Three Mental Health Crises in Our World Today

Three Crises in Our World Today — The Flourishing Journal The Flourishing Journal Three Crises in Our World Today Identity, loneliness, and meaning look like three problems. I want to tell you why I think they are a problem of belonging. VC Victor Counted, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Psychology, Regent University · Faculty Affiliate, Harvard Human Flourishing Program I have spent most of my adult life studying what makes people flourish. I have also spent most of my adult life trying to flourish. Some seasons it was easier. Some seasons it was not. What I can tell you is this. Something is hurting people in our day that was not…

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Proximity Seeking: The First Step in Bonding with God

Bonding with God Series Proximity Seeking: The First Step in Bonding with God Episode 02  ·  Flourishing with Dr. Victor Counted About This Episode What if drawing near to God isn't just a spiritual discipline — but a deep psychological instinct woven into how you were made? In this episode of the Bonding with God series, Dr. Victor Counted unpacks proximity seeking — the most foundational step in forming a secure bond with God. Drawing from attachment theory and his new book Bonding with God (Baker Academic, 2026), Dr. Counted explores why human beings are neurologically and relationally wired to move toward a source of safety when life feels uncertain,…

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We Got the Order Wrong: How Christianity Traded Relationship for Religion

We Got the Order Wrong | The Flourishing Journal For generations, we have handed children doctrines before we gave them a living God to hold onto. The consequences are written in the data — and in the faces of those quietly walking away. VC Victor Counted, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Psychology · Regent University · Faculty Affiliate, Harvard Human Flourishing Program Walk into almost any evangelical church on any given Sunday, and you will see it at the end of the service — the altar call. The music softens. The lights dim slightly. A voice says something like, "If you want to give your life to Jesus tonight, repeat this…

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Bonding with God Book is Finally Here

Bonding with God Is Here | The Flourishing Journal The Flourishing Journal Bonding with GodIs Finally Here A word from the author on a book years in the making Victor Counted  ·  April 2026  ·  4 min read What if the way you relate to God is not a fixed fate, but a living story — one that can grow, heal, and flourish? Today is a day I have been quietly working toward for a long time. Bonding with God: Attachment Theory and the Psychology of Faith is now officially published and available through Baker Academic. This book began as a question — one that I kept returning to in…

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What are the psychological mechanisms of human flourishing?

The Four Pathways of Human Flourishing | Victor Counted Flourishing Science The Four Pathways of Human Flourishing Victor Counted, Ph.D. Psychological Scientist & Professor What does it mean to truly flourish? And more precisely — what are the internal pathways through which flourishing actually happens in a human life? These are not merely philosophical questions. They sit at the heart of a growing scientific conversation that is reshaping how psychologists, clinicians, and scholars understand human thriving. Tyler VanderWeele of Harvard's Human Flourishing Program has made a compelling case that flourishing is cultivated through four primary pathways: work and vocation, religious or spiritual community, family relationships, and education. These domains represent…

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A Relational Theory of Hope

Hope is often imagined as a private emotion or something that flickers quietly within us when our perceived possibility is threatened. But what if hope is not a solitary feeling at all? What if hope is something we build and sustain through our relationships with 'objects' of hope (e.g., people, places, and the sacred)? This is the insight behind my proposed Relational Theory of Hope, a new framework I am working on in a book that redefines hope as a relational process that links security and future orientation rather than as mere optimism or goal-setting. In this view, hope is born out of our sustained connections. It thrives when we…

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