269 episodes

Love & Life is your place for conversations grounded in psych research, psychotherapy, and Biblical truth to help you THRIVE in love and life!
Join psychologist Karin Anderson Abrell, Ph.D. and pastor and psychotherapist Elliott Anderson, M.A., as they focus on relationships and how to flourish therein with a holistic approach to emotional and psychological well-being, recognizing we only thrive when we nourish each of these key domains—Mind, Body, and Spirit. Together they bring over 60 years of counseling experience and academic expertise to each podcast discussion and interview.

Love & Life with Dr. Karin & Pastor Elliott Dr. Karin & Pastor Elliott

    • Society & Culture
    • 4.7 • 167 Ratings

Love & Life is your place for conversations grounded in psych research, psychotherapy, and Biblical truth to help you THRIVE in love and life!
Join psychologist Karin Anderson Abrell, Ph.D. and pastor and psychotherapist Elliott Anderson, M.A., as they focus on relationships and how to flourish therein with a holistic approach to emotional and psychological well-being, recognizing we only thrive when we nourish each of these key domains—Mind, Body, and Spirit. Together they bring over 60 years of counseling experience and academic expertise to each podcast discussion and interview.

    Cheating: 4 Types of Affairs and 3 Reasons They Happen Ep. 265

    Cheating: 4 Types of Affairs and 3 Reasons They Happen Ep. 265

    No one walks down the aisle on their wedding day expecting to cheat on their spouse. But sadly, it happens all too often. 



    What happens? Why do couples stray?



    Elliott and I discuss 4 types of affairs (Pittman) and 3 reasons why they happen (Balswick & Balswick). 



    Join us for part 1 in our series on infidelity. Learn how to protect your marriage from an affair and/or recover from the pain if infidelity has already occurred. 



    Citation:

    https://hackspirit.com/infidelity-statistics/



    Dr. Karin & Pastor Elliott Anderson

    Website: http://loveandlifemedia.com/

    Empowered Dating Playbook: smarturl.it/EmpoweredDatingBook

    Instagram: @dr.karin | @pastorelliottanderson


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    • 41 min
    Eat Better to Feel Better! Eliminate the Hateful 8 with Dr. Cate Shanahan, Part 2 Ep. 264

    Eat Better to Feel Better! Eliminate the Hateful 8 with Dr. Cate Shanahan, Part 2 Ep. 264

    We’ve all heard it a million times—you are what you eat. And, of course it’s true—every cell in our body relies on and is sustained by the nutrients we ingest. So on a physical level, this reality is obvious. 

    But, the more research I do, the more I realize how much this adage—you are what you eat—pertains to our mental health as well. 

    In some ways, I think about all the work I’ve done as a psychologist—as many of you know, I’ve found so much power in cognitive techniques. When we take charge of our thoughts, we take charge of our lives—and, I absolutely stand by cognitive strategies. More importantly though, research substantiates the effectiveness of CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy), as we’ve discussed in many episodes of Love & Life. 

    That being said, how much easier is it for us to take charge of our thoughts if we’re fueling our bodies in a way that supports our thinking and emotions?

    That’s why Elliott and I focus on MIND and BODY and SPIRIT.

    Today’s episode is part 2 of my conversation with Dr. Cate Shanahan. If you haven’t had the chance to listen to the beginning of our interview, be sure to check out episode 263.

    Dr. Cate describes why industrial seed oils are one of the worst—if not the absolute worst—substances we can put in our bodies. And of course, because our physical wellbeing and mental wellbeing are inextricably connected, when we eliminate the hateful 8, we’ll feel much better emotionally, too!

    Learn how to eliminate the Hateful 8 to level up your psychological health!

    Dr. Cate Shanahan

    Website: ⁠http://drcate.com/⁠

    Books: ⁠https://drcate.com/books/⁠ 

    Instagram: ⁠@drcateshanahan⁠



    Dr. Karin & Pastor Elliott Anderson

    Website: http://loveandlifemedia.com/

    Empowered Dating Playbook: smarturl.it/EmpoweredDatingBook

    Instagram: ⁠@dr.karin⁠ | ⁠@pastorelliottanderson


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    • 31 min
    Tired, Depressed, Overweight? These Dietary Fats Could be to Blame! with Dr. Cate Shanahan - Part 1 Ep. 263

    Tired, Depressed, Overweight? These Dietary Fats Could be to Blame! with Dr. Cate Shanahan - Part 1 Ep. 263

    About a year ago, I started hearing a term that was new to me—seed oils. Apparently, they’re everywhere—in virtually all processed foods. And, recent research links them to horrible health outcomes.



    So, I did a lot of reading and found that much of what I’d understood about dietary fats was completely off base. For years, I’d been making food choices I thought were healthy but in fact, they were the exact opposite of nutritious!



    One book that deeply impacted me—and Dan, too, because I immediately started cooking with different ingredients—was The FatBurn Fix by Dr. Cate Shanahan. I reached out to her to see if she’d be willing to appear on the program.



    Today, Dr. Shanahan joins us to unpack the deleterious effects of industrial seed oils—along with the remarkable benefits of eliminating them from our diets! Stay tuned for Part 2, which releases next week!



