difficult to accept (much less understand), over the past week, the coronavirus has completely changed the world and life as we have come to know it. Even worse , even the experts don’t know how bad it is going to get or how long it will be before life returns to normal.
Indeed, these are frightening times and being afraid is normal and not a sign of paranoia or some other anxiety disorder. That said, while it is normal and okay to be afraid, it is important not to panic. Here are some basic tips to help you tell the difference between fear and panic and how to manage fear rationally :
