Kate Motaung, Carrollton Christian Counseling

About Kate Motaung

Kate Motaung is the Senior Writer, Editor, and Content Manager for a multi-state company. She is the author of several books including Letters to Grief, 101 Prayers for Comfort in Difficult Times, and A Place to Land: A Story of Longing and Belonging. Kate is also the host of Five Minute Friday, an online writing community that equips and encourages Christian writers, and the owner of Refine Services, a company that offers editing services. She and her South African husband have three young adult children and currently live in West Michigan. Find Kate’s books at katemotaung.com/books.

How to Get Through the Pain of Rejection

How to Get Through the Pain of Rejection

Kate Motaung2025-04-22T07:01:09+00:00February 9th, 2023|Featured, Individual Counseling, Relationship Issues|

When someone leaves you for someone or something else the pain of rejection can be terrifying. It can feel like you have to live with the awareness that you have been replaced in addition to the loss, hurt, and emptiness you are experiencing. The message in your mind screams: You are no longer good enough. There is someone better. The initial weeks after someone’s departure can be incredibly difficult. In response, people stop eating, stop sleeping, cry, withdraw, and generally feel as if everything is falling apart. Sometimes things feel removed, out of this world, like a character in a play. Disbelief and denial are present. Frequently, one of the hardest things is going to sleep. Agonizing sorrow crosses the mind. The ideas don’t stop. When sleep does come, it often comes in fits. The morning after awakening is no better. The suffering begins all over again with each new day. Rejection. Pushing someone or anything away is a definition of rejection. Rejection from one’s birth family, a friend, or a romantic partner can happen, and the ensuing emotions are frequently traumatic. In daily life, it can be felt in significant or minor ways. Even while rejection is frequently a part of life, some kinds of rejection might be harder to handle than others. The rejection of a spouse, for example, is especially difficult because of the intimacy of the marriage relationship. Even a strained marriage is founded on intimacy. Rejection from a parent is particularly difficult as well since this is a formative relationship in a child’s life. Carrollton Christian Counseling can help you navigate and heal from the pain of rejection, offering support in restoring emotional health and relationships. Being aware of rejection. There are several situations where rejection can happen, but it typically refers to a [...]

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What Does the Bible Say About Depression?

What Does the Bible Say About Depression?

Kate Motaung2025-04-22T06:54:01+00:00January 11th, 2023|Depression, Featured, Individual Counseling, Spiritual Development|

Although it’s not always possible to find Bible verses directly related to what we’re going through, depression is an exception to that. If you’re wondering, “What does the Bible say about depression?” this article is for you. Of course, a diagnosis of depression didn’t exist in Bible times, but there are many examples of biblical characters suffering from sadness, hopelessness, weariness, and other depressive symptoms, along with passages about how they related to God during their depression. Whether you’re experiencing grief, temporary sadness, situational depression, major depressive disorder, or another form of depression, the Bible offers hope. So while on the one hand, we can ask, “What does the Bible say about depression?” on the other hand we can also look for what the Bible says about hope. They are two sides of the same coin since depression steals our hope and hope can overshadow sadness. The Bible also offers many comforting words about God’s love for us during difficult times in life. Even when we are walking through suffering and sadness, we don’t have to go through it alone. Scripture informs our depression treatment, and it’s the only inspired tool that connects us to God. There are many ways to connect with Scripture, including through music, Christian meditation, prayer, and more. Carrollton Christian Counseling can help you incorporate these practices into your healing journey, offering support rooted in faith and Scripture Keep reading to learn more about a Scriptural approach to depression that is informed by evidence-based therapy techniques. A Definition Here is a clear explanation of depression from Psychiatry.org: “Depression (major depressive disorder) is a common and serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think, and how you act. Fortunately, it is also treatable. Depression causes feelings of sadness and/or a loss [...]

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My Husband is Depressed. How Can I Help?

My Husband is Depressed. How Can I Help?