    Dr. Cate Shanahan

    Website: http://drcate.com/

    Books: https://drcate.com/books/ 

    Instagram: @drcateshanahan



    Dr. Karin & Pastor Elliott Anderson

    Website: http://loveandlifemedia.com/

    Empowered Dating Playbook: smarturl.it/EmpoweredDatingBook

    Instagram: @dr.karin | @pastorelliottanderson


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    Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/love-and-life-media/message

    • 34 min
    The Mental Health War: How to Fight It! Ep. 262

    The Mental Health War: How to Fight It! Ep. 262

    We’re in the midst of a mental health war. Over the last 50 years, we’ve raised awareness and developed abundant treatment options, yet Americans’ rates of depression and anxiety continue to skyrocket (Whitaker, 2015).



    Today, Elliott and I discuss my reflections on his recent messages about the epidemics of anxiety, depression, loneliness, and addiction.



    We conceptualize the current mental health landscape as a war for two reasons:  (1) because so many Americans battle psychological concerns and (2) professionals are in the midst of deeply contentious disputes regarding how to best treat clients’ emotional distress.



    Pharmaceutical corporations and many psychiatrists view this issue through a medical model i.e. patients are diagnosed with psychiatric illnesses and are prescribed pills to manage symptoms. But despite an exponential increase in the use of psychotropic medications, the number of Americans filing disability claims due to mental conditions has tripled over the last two decades (Whitaker, 2015).



    Elliott and I argue that a “medicalized” framework pathologizes reasonable responses to trauma and pain; this frameworks also disempowers clients—which is both an unintended and unfortunate consequence. Furthermore, and very importantly, most pharmaceutical interventions for psychological conditions simply don’t work as promised—if at all (Brogan, 2016, 2019; Whitaker, 2015). 



    Join our conversation to learn the necessary tactics for engaging in this mental health war!

     

    Works Cited

    Brogan, K. (2016). A mind of your own:  The truth about depression and how women can heal their bodies to reclaim their lives. Harper Wave.

    Brogan, K. (2019). Own yourself:  The surprising path beyond depression, anxiety, and fatigue to reclaiming your authenticity, vitality, and freedom. Hay House.

    Spielmans, G., Spence-Sing, T., & Parry, P. (2020). Duty to warn:  Antidepressant black box suicidality warning is empirically justified. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 20. ttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00018/full

    Whitaker, R. (2015). Anatomy of an epidemic. Broadway Books.



    Dr. Karin & Pastor Elliott Anderson

    Website: http://loveandlifemedia.com/

    Empowered Dating Playbook: smarturl.it/EmpoweredDatingBook

    Instagram: @dr.karin | @pastorelliottanderson


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    Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/love-and-life-media/message

    • 45 min
    Addiction in America Ep. 261

    Addiction in America Ep. 261

    Elliott’s mental health series continues with a message about addiction. Sadly, addictions have touched us all—whether we’ve struggled ourselves or we’ve endured the pain of watching a loved one wrestle with the grip of addiction.



    Elliott shares an understanding of addiction through a Biblical lens. He tackles questions surrounding the grip of addiction and the hope and healing we can find in Christ.



    Download Elliott’s PowerPoint here: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/6pku0usfyr8cz8enz2dyi/Altering-Addictions.pptx?rlkey=t1p3y55dyo1gjhdvzzs4q82l1&dl=0



    Dr. Karin & Pastor Elliott Anderson

    Website: http://loveandlifemedia.com/

    Empowered Dating Playbook: smarturl.it/EmpoweredDatingBook

    Instagram: @dr.karin | @pastorelliottanderson
























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    Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/love-and-life-media/message

    • 42 min
    How to Diminish Depression’s Hold on Your Life! Ep. 260

    How to Diminish Depression’s Hold on Your Life! Ep. 260

    Depression. No one can escape it. Yes, some of us struggle more than others, but sadness, despondency, and despair are part of life. Of course, we’d prefer to skip over the valleys. We’d rather stay on the mountaintops but that’s not how life works.




    Can we accept depression as a normal part of the human condition?
    Does despondency serve a purpose—other than making us miserable? 
    What does Scripture tell us about depression?



    One of the reasons Elliott and I take issue with the “disease model” of mental health and the tendency to medicalize our emotions is that it assumes that depression and anxiety are bad.



    And of course, they’re uncomfortable and undesirable. But don’t our emotions provide us with important information? Might we benefit from paying attention to what our feelings are trying to tell us, as opposed to masking them and covering them up with a drug?



    Elliott discusses all this and much more in this week’s message, “Diminishing Depression.”



    Download Elliott’s PowerPoint here: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/o0iict7yabpm2d71iym00/Diminishing-Depression.pptx?rlkey=ydfqnlp1fk9m5mhyh9mq1y8sd&dl=0 



    Dr. Karin & Pastor Elliott Anderson

    Website: http://loveandlifemedia.com/

    Empowered Dating Playbook: smarturl.it/EmpoweredDatingBook

    Instagram: @dr.karin | @pastorelliottanderson


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    Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/love-and-life-media/message

    • 39 min

Customer Reviews

4.7 out of 5
167 Ratings

167 Ratings

Nick Madula ,

Healing for the soul

Love listening to these two! They have a fun and light approach to discussing some heavy and necessary topics on one’s journey to healing ❤️They have helped me understand and apply more complex psych research by breaking it down in an understandable and relatable way. May God continue blessing all this work!

MJ81520 ,

Love Languages Series was AMAZING

I loved hearing both Elliott and Karin’s perspective on the five love languages. It was interesting to hear their thoughts on it and I enjoyed chatting more with Karin about it. Love you guys!!

italianherbncheese ,

Best podcast ever!

This is seriously the best podcast EVER! Elliott Anderson provides a great touch to the already amazing Dr. Karin! I couldn’t recommend this podcast enough.

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