Regina-based counsellor Jenn Dean wants to heal and inspire families, including parents, toddlers and teens. Her general focus is about encouraging family unity. Dean often speaks in an assortment of churches throughout southern Saskatchewan and Alberta. She also has a popular podcast, where she offers spiritual guidance.
Dean came to Assiniboia on Sunday to the Apostolic Church on the morning of November 17 to speak about the negative effects of stress. “This message is tough, but God put it into my heart,” Dean declared at the beginning of her talk. The central point of her message on Sunday morning concerned stress and how this physical and mental state has a drastic affect upon relationships. “How many people have too much stress in your life?” Dean asked the audience.
Stress, according to Dean, is a term people have stolen from physics. She talked about the Hungarian-born researcher Hans Selye, who discovered the General Adaptation Syndrome from studies with rats. The G.A.S., otherwise known as the stress syndrome, is what Selye referred to as the physical progression the body undertakes whenever it’s challenged with stress. She then outlined five ways stress can harm relationships.
“Stress causes us to fixate to find the easiest solution verses asking what’s really going on,” Dean said as she sketched out the first point in her talk. “When we’re under stress, we focus on the behaviours. When we’re stressed, we are in survival mode.” But the self-guidance advisor encouraged her listeners to look beyond the words and be aware of the resulting actions ensuing from demanding and taxing situations.
“Stress causes us to be negative burden bearers,” Dean said as she delineated her second point, also citing Romans 12:15, where people are asked to share in joy and also mourn with those who are mourning, but individuals aren’t required to carry extra burdens.
“Stress causes us to shrink back from leadership roles,” Dean continued, saying doubt and second-guessing caused by stress will serve to weaken the mindsets of those who are meant to lead.
“Stress causes us to look for unhealthy attachments,” Dean resumed on her fourth topic. “We were created to live in a community. Our biggest fear is the separation from those we love.” Dean discussed some of the distractions which often threaten healthy face-to-face interactions with others. She particularly described social media as a fast food or dessert-styled substitute for genuine interrelationships. According to Dean, anxiety and depression can even be associated with spending too much time on social media instead of fostering actual bonds with people.
Finally, Dean summarised another factor triggering stress, where people become too guilt-ridden and filled with shame. “We become human doings instead of human beings. Instead, be willing to accept your feelings then give them up.” The speaker held up a plate and asked the audience what is on their plates. She then instructed her listeners to remove all the unnecessary items on their plates and replace them with healthy, nurturing inner-thoughts instead.
