Greetings

[Dr T]

Hello teachers,

I'm newely registered here and look forward to learning about LDS issues.

Dr. T

Just learning-please give me your thoughts...

[pushka]

Hi Dr.T. I wouldn't consider myself a 'teacher', but pleased to meet you anyway...I hope you enjoy the site on which we are all still 'learning'.

[Dr T]

Nice to meet you too Pushka. T.S. Elliot once said, "I consider everyone I meet my superior; for from them, I can learn something."

I look forward to what I can learn from you. I c that u were raised Catholic and practiced LDS for awhile. You bring a lot to the table. Can’t wait to learn from your ideas. :)

Dr. T

[lisajo]

Welcome Dr. T yes you could learn alot from us but we don't all speak LDS beleifs that are exact if you want to learn more about LDS go to thr official LDS site i believe it is LDS.org i am sure some one knows for sure here what the address is, Welcome i hope you'll enjoy it here

[pushka]

Hi, thanks for your reply Dr.T.

You're right that I do bring a variety of beliefs/questions to the table here...sometimes it is very confusing reading about LDS and Catholic beliefs, contrasting them and even confusing some of them occasionally...I have been known to confuse teachings I learned in the LDS church with what I thought I'd learned at my RCC school!!! I spin...lol.

I hope that I can learn lots from you too...care to share a little background?

[Dr T]

A little background: I am from Los Angeles. I am happily married with 4 beautiful children (3 boys 1 girl). I am a licensed clinical psychologist. Part of my 12-year education took place at the University of Utah Neuropsychiatric Institute in SLC. While there, I began having theological conversations with my LDS neighbor (in the Avenues). These discussions were so much fun. I moved away for post doc resident training and have missed these discussions ever since. I now live in a small town in CA and need some mental stimulation.

Being a psychologist, I see the importance of factoring in religion in my work. For years, it was taboo to include religion in my profession but I see it as a gaping hole in a person’s life if I don’t. I enjoy philosophy of religion and want to understand, at a deeper level, how people integrate LDS teachings into their lives, what the LDS teachings are, if they are consistent (logically), and how people support their beliefs. I have a lot of questions. None of my questions are ever designed with the intent to discredit or offend the person I’m talking too. I just want to learn. That is who I am. I hope I came to the right place.

Dr. T

Hello lisajo,

Thank you for the resource. I'll have to check that site out.

Dr. T

[mom_of_jcchlsm]

Welcome Dr T!

[Dr T]

Thank you for the welcome M o Jcchlsm :)

Dr. T

[Ray]

Hello Dr. T,

Please feel free to start a new thread to ask a question, but please also try to realize that many other people have already asked many of the questions you may ask about the Church and related issues, which is why the official sites of the Church are best resources for obtaining the best information we now have available from our best and brightest prophets... meaning the prophets we now sustain and have sustained as Presidents and Apostles of the Church.

Heh, but if you really only want to know the members of LDStalk, please feel free to ask us any questions you may have. :)

[pushka]

Hi again Dr.T. Thanks for the background info. very interesting.

I think that you might be a great help with our 'Advice' section, if you don't mind doing a little work out of hours :)

I think it is very interesting the way in which any/all religions work in with the general life of the parishioners, and is interesting to see just how deeply affected each person is with his or her own religion as opposed to somebody else in the same position, whether it is emotionally freeing for them or binds them with guilt and a fear of some authority figures...

Hope that made sense!! I have a personal interest in psychology, and how religion affects people because of my own mental health issues so your participation in this website is especially interesting to me.

[StrawberryFields]

Welcome Dr T glad to have you aboard.

[Dr T]

Thank you Pushka, Ray, and Stawberry Fields,

Pushka, I'm only a psychologist in real life... I usually refrain from "advice giving" without knowing all the details. Sorry.

Thank you, Ray, for the invitation to asks away.

Strawberry Fields, were you really born in 1907?

Thanks again,

Dr. T

[StrawberryFields]

Strawberry Fields, were you really born in 1907?

Thanks again,

Dr. T

Um.... no.

Somedays I feel like I was though.

[Dr T]

S.F.,

Just checking. I thought you were about to turn 100. Your stats say you were born in 1907...

Dr. T

[mom_of_jcchlsm]

I'm guessing that should be "1967" for SF - am I right? Double checked my info and I'm all correct.

[StrawberryFields]

The 1907 date was my little fit of rebellion.

Mom you are pretty close. :)

[Dr T]

S.F.,

You big rebel!

Hey, the first quote under you signature is from John Lennon. From where did the second one come?

Dr. T

Mom of JCCHSLM,

A mom of 7. Congratulations!!!! Nothing better in my book. What are their names?

Dr. T

[mom_of_jcchlsm]

I don't use real names online. Otherwise I'd tell you - I am bursting with pride in my wonderful children!

