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 show**More sensitive or more psychologically advanced themes are saved for paid Friday episodes to protect the content creators from being mischaracterized by less familiar consumers.**LEARN HOW TO SUBSCRIBE TO FRIDAY EPISODES(Watch a 2-minute how-to video)THEN subscribe to Fridays here. TROUBLE WITH YOUR SUBSCRIPTION? Email: support@buzzsprout.comCONSULTING: Interested in doing individual or couples work with Valerie or a member of her trained team? Time-limited packages with Valerie and extended work with her team of coaches and therapists are available ⁠⁠here!⁠ SUPPORT GROUPS: Next support & processing group coming April 2025. To register/learn more, visit here.OFFICE HOURS FOR FRIDAY SUBSCRIBERS: Check your email for the invite to our next session on Mon, Feb 3rd at 2 p.m. Central!CLASSES: Visit our library.SUPPORT: Make a one-time donation to ⁠her business Venmo account⁠ or ...

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 show**More sensitive or more psychologically advanced themes are saved for paid Friday episodes to protect the content creators from being mischaracterized by less familiar consumers.**LEARN HOW TO SUBSCRIBE TO FRIDAY EPISODES(Watch a 2-minute how-to video)THEN subscribe to Fridays here. TROUBLE WITH YOUR SUBSCRIPTION? Email: support@buzzsprout.comCONSULTING: Interested in doing individual or couples work with Valerie or a member of her trained team? Time-limited packages with Valerie and extended work with her team of coaches and therapists are available ⁠⁠here!⁠ SUPPORT GROUPS: Next support & processing group coming April 2025. To register/learn more, visit here.OFFICE HOURS FOR FRIDAY SUBSCRIBERS: Check your email for the invite to our next session on Mon, Feb 3rd at 2 p.m. Central!CLASSES: Visit our library.SUPPORT: Make a one-time donation to ⁠her business Venmo account⁠ or ...

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 show**More sensitive or more psychologically advanced themes are saved for paid Friday episodes to protect the content creators from being mischaracterized by less familiar consumers.**LEARN HOW TO SUBSCRIBE TO FRIDAY EPISODES(Watch a 2-minute how-to video)THEN subscribe to Fridays here. TROUBLE WITH YOUR SUBSCRIPTION? Email: support@buzzsprout.comCONSULTING: Interested in doing individual or couples work with Valerie or a member of her trained team? Time-limited packages with Valerie and extended work with her team of coaches and therapists are available ⁠⁠here!⁠ SUPPORT GROUPS: Next support & processing group coming April 2025. To register/learn more, visit here.OFFICE HOURS FOR FRIDAY SUBSCRIBERS: Check your email for the invite to our next session on Mon, Feb 3rd at 2 p.m. Central!CLASSES: Visit our library.SUPPORT: Make a one-time donation to ⁠her business Venmo account⁠ or ...

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 show**More sensitive or more psychologically advanced themes are saved for paid Friday episodes to protect the content creators from being mischaracterized by less familiar consumers.**LEARN HOW TO SUBSCRIBE TO FRIDAY EPISODES(Watch a 2-minute how-to video)THEN subscribe to Fridays here. TROUBLE WITH YOUR SUBSCRIPTION? Email: support@buzzsprout.comCONSULTING: Interested in doing individual or couples work with Valerie or a member of her trained team? Time-limited packages with Valerie and extended work with her team of coaches and therapists are available ⁠⁠here!⁠ SUPPORT GROUPS: Next support & processing group coming April 2025. To register/learn more, visit here.OFFICE HOURS FOR FRIDAY SUBSCRIBERS: Check your email for the invite to our next session on Mon, Feb 3rd at 2 p.m. Central!CLASSES: Visit our library.SUPPORT: Make a one-time donation to ⁠her business Venmo account⁠ or ...

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 show**More sensitive or more psychologically advanced themes are saved for paid Friday episodes to protect the content creators from being mischaracterized by less familiar consumers.**LEARN HOW TO SUBSCRIBE TO FRIDAY EPISODES(Watch a 2-minute how-to video)THEN subscribe to Fridays here. TROUBLE WITH YOUR SUBSCRIPTION? Email: support@buzzsprout.comCONSULTING: Interested in doing individual or couples work with Valerie or a member of her trained team? Time-limited packages with Valerie and extended work with her team of coaches and therapists are available ⁠⁠here!⁠ SUPPORT GROUPS: Next support & processing group coming April 2025. To register/learn more, visit here.OFFICE HOURS FOR FRIDAY SUBSCRIBERS: Check your email for the invite to our next session on Mon, Feb 3rd at 2 p.m. Central!CLASSES: Visit our library.SUPPORT: Make a one-time donation to ⁠her business Venmo account⁠ or ...