by Rev. Michael Heath | Sep 15, 2025
TIPS TO COPE WITH DISTURBING NEWS.
The bombshell of Charlie Kirk’s assassination has exploded across the American political scene, creating a wide range of emotions and reactions. In light of the growing list of politically violent incidents, it is becoming increasingly difficult for folks to process such tragic events and remain calm. https://www.npr.org/2025/09/11/nx-s1-5537098/a-look-at-recent-acts-of-political-violence-in-the-u-s
Not wishing to comment on politics, I am concerned about the negative psychological impact these reports are having on people’s, including our leaders’, emotional stability.
This concern has been increased by the increased number of calls I’ve received from anxious folks troubled by the shocking details reported in the media. Many say that they feel overwhelmed by the bombardment of non-stop coverage.
One might think that, given the increased frequency of such events, we would have become less affected by them, but this does not seem to be the case. Kirk’s death is especially poignant, however, given that it happened the day before the twenty-fourth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
Back then, I wrote about how the chaos of 9/11 affected our spiritual mourning and the foundations of faith. (Syracuse Post Standard 10/1/2001) Today I want to look at the emotional impact of unexpected horror and offer some tips, based on new research, that can help those who are struggling with anxiety and panic.
by Rev. Michael Heath | Sep 19, 2024
Anxiety and panic attacks are serious mental health problems. Over the past twenty years, neuroscientists, especially those who study the autonomic nervous system (ANS), have learned a lot about why we worry. Fortunately, the research has also produced more effective techniques to deal with these issues.
Our increased understanding of the neurology of panic has revealed that panic is not limited to anxiety attacks. It is present at different levels along a spectrum. Things like losing one’s temper over a minor frustration or being “triggered” result from panic.
Not surprisingly, recent scientific advances have led to an increased appreciation of the wisdom of Eastern practices such as yoga and meditation. In turn, this increased appreciation has led to incorporating these ancient exercises into the treatment of anxiety,
In light of these developments, here is a summary of the findings and their practical applications.
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 :
by Rev. Michael Heath | Aug 5, 2016
Anger has been in the news a lot lately. With all of the reports in the media about terrorist rampages, mass shootings, political unrest and protests, many people are very upset. A lot of folks feel like the character from the movie Network (1976) Howard Beale who...
by Rev. Michael Heath | May 1, 2026
Science Assaulted with the Reprieve of Reparative “Therapy”
With the soaring price of gas, the Iran War, and the Supreme Court’s latest assault on civil rights, Americans have a lot to worry about. Don’t look now, but there is another, ongoing problem that is getting worse, viz., the growing anti-science mentality of our government’s leadership.
It’s time for America to restore respect for science. Not only does the misinformation regarding things like climate change, transgender issues, or vaccines defy reason, but it also poses serious risks to our nation’s health and well-being.
Even more discouraging is seeing the Supreme Court continue to chip away at settled science. Consider how they recently overturned Colorado’s law, which banned reparative therapy (RT) https://www.npr.org/2026/03/31/nx-s1-5768170/the-supreme-court-struck-down-a-ban-on-conversion-therapy-in-colorado
This ruling is a serious blow to the authority of medical and psychotherapeutic science. In response, California’s legislature moved to bolster its ban it. In turn, the Washington Post (Post) ran an editorial accusing the California legislature of choosing ideology over freedom of speech. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/04/23/californias-conversion-therapy-bill-puts-ideology-over-free-speech/?fbclid=IwY2xjawRYWyBleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeuhPPM6Xvc_ndkNuK6zxQrcCDFrYon5iBmcQgCqiNUsOiqW62c-TAvRG779s_aem_01ftp_xEu-gaKRAP1lmMXg
Further, it condemned California’s legislature’s bill for holding reparative practitioners liable for damages. https://kesq.com/news/2026/04/19/california-responds-to-supreme-court-ruling-on-conversion-therapy-with-new-bill . It argues that a therapist’s freedom of speech trumps the anti-reparative therapy claims, which it calls ideological.
As a licensed mental health counselor, I disagree. (Reparative therapy’ | Pastoral Counseling Syracuse NY) Specifically, the Post editorial is wrong on two counts:
1) Opposition to reparative therapy is based on science and not ideology, and 2) Psychotherapists, like other medical professionals, do not have the same liberty of speech as in private conversations or public debate. Here’s why:
by Rev. Michael Heath | Mar 2, 2026
Feeling stressed because of upsetting headlines in the news is nothing new. Over the years, I’ve written about how to deal with numerous distressing media reports. Things like COVID-19, school shootings, and economic woes triggered panicked phone calls from folks seeking relief in counseling. TIPS FOR PANIC | Pastoral Counseling Syracuse NY
More recently, the phones are ringing, especially because of things like ICE’s brutality, the Minneapolis shootings, and the withheld Epstein files. That said, something about these calls is different. Instead of an issue, folks express anger at Donald Trump. Not surprisingly, the most recent attack on Iran also spiked panicked calls
Ever since 2015, anxious reactions to Trump have been labeled Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS). (Who is credited with coining the phrase ‘Trump derangement syndrome’ (TDS), and why has it gained popularity among pundits, politicians, and others in recent years? – Quora.) This pseudoscientific perjorative refers to a condition where a person is obsessed and fearful of Donald Trump. (To be clear, the authoritative Diagnostic and Statistical Manual does not recognize this phenomenon as a psychological disorder.)