Kate Motaung2025-04-22T06:23:18+00:00December 12th, 2022|Depression, Featured, Individual Counseling, Marriage Counseling, Men’s Issues, Relationship Issues, Women’s Issues|

Loving someone who is depressed can be hard. Many times, spouses feel helpless as they watch the person they care so much about suffering. It is difficult when all you want to do is help and it feels impossible to know how. If your husband is depressed, perhaps this article will help. Additionally, people who are depressed sometimes release their feelings and frustrations toward the people they feel safe with, often a spouse or a loved one. This can mean you are juggling the longing to help your spouse as well as your feelings about how you are treated. Carrollton Christian Counseling can help both you and your spouse navigate these difficult dynamics, offering guidance to support your relationship and emotional well-being during challenging times. If your husband is depressed, it is not just their struggle. You have your own experiences and feelings to navigate. What is depression? Before you can look at how to help your husband, you need to understand what depression is. According to the Mayo Clinic, “Depression is a mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest.” Sometimes referred to as major depressive disorder or clinical depression, daily activities can become difficult for those suffering as depression affects how you think, feel, and behave. It is important to understand that being depressed is more than an occasional feeling of sadness or having the blues. It is not something that patients can simply turn off. Depression is a medical condition that requires treatment. Medication, therapy, or a combination of the two often have a positive impact on treating depression. Common signs of depression can include sadness, hopelessness, anxiety, changes in sleep or eating habits, anger, difficulty concentrating or completing tasks, unexplained physical ailments, and even suicidal thoughts. People with depression can [...]

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How to Stop Worrying: Causes and Remedies

How to Stop Worrying: Causes and Remedies

Kate Motaung2025-05-14T15:52:35+00:00November 29th, 2022|Anxiety, Featured, Individual Counseling, Spiritual Development|

In order to stop worrying, it is important to recognize that one of the many gifts that the Lord created human beings with is our remarkable capacity for thought. People can think ahead and map out future events in a way that allows them to plan, anticipate potential issues and obstacles and develop strategies to deal with them. Carrollton Christian Counseling can help you use this gift in a healthy, faith-based way to manage anxiety and cultivate peace of mind. This is an amazing capacity that can help a person achieve goals as diverse as getting a college degree, working through a difficult patch in marriage, building a successful business, etc. Being able to think ahead thus helps us to adapt to the world around us and navigate it well. However, at times our minds can be like a hamster wheel, endlessly turning but not going anywhere or doing anything meaningful. Mulling over things that might occur endlessly can leave a person feeling anxious because we are uncertain of the outcome or are afraid of the possibilities that might emerge in the future. When we fear the future possibility of failure, getting injured, or experiencing loss of various kinds, that can generate the mental anguish that we commonly label as “worry.” A simplistic way to think of the distinction between anxiety and worry is that while anxiety mostly affects our bodies, worry tends to reside more in our heads. Worry is closely tied to our efforts to resolve an issue that is uncertain but that carries the potential for negative consequences. And so we can dwell on an upcoming physical exam and find ourselves thinking about all the possible negative outcomes from it. Or if a loved one or colleague leaves us a message with those dreaded words “We [...]

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5 Common Signs of Anger Issues

5 Common Signs of Anger Issues

Kate Motaung2025-05-14T15:46:01+00:00August 21st, 2022|Anger Issues, Featured, Individual Counseling|

Anger is a normal human emotion that can be kindled in numerous ways – from a small inconvenience such as being delayed in a traffic queue to unhappiness caused in marriage when partners are not meeting one another’s needs sufficiently. It is not unusual to be angered, and short of anger issues, anger in itself is not necessarily sinful. In the Bible, the command is “In your anger, do not sin” (Ephesians 4:25, NIV) – meaning that it is assumed that we will get angry, but the aspect that God is concerned with is how we respond when this emotion is provoked in us. Likewise, just because we feel angry at times, this does not mean that we have anger issues. Signs of anger issues that need to be dealt with are those that are expressed in unhealthy ways that are damaging to those around us and our own mental and spiritual wellbeing. If you feel that you lack self-control in the instances below, it might be worth exploring Carrollton Christian Counseling to get a better grip on your emotions: Signs of Anger Issues You get easily annoyed Our friends, spouses, parents, other family members, and colleagues are bound to annoy us at times. Chances are, the better you get to know someone, the more you will be exposed to all aspects of their personality, not just the pleasant side. This can evoke annoyance and frustration, but signs of anger issues can be a constant inability to handle others’ shortcomings. If you are easily annoyed by the many inconveniences of daily life, it is worth asking yourself why you feel so angry – sometimes there can be a deeper source of frustration that needs to be worked through. Scripture tells us to love one another, and that as Christians [...]

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