James Krehbiel

James P. Krehbiel, Ed.S., LPC, CCBT is an educator, writer, licensed professional counselor and nationally certified cognitive-behavioral therapist practicing in Scottsdale, Arizona. He specializes in treating anxiety and depression for adults and children. He served as a teacher and guidance counselor for 30 years and has taught graduate-level counselor education courses for Chapman University. In 2005, he self-published Stepping Out of the Bubble: Reflections on the Pilgrimage of Counseling Therapy (Booklocker.com). His latest book, Troubled Childhood, Triumphant Life: Healing from the Battle Scars of Youth (New Horizon Press) is about the impact of adverse childhood experiences on adult functioning. He offers solution-focused strategies to assist adults in overcoming the perils of the past.

Articles:

Yearning for Certainty in an Uncertain World

A woman was walking down the hallway past my counseling office after she had seen Linda, the massage therapist.  My office door was open so I heard the lady remark, “Everything happens for a reason, my friend.”  The certainty built into her response was comforting to me.  However, I began wondering if her statement was really accurate.  Sometimes traumatic things happen because of our own laziness and stupidity.  Case in point is Plaxico Burress, wide-receiver for the New York Giants, who carried an illegally purchased loaded weapon in his pocket into a New York City night club.  The gun fell […]

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How Adult Children Can Cope While Caretaking Parents

We of the baby-boomer generation are feeling the pressure as we provide care for our elderly parents. It is painful as we helplessly watch our loved ones experience the impact of failing health. We feel powerless against the ravages of deteriorating health and mourn our losses as our parents begin the descent involving their incapacity to live independently. Children undergo the process of grieving as one’s parents move closer to the end of their lives. Family dynamics may shift. The process of grieving hopefully brings healing and closure to children who care-take for elderly parents. However, more typically, it takes […]

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How to Respond to Grief and Loss

Rabbi Harold Kushner, the author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People, wrote about his response to personal tragedy. His son, Aaron, experienced a premature aging disorder (progeria), and eventually died from this syndrome. The pain from the rabbi’s loss activated a crisis of faith. Kushner wrote his book for those “who have been hurt by life,” to assist them in finding a faith that provides reasonable answers to aid them in coping with their suffering. In his book, Kushner explores the random nature of life and how certain simplistic religious explanations for grief and loss left him feeling […]

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Grief Educator Struggles with his Own Losses

Within the period of three months, I lost three loved ones.  Two of them died three days apart.  Although I knew the end was iminent within each situation, my knowledge and anticipation did not soothe me – it only served to bring me closer to the inevitability of my own mortality. Some say that God will never burden us with more that we can endure.  Those words seem like idle chatter – it was all too much to bear.  I braced myself for the predictability and shock of my pain and sought to manage its effects.  There has been no […]

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