EP. 213 Mental Health and the Church Mini-Series: Held But Not Yet Healed - Lament and Hope in Psalm 13 W/Biblical Counselor Alysia Whiteside

Recording on the road at the Canadian Biblical Counseling Coalition in Oakville, Ontario, Michael interviews biblical counselor Alysia Whiteside of Deep Roots Biblical Counseling. Whiteside shares her conversion in 2018, her interrupted plans to pursue medicine amid severe ulcerative colitis, multiple surgeries, and a permanent ileostomy, and how God redirected her into biblical counseling training and certifications. Her breakout topic, “Held But Not Yet Healed: Christ in the Midst of Physical and Mental Suffering,” frames chronic illness as “embodied suffering” that integrates physical, mental, and spiritual burdens and raises the question of who God is when healing does not come. Using Psalm 13, she explains a lament framework—turn, complain, ask, trust—leading to praise, emphasizing the “already but not yet” tension of hope amid suffering and encouraging sufferers and caregivers to write their own laments to rehearse God’s character and respond faithfully.

00:00 Welcome and Road Update
01:30 Meet Alysia Whiteside
02:26 Her Health Journey and Calling
04:30 Training and Narsegesis
06:14 Held But Not Yet Healed
06:34 Reading Psalm 13
08:29 Embodied Suffering and Hope
12:18 Lament Framework Explained
14:57 Trust and Gods Hesed
19:05 Counseling the Stuck
20:57 Write Your Own Lament
23:26 Singing Joy in Suffering
26:12 Encouragement for Chronic Pain
27:16 Final Thanks and Wrap Up

Episode Mentions
Deep Roots Biblical Counseling