Wellbeing, Thriving, Flourishing — The Difference a Word Makes

Wellbeing, Thriving, Flourishing: Three Words We Keep Using as if They Mean the Same Thing? | The Flourishing Journal Flourishing Science Wellbeing, Thriving, Flourishing: Three Words We Keep Using as if They Mean the Same Thing? On wellbeing, flourishing, and thriving, and why mixing them up changes how we research, counsel, and help people. VC Victor Counted, Ph.D. Professor · Author · Psychologist · June 2026 · 7 min read A friend of mine treats the word ‘thriving’ the way most people treat the word ‘fine.’ It comes up every time we connect, unplanned, almost a running joke between us by now. He has a point. Three words show up…

Continue ReadingWellbeing, Thriving, Flourishing — The Difference a Word Makes

Your Earliest Relationships May Have Shaped How You Experience God

Psychology · Faith · Human Flourishing Your Earliest Relationships May Have Shaped How You Experience God By Victor Counted, Ph.D. Professor, Author, and Psychologist There is a question most people never think to ask about their faith. It is not a theological question, but a psychological one: where did your felt experience of God come from? Not the doctrine you were taught or the catechism you memorized, but the actual texture of your relationship with God—whether He feels close or distant, welcoming or demanding, safe or unpredictable. For much of the history of psychology, that question was either dismissed or spiritualized. However, a growing body of research at the intersection…

Continue ReadingYour Earliest Relationships May Have Shaped How You Experience God