My concern today is to stress that to be obsessed, i.e., to be worried about disturbing Trump’s actions, is not necessarily pathological. Quite opposite. Under certain unusually dangerous conditions, not being obsessed is a state of denial. The difference between an unhealthy and healthy obsession is simple. Unhealthy obsessions are stuck and do not produce results. healthy ones, do.
Therefore, given the number of distressed calls, I think it is helpful to understand how healthy obsessions function. I then want to offer some tips for dealing with them.
by Rev. Michael Heath | Dec 15, 2025
Over the past few years, it has become a custom at holiday times to reflect on the story of Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42). This story provides helpful insight to reduce the stress of family gatherings. Easing Holiday Stress | Pastoral Counseling Syracuse NY
Not surprisingly, modern stress management techniques utilize their timeless insights. Better Ways to Manage Your Holiday Stress | Psychology Today. In keeping with that tradition, I want to focus on Martha and show how her experience can help us to lower our level of anxiety and better deal with the stress that get-togethers can bring.
The Story
To refresh your memory, here is the text of Luke’s timeless account of Martha’s encounter with Jesus: “Now as they went on their way, he entered a village; and a woman named Martha received him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. 40
But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she went to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things; 42 one thing is needful.[a] Mary has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her.”
Applying The Story to Our Lives
Even a quick review reveals the relevance of this brief but poignant story. The story exposes a universal human dilemma, i.e., how quickly tension between family members can explode.
Although Martha was eager to please her guests, her distress and resentment toward her sister got the best of her. As a result, resentment led her to overlook the occasion’s larger significance, to be angry with her sister, and to snap at Jesus.
Rather than looking at family dynamics, however, I want to focus on how the experience of stress can corrupt our experience and behavior. Also, I want to highlight how Jesus responded to Martha’s outburst. He did not react to her crossness in kind. Instead, he calmly identified her anxiety with compassion.
Both Martha’s reaction and Jesus’ response provide helpful clues for us to deal with our stressful holiday situations.
by Rev. Michael Heath | Dec 4, 2025
Everyone knows what a sigh is. But, just in case you’ve never really thought about it, and to be clear, a sigh is a natural, involuntary occurrence that is expressed as an audible exhaling of the breath … as in ahhh.
Typically, sighs express either exhaustion, sadness, or relief. Whatever the feeling, physically, there is a release and a sense of relaxation. And that is the point. Today, I want to talk about intentional sighing and how it can provide immediate stress relief in moments of emotional duress or panic.
Of course, there are a variety of breathing exercises used to manage stress and anxiety, https://revmichaelheath.com/tips-for-panic/ Some of them are complicated and or require being in a quiet space to do them. An important advantage of the intentional sigh is its simplicity and that it can be used anywhere at any time.
How to do an intentional sigh ?
An intentional sigh is sometimes called the physiological sigh. It is like a natural sigh except you can choose (intend) to employ when it’s needed. The Science of Physiological Sigh: Insights from Huberman Lab – PsychSolutions, Inc – Therapy In Edmonton, AB T5M 4C9
To do an intentional sigh, all you have to do is take 2 quick breaths followed by a long exhale. That’s it!
When to employ an intentional sigh ?
The key to the effectiveness of the intentional sigh is timing. You focus on your breathing as soon as you recognize that you are becoming upset. Becoming aware of brewing upsets starts with paying attention to muscular tension in your body.
Often, physical reaction precedes feeling stressed. For example, some folks will express stress as muscular tension in their chest or stomach area. Others may feel tightness in their shoulders or lower back. Still others may experience headaches or a clenching of their jaw or fist.
Wherever you feel the tension, you can learn to interpret the sensations as a stress alarm sounding. At this time, the alarm can remind you of your stress response and remind you to take an intentional breath.
In addition to learning how to short-circuit emotional overload, it’s also helpful to understand what happens in our bodies when we feel stressed.
The basics of emotional stress ?
by Rev. Michael Heath | Aug 3, 2025
Psychotherapy, like other healthcare fields, is a constantly evolving endeavor. Over the years, research and practice have expanded our understanding and refined the techniques used to treat psychological disorders.