All have five letters, two syllables and all names contain a (single) letter "L." All but one name are quite uncommon (and we thought when we named him that the other was uncommon as well - guess a lot of parents were thinking the same). All names spell the way they sound and read the way they're written, and none have obvious nicknames. We can't have any more kids because finding a name we like that fits our criteria is too hard - LOL! Our four girls have flowers for middle names - or more properly, flora, as one is not a flowering plant. Our three boys' middle names are family names which are also the surnames of noted scientists.

[Heather]

I dunno, you could have quite a few more. I came up with 117 popular US names that fit that criteria, and 2632 names from the all name search. (This does include multiple instances of "L" in the name though. Here is the first page from the US names

Abril Alden Alice Alize Alvin Angel April Ashly Aylin Belen Caleb Carla Carli Carlo Carly Carol Cayla Celia Chloe Clara Colby Colin Dulce Dylan Dylon Elise Elmer Elvin Elvis Elyse Felix Fidel Haley Halie Hazel Helen Itzel Jalen Jalyn Jamal

http://baby-names.yeahbaby.com/

[mom_of_jcchlsm]

Heather,

It would be very hard to come up with names that we like. We've used every babyname site and book we can find, and we've rejected so many names for so many reasons! But we said the same thing after our 6th was born, and we managed to come up with a good one for #7. You never know.

The first three children were named however we liked. It wasn't until we were looking for names for the fourth that we noticed the similarities in the other three. The idea of consistency really appeals to both me and my husband, so we decided to list all things the first three had in common and use that as a guide for future names.

[mom_of_jcchlsm]

Adding to the off-topic skew of this thread, I'd like to tell you all just how strange my hubby and I are.

I mentioned that we like consistency. Yeah, but we also like patterns. With girl-girl-boy, girl-girl-boy going into our most recent pregnancy, we were pulling for another girl. But the incomplete repetition would have driven me crazy. So I decided we had to have two more girls. That way we would have symmetry: ggbg|gbgg. When our son was born, I kinda freaked out. It took me a while to see another solution with which I could be comfortable: I had a miscarriage between my third and fourth children. If I assume (and I MUST do this!) that that child was a boy, I get ggbbggbb, which is nice and regular.

If you line up our kids, we have four girls, two with dark hair and two with light hair. Of the two light-haired girls, one has blue eyes and one has brown. Of the two dark-haired girls, one has blue eyes and one has brown. We have a dark-haired boy with brown eyes. We have a light-haired boy with light eyes and a light-haired boy with dark eyes. All we lack for a complete mathematical set is a dark-haired boy with light eyes. (a complete set meaning one of each combo with no duplications - in this case, three characteristics: gender, hair color and eye color - calculated as (number of variations) taken to the (number of characteristics) power, two cubed, or eight). At this point, I don't want to have another child because the chances of getting my dark-haired, light-eyed boy in one try are extremely low, and I would be really upset by any other combo. I'm just going to have to continue to tell myself that that child I lost fits the bill. It makes me happy to believe this, even though I know how ludicrous the whole construct is.

Does anyone out there think I need therapy????!!!!!???!!

[pushka]

Quote Dr. T. :

'Pushka, I'm only a psychologist in real life... I usually refrain from "advice giving" without knowing all the details. Sorry.'

Sorry Dr. T., I was only making that remark about the advice forum in a tongue in cheek sort of way, I don't really expect you to do a free 'out of hours' service for us all! :)

Fortunately I have my own real life psychologist now to help me offload...

[Dr T]

Pushka,

It really wasn't about doing "work out of hours" I promise. Its more an ethical/legal issue for me. Basic stats, etc. are not a problem though. You will be a good person to answer my next question about what an LDS member would look for in a psychologist. :)

Dr. T

Heather,

That is great! I didn't know there was a site that can produce names based on different variables. I can see you all are waaay more internet savvy/resourceful than I am.

Dr. T

Nice to meet u by the way

MO JCCHLSM,

I have a symmetry thing too. this will be our little secret

"Does anyone out there think I need therapy????!!!!!???!!" It depends

Dr. T

[mom_of_jcchlsm]

I have a symmetry thing too. this will be our little secret

I remember thinking I had found a kindred spirit when I first heard the song Symmetry (the way things have to be) by Jane Siberry (on the album No Borders Here). I will admit I'm a bit O/C here. I think everyone has their little hang-ups -- it's just that all of mine are perfectly normal and acceptable, whereas other people's are just plain wierd.

[Dr T]

Mom of JCCHLSM,

I think everyone has their little hang-ups -- it's just that all of mine are perfectly normal and acceptable

I hear you, Mom of JCCHLSM. Everything, with respect to mental health issues, is on a continuum... & undoubtedly EVERYONE else's stuff is obviously more weird than our stuff!

Dr. T