The Powerful Intersection of Faith and Neuroscience (feat. Ashley McFarland)

What does it look like to integrate mental health and faith?

My guest today brings her knowledge, experience, and passion to answer this question. Ashley McFarland is a trauma trainer, psychotherapist and co-founder of the Pineheart Center. Throughout her time in child welfare, nonprofits, the school system, and a detention center, she gained insight into the ways trauma shapes our brains. 

In this conversation, we explore why it’s important to build connection and safety with an individual before trying to encourage behavior changes, how the Bible connects with neuroscience and healing, and much more. Ashley’s insights are so eye-opening for Christians who want to understand evidence-based mental health treatment models, and the hope and healing these methods can bring, through a biblical lens.

You can also find this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and more.

Key Takeaways

1. When working with individuals who have experienced trauma, build safety and connection before trying to work on changing the individual’s behaviors. Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) is a model for this. Ashley shared that, whether it’s a therapist working with a patient or a parent working with a child, the same model of “regulate, relate, reason” is essential. When somebody is displaying a challenging behavior, we can be tempted to jump in with logic and reasoning. But before we can encourage positive behavioral change, we must first ensure that the individual is emotionally regulated and that we’ve taken the time to develop a connection with them. 
2. Movement, ritual, and play are important components of healing. In our modern society, we don’t always allow ourselves the time or freedom to play, and this affects our bodies and brains. Jumping, movement, and even silliness are important, natural ways to reset and regulate—for people of any age. This isn’t just something science tells us—we can learn it from Scripture, too. In the Bible, God gave instructions to the Israelites in the aftermath of their escape from slavery, many which would have been helpful for regulating the nervous system: singing, dancing, rituals for grieving, and more.
3. Churches can help bridge the gap between faith and mental health. Some ways to do this include normalizing conversations about mental health, recognizing that people who have experienced trauma often carry a significant amount of shame, and hosting workshops to train leaders at every level (including volunteers). Just as the church would encourage someone with a physical illness to seek medical treatment, it should also affirm that mental health is part of the body and support access to appropriate care.

Resources

• Thanks for listening! Use code “TBRIpodcast” to get $5 off when you sign up for an Introduction to TBRI session. If you work personally or professionally with children who have experienced adversity, learn more about TBRI on our Trauma Training page.
• Why Am I Like This? By Kobe Campbell
• The Body Keeps the Score By Vessel van der Kolk
• The Garden Within: Where the War with Your Emotions Ends and Your Most Powerful Life Begins by Anita Phillips

Meet the Guest

Ashley McFarland is a trauma trainer, psychotherapist and co-founder of the Pineheart Center. With a deep commitment to helping individuals heal from childhood trauma, Ashley also works to bridge the gap between faith communities and mental health awareness. Her expertise includes Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) and the integration of faith and clinical practice. Ashley speaks, trains, and equips others to approach trauma with both scientific insight and compassionate care.