47 years of practicing psychotherapy helps me appreciate how things have changed. Here are some observations. Counseling: An Update. | Pastoral Counseling Syracuse NY
Psychotherapy: From the Beginning
Many people are unaware that the counseling profession is relatively young. Of course, clergy and teachers have helped folks over the centuries, but the start of a medical profession dates back to the late 19th century and Sigmund Freud.
Freud discovered that mental problems could, in addition to medical causes, be the result of psychological trauma. His approach in sessions was to listen while the patient “free associated”, i.e., to say whatever came into their minds.
Freud believed that given time, a person would uncover emotional conflicts created by childhood trauma and that the therapist’s job was to interpret the meaning of what the patient said. In other words, therapy “connected the dots”, and revealed how the past interferes with the person’s present experience.
This increased awareness freed a person from the control of unconscious trauma. In addition to feeling better, greater self-knowledge helped the person to change and eliminate unwanted behaviors.
Behaviorism
In the early 20th century, behavioral therapies, inspired by Pavlov and Watson, arose as an alternative to analytic approaches. Unlike analysis, behavioral therapies placed an emphasis on redirecting conditioned responses rather than increasing awareness.
They believed that understanding is unnecessary to treat psychological problems. Essentially, creating new behavior patterns changes behavior, which changes how you feel,
Some Other Changes
Somewhere in the 1950’s two other developments took place which complicated the treatment of mental disorders. The field of psychopharmacology introduces medication for depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia.
Likewise, psychologists, social workers, and other types of mental health practitioners who were not medical doctors began counseling. These new professions spawned a variety of therapies Different approaches to psychotherapy
As a result, since these new practitioners were not medical doctors, a new attitude toward the people served emerged. Individuals, couples and families were regarded as clients and not as patients.
In addition to these changes, here are 6 major advances in psychotherapy which define the state of the art today:
by Rev. Michael Heath | Jul 16, 2025
It’s not an exaggeration to say that artificial intelligence (AI) has become a dominant force in modern culture. What started out as simple things, like speech-to-text software, has become a mind-boggling technology that can not only analyze data but also solve problems and produce images and videos that are almost indistinguishable from actual recordings.
And there is the rub. We’ve all seen them – those cute videos of animals doing heartwarming things. (I love the one where the elephant plays with the baby giraffe and sprays it with its trunk. Facebook.)
Despite their charm, virtual productions have the potential to create a serious dilemma. They make it difficult to distinguish what is real from what is not.
Deep Fakes and Not Knowing What is Real
While it may not matter that an elephant does not really play with a giraffe, a video showing a person doing something that they did not do could have serious consequences.
In addition, AI-generated images and recordings exacerbate the already serious problem of misinformation which pervades the internet and social media.
This technology complicates the difficult task of accurate news reporting. Beyond journalism, however, fraudulent AI creations create false impressions in public perception or beliefs.
It is a characteristic of human nature to seek thrills. Thus, many people are susceptible to sensational misinformation and seek it out. Likewise, the news media understand this appetite and, in order to satisfy their viewers, often run stories that are unlikely to be true.
It’s essential to recognize that the media’s content influences us. Misrepresentations or unsubstantiated stories often receive more attention than they deserve. Due to their presence in the media, they appear to be real. In doing so, they create a problem of public perception. By exploiting their audience, the media stokes skepticism and further mistrust of the media.
Besides the media, politicians play on and use misinformation to promote fears and win elections. (Consider the exaggerated claims of the threats undocumented immigrants posed.)
Apart from politics, the exaggerated threats that AI-aided misinformation creates can exacerbate anxiety and depressive conditions. Apart from those with diagnoses, outrageous stories stoke paranoia and irrational fears in ordinary people who don’t normally suffer from anxiety and depression. Online Misinformation | Pastoral Counseling Syracuse NY
Recent Example of Deep Fakes
Incredibly, A.I. has taken online misinformation to a whole new level, to the point where discerning what is accurate and legitimate from what is fraudulent is extremely difficult. Photographic and video deep-fakes, as they’re called, can make real people say or do anything.
Recently, a video of NBC weatherman Al Roker deep-faked him, pitching a worthless anti-hypertension device. Deepfake video of Al Roker selling blood pressure device emerges
Additionally, an AI-generated audio of Senator Marco Rubio was sent out fraudulently, posing as him.
Even worse is when an AI “thinks” on its own. Recently, X’s chatbot, Grok, spewed an anti-semitic slur. AI chatbot Grok issues apology for antisemitic posts – NBC Los Angeles
It’s no secret that media outlets sensationalize the news to attract viewers. In doing so, many of its stories are exaggerated, which then creates fear and panic. Fear and panic take away a person’s ability to rationally assess and determine the validity of the images they see.
Despite the challenges, we must not give up or give in to the lies. Here are some tips to help you sort the grain from the chaff:
