What Happens at Recovery Week? with Sue Cunningham, MA, MS, LPC, and Wendell Moss, LMHC

How can the church support people and their mental health well? Can the church move beyond offering simple platitudes or just referring people to professionals and moving on? Can we better become a community that knows how to listen, stay present, and walk alongside people in their suffering? In this conversation, Dr. Dan Allender and Rachael Clinton Chen welcome Daniel Whitehead, CEO of Sanctuary Mental Health Ministries, to explore the complicated intersection of faith, suffering, and mental wellbeing. Drawing from his own experience of pastoral burnout, Daniel challenges our tendencies to love a good testimony. We gravitate toward tidy stories of suffering overcome, where everything gets better in the end. But faith doesn't mean our struggles are always resolved—or that we have to stay in a place of victory. Supporting mental health in the church isn't about replacing professional care. It's about asking what happens between therapy sessions, when someone is navigating the ordinary, difficult hours and days of life. Listen in for a conversation about honest stories, faithful friendship, and how the church can become a place where people don't have to be "better" to belong. About the Allender Center Podcast: For over a decade, the Allender Center Podcast has offered honest, thoughtful conversations about the deep work of healing and transformation. Hosted by Dr. Dan Allender and Rachael Clinton Chen, MDiv, this weekly podcast explores the complexities of trauma, abuse recovery, story, relationships, and spiritual formation. Through questions submitted by listeners, stories, interviews, and conversations, we engage the deep places of heartache and hope that are rarely addressed so candidly in our culture today. Join the Allender Center Podcast to uncover meaningful perspectives and support for your path to healing and growth. At the Allender Center, we value thoughtful dialogue across a wide range of voices, stories, and lived experiences. In that spirit, our podcast features guests and hosts who may hold differing perspectives. The perspectives shared on this podcast by guests and hosts reflect their own experiences and viewpoints and do not necessarily represent the views, positions, or endorsements of the Allender Center and/or The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology. Stream each episode, plus find transcripts, additional resources, and more at: theallendercenter.org/podcast To become a supporter of the Allender Center Podcast, visit: https://theallendercenter.org/2025/11/podcast-support/ If you and your organization would like to partner with the Allender Center Podcast, please reach out to Clay Clayton at [email protected]

We have a very special invitation for you, listeners: For the first time ever, the Allender Center Podcast is going LIVE!

What is the relationship between anxiety and grief? For Sara Billups, that question became deeply personal during a season of significant loss. Her latest book, "Nervous Systems," was released while she was caring for both of her seriously ill parents. Her dad died that same month, followed by her mom just six weeks later. In this conversation, Sara joins Dr. Dan Allender and Rachael Clinton Chen to explore the surprising ways anxiety and grief can interact—sometimes intensifying our distress, and sometimes shifting or even quieting as we face what we feared or cannot change. They also talk about why we often hesitate to bring up loss, how making space for grief can make room for love and joy, and what it means to receive care when you're the one who is used to caring for others. Join us for a tender, honest conversation about sitting with grief, living with anxiety, and leaning into hope. About the Allender Center Podcast: For over a decade, the Allender Center Podcast has offered honest, thoughtful conversations about the deep work of healing and transformation. Hosted by Dr. Dan Allender and Rachael Clinton Chen, MDiv, this weekly podcast explores the complexities of trauma, abuse recovery, story, relationships, and spiritual formation. Through questions submitted by listeners, stories, interviews, and conversations, we engage the deep places of heartache and hope that are rarely addressed so candidly in our culture today. Join the Allender Center Podcast to uncover meaningful perspectives and support for your path to healing and growth. At the Allender Center, we value thoughtful dialogue across a wide range of voices, stories, and lived experiences. In that spirit, our podcast features guests and hosts who may hold differing perspectives. The perspectives shared on this podcast by guests and hosts reflect their own experiences and viewpoints and do not necessarily represent the views, positions, or endorsements of the Allender Center and/or The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology. Stream each episode, plus find transcripts, additional resources, and more at: theallendercenter.org/podcast To become a supporter of the Allender Center Podcast, visit: https://theallendercenter.org/2025/11/podcast-support/ If you and your organization would like to partner with the Allender Center Podcast, please reach out to Clay Clayton at [email protected]

