Latter Day Struggles

Send us a Positive Review!In this episode Val and Brannon look at the example of Winston Churchill and talk about what made him a truly great leader.  The bottom line?  He was interested in the ideas, thoughts, feelings, and experiences of the people he led.  And even allowed himself to be persuaded by them.  How much do we feel heard as "normal people" sitting in the pews at church?  How much do our experiences, beliefs, and struggles impact those leading us at headquarters?  Are we allowed to feel that a collaborative relationship going both from the top to the bottom and from the bottom to the top is allowed?  Acceptable?  Welcome?  Buckle up for this conversation as these therapists tackle a question that hits at the heart of the organizational structure that they both care deeply about and see as problematic to the health of any organization. Support the showSupport the show Listen, Share, Rate & Review EPISODES Friday Episodes Annual Access $89 Friday Episodes Monthly Access $10 Valerie’s Support & Processing Groups Gift a Scholarship Download Free Resources Visit our Website

Send us a Positive Review!Join Brannon and Val as they look at how history has been trying to demonize and then erase the feminine divine for thousands of years and how the divine stature of women has morphed from holy and revered to marginalized and subservient.  The bottom line:  It hasn't always been this way.  Our LDS culture's current interest in this topic may just be part of the restoration of lost truths.Support the showSupport the show Listen, Share, Rate & Review EPISODES Friday Episodes Annual Access $89 Friday Episodes Monthly Access $10 Valerie’s Support & Processing Groups Gift a Scholarship Download Free Resources Visit our Website

Send us a Positive Review!Join Valerie and Brannon this week as General Conference weekend approaches and they riff about the nostalgia of General Conference in years gone by with all of the accompanying orthodox "warm fuzzies" and how much more complex but also soul-stretching it is for them to watch, listen, and use our own God-Given discernment during these world-wide meetings as they discover sometimes differing truths--sometimes coming from those in the red satin chairs, but also from their own couches in their pajamas.Support the showSupport the show Listen, Share, Rate & Review EPISODES Friday Episodes Annual Access $89 Friday Episodes Monthly Access $10 Valerie’s Support & Processing Groups Gift a Scholarship Download Free Resources Visit our Website

Send us a Positive Review!In this episode, Valerie and Brannon break down the "subtle mandate" of church callings.  They talk about how prioritizing callings over family can be problematic.  They discuss the importance of being able to say no, to discern for oneself if a calling is really what God wants them to do. Support the showSupport the show Listen, Share, Rate & Review EPISODES Friday Episodes Annual Access $89 Friday Episodes Monthly Access $10 Valerie’s Support & Processing Groups Gift a Scholarship Download Free Resources Visit our Website

Send us a Positive Review!Join Valerie and Brannon as they talk about Valerie’s experience awakening to the impact that patriarchy has had in her own development, choices, life experiences. Support the showSupport the show Listen, Share, Rate & Review EPISODES Friday Episodes Annual Access $89 Friday Episodes Monthly Access $10 Valerie’s Support & Processing Groups Gift a Scholarship Download Free Resources Visit our Website

Send us a Positive Review!Series Title: Is Doubt a Sin? [Part II of II]In this episode Brannon and Valerie talk about the importance of doubt.  They break down faith and why doubt is crucial to spiritual development.  They also discuss why we are taught to not doubt but to "doubt our doubts" and why that can be problematic.Support the showSupport the show Listen, Share, Rate & Review EPISODES Friday Episodes Annual Access $89 Friday Episodes Monthly Access $10 Valerie’s Support & Processing Groups Gift a Scholarship Download Free Resources Visit our Website

Send us a Positive Review!Series Title: Is Doubt a Sin? [Part I of II]In this episode Brannon and Valerie talk about the importance of doubt.  They break down faith and why doubt is crucial to spiritual development.  They also discuss why we are taught to not doubt but to "doubt our doubts" and why that can be problematic. Support the showSupport the show Listen, Share, Rate & Review EPISODES Friday Episodes Annual Access $89 Friday Episodes Monthly Access $10 Valerie’s Support & Processing Groups Gift a Scholarship Download Free Resources Visit our Website

Send us a Positive Review!In this episode Valerie and Brannon dig into the recent incident regarding LDS Young Men's General Leader Brad Wilcox's awkward kerfuffle with the media and offer thoughts on tangled webs, evasion of uncomfortable truths, personal and institutional accountability, and the much simpler path of telling even unpleasant facts or owning our mistakes when we haven't been forthright in the past.  Listen, subscribe, share! Support the showSupport the show Listen, Share, Rate & Review EPISODES Friday Episodes Annual Access $89 Friday Episodes Monthly Access $10 Valerie’s Support & Processing Groups Gift a Scholarship Download Free Resources Visit our Website

Send us a Positive Review!What are bad thoughts?In this episode Brannon and Valerie discuss "bad thoughts".  They talk about how trying to control bad thoughts lead to shame and self rejection.  They break down the notion that all sexual thoughts are "bad". Support the showSupport the show Listen, Share, Rate & Review EPISODES Friday Episodes Annual Access $89 Friday Episodes Monthly Access $10 Valerie’s Support & Processing Groups Gift a Scholarship Download Free Resources Visit our Website

Send us a Positive Review!Welcome to the Latter Day Struggles Podcast where we strive to talk about things that are connected to your LDS-related faith journey.  Valerie Hamaker is a licensed relationship therapist and has attended the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for her entire life.  She cares deeply about the spiritual and psychological wellbeing of those connected with her home faith and the integrity and theological soundness of the church.  She is here to engage in respectful conversations about tough but crucial topics that matter to your health and healing.  She cares about psychological health, sound theology, and institutional integrity.   This podcast began with co-host and fellow therapist Brannon Patrick and then he want another professional direction and Nathan, Val's husband jumped in and has since become an indispensable voice for this podcast.  Valerie also continues to be honored to have some of the finest theologians, scholars, authors, and normal people like yourselves on the podcast, creating a beautiful platform of breadth, depth, learning, growth, and a focus on love as the ultimate means by which we grow, thrive, and become who we are here to become in this world as children of divine parents.   In this first episode of Latter Day Struggles Valerie and Brannon talk about the guilt and shame that comes with believing that God's love is transactional.Support the showSupport the show Listen, Share, Rate & Review EPISODES Friday Episodes Annual Access $89 Friday Episodes Monthly Access $10 Valerie’s Support & Processing Groups Gift a Scholarship Download Free Resources Visit our Website