Kinner Christian Counseling: Home



	Biography of Donald R. Kinner, MA

	Services Provided I offer individual, marital and family counseling services utilizing both a biblical worldview and a professional training background. The focus of my practice is primarily in dealing with adults, marriages, families and adolescents. I treat people who are having conflicts or difficulty with emotions such as depression, anger, stress, fear, hurt, guilt or shame. In treating addictions (alcohol, drugs, sex, gambling), I address the behavioral aspects as well as the underlying root issues, be they emotional, relational or spiritual. I see definite benefit in working with other involved treatment providers (physicians, support groups, etc.) in providing coordinated care. My clinical approach is eclectic, utilizing principles from the following perspectives: family systems, cognitive-behavioral and emotive therapeutic modalities. [top] My View of Counseling Life is a challenging journey and there are times when we need to step back and, in a safe environment with another person, take a personal and honest inventory of our lives. We need to ask what is working, not working, what needs to change, how we can grow, and make positive changes in various areas. In my counseling practice, I focus on the following areas with individuals: Helping them deal with various emotional states including depression, stress and anger Assisting persons who have deep hurts and traumas related to verbal, physical or sexual abuse from childhood or adolescence Healing hurts and traumas including moving toward forgiveness Improving relationships with family, friends or at work Addressing and resolving personal struggles with counter-dependency and co-dependency Developing or strengthening one’s spiritual walk with God Overcoming eating disorders, addictions and managing chronic pain Facing work, money management, and career issues Creating better relationships through healthier boundaries [top] Marriage and Family: Your most important human relationships Are you tired of muddling through marriage or having chronic family conflict? In marital and family counseling I provide a place where we can understand how your marriage or family is presently functioning and look at its strengths and weaknesses. I will then provide you with practical tools and skills to help you change and strengthen your most important human relationships. Areas addressed may include: Identify your relationship patterns of communication and handling conflict Understand how family member scripts and roles affect family dynamics Improve teamwork and cooperation with your spouse and children Implement better communication skills Learn five ways to increase the amount of love you give to, and receive from, family members Increase the chances of getting what you each need while minimizing conflict and tension Develop and maintain healthy family values in a fallen world Marriage is designed and intended by God to be a relationship of security, trust, teamwork, and intimacy within which procreation and raising of children occur. Strong marriages and families are the foundation of a strong, healthy society. Each marriage is different in terms of what the needs are. We may do a marital inventory to assess areas to address including the following: How to support your partner’s growth, be it emotionally, relationally, or spiritually Improve both kinds of intimacy as we look at gender differences in expressing emotional and physical sexual intimacy Provide a safe place to discuss sexual issues, be they current struggles or historical events such as abuse, affairs or unresolved relationships How to resolve baggage, addictions and other spoilers of a healthy marriage [top] Emotions: How we feel or avoid feelings Some of us are emotionally illiterate; we do not know much about our feelings, or we avoid the topic completely. Others are on emotional overload. We walk around dealing with too much stress, sadness, anger, fear, guilt, depression, resentment or shame. In contrast, Jesus' life models healthy patterns of handling emotions, and He provides instruction through Scripture on wise ways of handling our emotions. In our work you can: Learn the developmental stages we all need to progress through and how we can get stuck in one or two stages Understand why you or your partner is an emotion-avoider and how to overcome this problem Apply practical skills to manage, resolve and overcome negative emotional states Begin healing emotional struggles from both human and spiritual standpoints Practice ways to replace negative emotional states with feelings of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness and self control [top] Spirituality: Our Relationship with God God is our Creator. Even though none of us invented ourselves, we can struggle in our relationship with God and become very independent. However, since He is our source, it is rational and sensible that we look to God for answers, help and guidance. I have found the Bible to be loaded with useful, powerful and supernatural life-changing principles and truths. Spiritually, you may be seeking to understand who God is and what role He desires to play in your life. You may be a believer in Jesus Christ already; you may be close to Him or distant. For those who are open to God and His love and desire to help us, I like to integrate Christian spiritual concepts and ideas into our work on relationships and emotions. Spiritually speaking, I can assist you in these areas: Learn what the Bible says about God’s love for you and your relationship with Him, both now and in eternity Implement principles in Scripture concerning how to have a better, more meaningful life Discover ways to love others as we should love ourselves Identify the types and purposes of prayer Learn a prayer-based way to heal emotional hurts and wounds that I call deep healing Explore a “new” approach to prayer that is actually hundreds of years old Explore themes of why you exist and what your purpose is in living Share diagrams with you that I have developed, which I call turning inward, that will help you heal and deepen your walk with your Creator Learn how to walk by God’s spirit and not be controlled by our own selfish, fleshly desires [top] Intensives In addition to regular weekly sessions, I also offer intensive counseling. Intensives are designed for individuals in one or more of the following situations: those who have the desire and motivation to make rapid progress in overcoming problems or in achieving personal growth those who are coming from out of town those who are facing a personal crisis Intensives vary in length and can be tailored to individual needs or circumstances as follows: Two or three fifty minute sessions Half-day sessions Full-day sessions multi-day sessions The benefit of intensive counseling is cumulative and exponential as momentum builds more rapidly than the same amount of time spread out over the usual one session per week format. [top] Conclusion If the above ideas, topics or approach to personal change speak to your desires, then I personally invite you to contact me. I will do my best to work with you to address, resolve and bring positive changes to needed areas of your life. The goal of such work is twofold: to experience greater emotional freedom and healthier relationships, and to experience deeper intimacy with God. [top] Contact Information Association for Christian Family Counseling 700 Everhart Road, Suite D-21 Corpus Christi, Texas 78411 Phone: 361-814-4488 Fax: 361-814-0143 Email: info@KinnerChristianCounseling.com \| Home \| Biography \| ChristianFamilyCounseling.org \|	Choose a Topic Services Provided My View of Counseling Marriage and Family Emotions Spirituality Intensives Conclusion Contact Info Recommended Sites A Christian alternative to health insurance Family friendly movies