Friends, there's something we want to share with you about the Allender Center Podcast: For more than a decade, we've released a new episode nearly every week. That's 650+ episodes in 10 years. All free. We're immensely proud of what we've created together. And we're deeply grateful for the people who have listened, written to us, and made these conversations part of their lives. Now, we've decided to slow our pace for a season. For the next few months, the podcast will be released twice a month. To be clear, we're not going anywhere. We're simply making a little more room to pay attention to what's next. After ten years of doing this every week, we need time to plan, listen, get creative, and try some things we haven't had the space to try. We want to bring you more guests. More opportunities to hear from you. And we want to begin bringing these conversations to you in video format, inviting you into the room with us. And we want to be honest about something else: this decision is also about finances. We're doing our best to steward what we have, care well for our people, and still create the quality of work we believe in. We don't want the answer to be asking our team to simply do more, faster, for less. It's important to us that you are part of this conversation, and a part of what comes next, too. There are two ways you can join us in this season: 1. Tell us what you think. You'll hear in today's episode that this decision wasn't made lightly. There's grief and frustration in it. There's also hope, possibility, and a lot of imagination about what could come next. We want to hear from you, too. What has the podcast meant to you? What would you love to hear more of? What would you dream about for its future? Our team will read every response. Share Your Thoughts: https://forms.gle/c3icYo4aSNiE8NuV9 We'd genuinely love to hear from you. 2. Support the podcast. Your monthly financial support helps us continue creating new episodes, continue to host our library of 650+ episodes, invest in the technology and resources we need, compensate the people behind the podcast well, and even move into a new video format. If you'd like to partner with us in what comes next, we'd be deeply grateful. You can become a monthly supporter at whatever amount feels right for you, starting at just $5 a month. Become a Monthly Supporter: https://theallendercenter.org/2025/11/podcast-support/ Whether you share your thoughts, support the podcast, keep listening, or simply tell someone about an episode that meant something to you, thank you for being part of this. We're paying attention. We're listening. And we're excited to see what comes next. With deep gratitude, - The Allender Center Podcast Team (Dan, Rachael, Jeanette, Andrew, Christena, Christina, Melissa, Lauren, Beth, Kelsey) P.S. And one more way to be part of what's next: We're bringing the Allender Center Podcast LIVE to Nashville! If you're nearby, come join us. We'd love to have you in the room for an evening of conversation and connection—and, of course, a live podcast experience. You can find out more and get tickets on our website: theallendercenter.org/events

In 1988, Dr. Dan Allender led the very first Recovery Week. Nearly four decades later, these immersive experiences continue to offer sacred space for survivors of childhood sexual abuse to come together, face the impact of what happened, and find care and restoration for the profound heartache they've experienced. But how do you know if Recovery Week is right for you? Do you need to do any preparation or pre-work before you arrive? And what if you're not sure your story is "big enough" or "bad enough" to warrant being there? In this episode, Dan is joined by longtime friends and Recovery Week leaders and facilitators Linda Royster and Scott Gibson, who lead the Women's and Men's Recovery Weeks, respectively. Together, they talk about why this work is so sacred to them and offer a glimpse into the decades of experience and carefully developed process behind Recovery Week. They also talk honestly about what it can feel like to consider stepping into a week like this: the fear, resistance, desire for a step-by-step plan, and uncertainty about what you're supposed to bring with you. Here's the truth: you don't have to arrive ready to resolve everything. Instead, Recovery Week invites you to begin with curiosity, honesty, and perhaps even a little kindness toward yourself. Listen in to learn more about who Recovery Week is for, why it exists, and how to begin discerning whether it might be a place for you. Next week, Dan will return with Wendell Moss and Sue Cunningham to give you an inside glimpse into what actually happens when you arrive at a Recovery Week. If you've been thinking about attending a Recovery Week for Men or Women, or if you're just hearing about it for the first time, we invite you to learn more at: https://theallendercenter.org/workshops