Personal Stories

No Longer Plagued by Fear and Depression: A Personal Story with Stormie Omartian

Stormie is a bestselling author who personally connects with readers by sharing experiences and lessons that beautifully illustrate how God changes lives when we learn to trust in Him.

Stormie’s struggle with anxiety and phobias
Her horrible experience of growing up with a mother who has mental health disorder
Overworking to cope with trauma and depression
Finding hope for the first time and surrendering to God
What does the process of forgiveness look like for Stormie
The power of praying through fear

From Ashamed to Advocate: A Personal Anxiety Story with Jeff Allen

“I deal with anxiety almost every day at some level. And sometimes it’s worse than, or sometimes it’s better than other times, but anything to help people understand that they’re not alone.”

Jeff Allen, a mental health advocate and host of Simple Mental Health Podcast shares his journey through anxiety, how he overcame shame and stigma around seeking help and taking medication.

• How Jeff discovered he had an anxiety disorder.
• Backlash he received from churchgoers for opening up about his mental health condition.
• Spiritual doubt process that he went through 
• Prayer, medication and therapy
• His journey of spiritual deconstruction and reconstruction

A Personal OCD Story of Experiencing God’s Presence and Grace with Peyton Garland

“OCD has been the gateway to God and grace for me.” Peyton Garland author of Not So By Myself shares her story of OCD and her journey of going to therapy.

 After seeing a therapist, her mother and grandmother followed after her and sought professional help for themselves. 

• Peyton’s experience of contamination OCD 
• What it was like to go to therapy for the first time
• Getting help with brainspotting (type of therapy)
• Growing up in a strict church culture and how her faith changed over the years as she grew to know God.
• Growing up in home with a parent who has PTSD 
• Ripple effect on her family after she decided to seek help
• How Peyton’s husband works with her on compulsions
• God breaks into lonely places. He works best in the mess. 

Panic Attacks, OCD, and God: A Personal Story with Mitzi VanCleve

Author Mitzi VanCleve shares her own personal story of experiencing anxiety, panic attacks, and OCD and ultimately, how God has used these things for good in her own life.

• Obsessions Mitzi experienced even as a young child
• Mitzi’s experience with scrupulosity OCD
• How she made the decision to take mental health medication as a Christian 
• Experiences of mental health stigma from Christians 
• Learning about panic attacks from a magazine articl
• Wrestling with God about having OCD

Carrie’s Story of Anxiety in Dating with Now Husband Steve

Carrie and Steve talk about anxiety during the dating process and Steve involvement in helping Carrie work through it. 

• Carrie’s Anxiety about putting herself out there to date and how that brought her back to therapy 
• Challenges of Christian dating after a divorce 
• Accepting the anxiety and difficulty trusting as part of the process of getting closer
• Advice to singles in the church

One Therapist’s Story of Discovering Her Scrupulosity OCD with Rachel Hammons

• How Rachel discovered she had been struggling with scrupolisity OCD.
• How to determine if this is a normal level of spiritual concern or could be OCD
• What is Scrupulosity OCD?
• Learning how to sit with discomfort and ambiguity  
• Getting to know the character of God and filtering information through that lens