Welcome!

“Do Not Be Afraid … You Are My Dearest Friends”*

Toxic Fear is perhaps life’s greatest hostage-taker. One psychiatrist calls it a “disease of the imagination.” Fear and disabling Worry can start off like a tiny seed and, watered by thoughts that emphasize worst-case scenarios, grow into a virus-like fiend that ends up dominating our mental state. It then holds us back from our ability to enjoy nearly every dimension of our life: our talents, our work, our love, our play, and our approach to a life in the Spirit.

This website is dedicated to three major Defense Systems that can be effective in helping us overcome the insidious nature of fear, as well as other mental health demons like depression. It will also focus on how we can better live out our lives free of those persistent foragers that roam throughout the corners of our minds… relentlessly haunting us.

Those three Defense Systems are: Spirituality, Psychology and Addiction. All three of these provide newly developed means of delving into the root causes of fear and depression and other mental health disorders, and assisting people in finding improved pathways to freedom, joy, and peace.

“Do not be afraid” – a phrase found 365 times in Sacred Scripture!

*Luke 12:32; translation found in The Bible in Contemporary Language, Eugene H. Peterson

Recent Posts

  • Immigration and the “R Word”

    I like traditional Irish music, and one of my favorite songs is “The Rambling Irishman,” made popular in 1976 by a group called The Wolfe Tones. One of the reasons …

  • A Question for God

    I’m participating in a program at our parish called “Alpha.” Its aim is to discuss basic questions about God – including God’s existence – about who Jesus is, or was, …

  • The Age of Confusion?

    I’m a big fan of wildlife and outdoor videos, mostly on YouTube. I recently watched a video showing half a dozen toddler bears exiting their den among boulders, seeing the …

  • RSVP

    My wife, Amparo, and I recently bought a car, not a new one but a late model. It seemed to make the most economic sense. What didn’t make sense as …

  • Faith Like Falling in Love?

    I’ve often quoted New York Times columnist David Brooks in these blogs because I find his columns unusually insightful. And, unlike many columnists in that publication and others, he doesn’t …

Dr. Ted’s Mailing List

Recent

Past Posts

mm Tom Carney

An Antidote to Indifference

Sep 17, 2015

These weekly blogs are primarily meant for skeptics who, despite their skepticism, search for God. And they’re based on the premise that there is no contradiction between skepticism and...

mm Ted

Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sep 17, 2015

“Taking a child, he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it …” Mk, 9, 36 We humans crave power. All of us do. We love...

mm Ted

Learning and Memory

Sep 15, 2015

“Memory is of critical importance to our very existence.” James McGaugh, Ph.D. How do we remember what we remember? Like most of the brain’s processes, memory remains a bit...

mm Ted

The Senses and Perception

Sep 15, 2015

“We’ve learned there are many brain regions involved in perception.” Marlene Behrmann, Ph.D. Our five senses – vision, hearing, smell, taste, and touch – are what helps us successfully...

mm Ted

The Developing Brain

Sep 15, 2015

“Your brain is changing every minute of the day, from your time in the womb until the moment you die.” Abigail Baird, Ph.D. According to the most recent brain...

mm Ted

Stephen Colbert Opens Up About His Devout Christian Faith, Islam, Pope Francis, and Mor

Sep 12, 2015

Stephen Colbert Opens Up About His Devout Christian Faith, Islam, Pope Francis, and More In a surprisingly candid interview, the new ‘Late Show’ host discussed the role his faith...

mm Tom Carney

Estranged from our Human Family?

Sep 10, 2015

Walking my daughter’s dog in a racially mixed, Denver neighborhood recently, I passed an African-American woman who smiled and said, “I like your dog.” “Thank-you,” I said, and we...

mm Ted

National Addiction Recovery Month

Sep 10, 2015

National Addiction Recovery month is an annual observance held every September. Its purpose is to educate Americans about the treatment of all forms of addiction, along with the mental...