The Attaching to God podcast continues a three-week Lenten series on the Temptations of Jesus.

This episode reframes Jesus’ second temptation as an attack on his secure attachment to the Father—an attack on FAITH, provoking anxiety and testing whether God is really available. Geoff and Cyd talk about all the different reasons we develop “trust issues” and how they come out in our lives. They define faith as embodied reliance and lived loyalty, they share practical examples, and offer a practical Lenten practice.

Dive deeper in our new book, Landscapes of the Soul: How the Science and Spirituality of Attachment Can Move You into Confident Faith, Courage, and Connection, and learn about our trainings and other resources at embodiedfaith.life.

Stay Connected:

• Check out our Attaching to God 6-Week Learning Cohort.
• Join the Embodied Faith community to stay connected and get posts, episodes, & resources.
• Support the podcast with a one-time or regular gift (to keep this ad-free without breaking the Holsclaw's bank).

The Attaching to God podcast returns after a break to begin a three-week Lenten series on the Temptations of Jesus. Hosts Cyd and Geoff Holsclaw (co-founders of the Center for Embodied Faith) reframe Jesus’ first temptation as an attack on his secure attachment to the Father—an attack on hope. The hosts connect this to modern anxieties that push people into “protection mode,” explain Jesus’ scripture-based response (“not by bread alone”), define hope as expectant waiting rooted in attachment, and offer a Lenten practice. The next episode will focus on the second temptation as an attack on faith.

Dive deeper in our new book, Landscapes of the Soul: How the Science and Spirituality of Attachment Can Move You into Confident Faith, Courage, and Connection, and learn about our trainings and other resources at embodiedfaith.life.

Stay Connected:

• Check out our Attaching to God 6-Week Learning Cohort.
• Join the Embodied Faith community to stay connected and get posts, episodes, & resources.
• Support the podcast with a one-time or regular gift (to keep this ad-free without breaking the Holsclaw's bank).

What is so important about joy? The great commandment is to love God and others, but is joy even more central than that? Where does joy fit in the landscape of political outrage and cynicism, in the seriousness of life today?

We're talking about it. Looking at why joy and love are so connected.

Dive deeper in our new book, Landscapes of the Soul: How the Science and Spirituality of Attachment Can Move You into Confident Faith, Courage, and Connection, and learn about our trainings and other resources at embodiedfaith.life.

Stay Connected:

• Check out our Attaching to God 6-Week Learning Cohort.
• Join the Embodied Faith community to stay connected and get posts, episodes, & resources.
• Support the podcast with a one-time or regular gift (to keep this ad-free without breaking the Holsclaw's bank).

In this BONUS episode (before season 8 starts), host Geoff Holsclaw starts experimenting with regular guest hosts to dive deeper into certain topics.

This episode sees the return of David Clayton, a spiritual director, supervisor of spiritual directors, and a trained behavior analyst and facilitator of psychological safety.

David will bring us the "voices from the Kellia"—the monastic "cells" in the heart of the desert. As a twist of sorts, we believe the insights of Christian asceticism and monasticism still speak wisdom into our modern life (even our corporate and business lives).

This time we focus on the role of spiritual direction, connecting it to friendship, vulnerability, and psychological safety. This episode sets the stage for ongoing discussions with David and promises practical advice for spiritual and personal development.

David Clayton is a Spiritual Director and Supervisor of Directors. He is a trained Behaviour Analyst, and is a Facilitator of Psychological Safety. Learn more at Monos-Collective.

Dive deeper in our new book, Landscapes of the Soul: How the Science and Spirituality of Attachment Can Move You into Confident Faith, Courage, and Connection, and learn about our trainings and other resources at embodiedfaith.life.

Stay Connected:

• Check out our Attaching to God 6-Week Learning Cohort.
• Join the Embodied Faith community to stay connected and get posts, episodes, & resources.
• Support the podcast with a one-time or regular gift (to keep this ad-free without breaking the Holsclaw's bank).

In this episode, hosts Geoff & Cyd Holsclaw talk with Bill and Kristi Gaultiere, founders of Soul Shepherding, and authors of Deeply Loved: Receiving and Reflecting God's Great Empathy for You.

The conversation explores the Gaultiers' journey into psychology and ministry, their insights into empathy and emotional intelligence, and their focus on providing resources for emotional and spiritual health. The discussion also touches on fostering healthy attachment with God and others, stewarding empathy, and the importance of integrating care and guidance in ministry.

And join us for the FREE Attaching to God Summit (Oct. 14-16). Register Now.

Dive deeper in our new book, Landscapes of the Soul: How the Science and Spirituality of Attachment Can Move You into Confident Faith, Courage, and Connection, and learn about our trainings and other resources at embodiedfaith.life.

Stay Connected:

• Check out our Attaching to God 6-Week Learning Cohort.
• Join the Embodied Faith community to stay connected and get posts, episodes, & resources.
• Support the podcast with a one-time or regular gift (to keep this ad-free without breaking the Holsclaw's bank).

In this special book launch episode, Geoff interviews Summer Joy Gross about why spiritual directors are reading and recommending Landscapes of the Soul: How the Science and Spirituality of Attachment Can Move You into Confident Faith, Courage, and Connection.

This episode touches on the need to balance between intimacy and independence in spiritual life and the benefits of using attachment theory in understanding one's relationship with God.

Summer has just written a book called, The Emmanuel Promise: Discovering the Security of a Life Held by God, and you can find out more about her work at her Patreon page.

Dive deeper in our new book, Landscapes of the Soul: How the Science and Spirituality of Attachment Can Move You into Confident Faith, Courage, and Connection, and learn about our trainings and other resources at embodiedfaith.life.

Stay Connected:

• Check out our Attaching to God 6-Week Learning Cohort.
• Join the Embodied Faith community to stay connected and get posts, episodes, & resources.
• Support the podcast with a one-time or regular gift (to keep this ad-free without breaking the Holsclaw's bank).

In this special book launch episode, Geoff interviews Monica Mauer about why therapists are reading Landscapes of the Soul, and how it can help their clients.

Monica is a therapist, therapist supervisor, and founder of the Center for Family Transformation. Monica talks about the unique and very helpful terminology used in the book to describe the different attachment strategies, such as the JUNGLE, the DESERT, the WAR ZONE, and the PASTURE, and how helpful it is to focus on intimacy and independence over anxiety and avoidance. They also touch on the centrality of joyful connection in relationships and the transformative potential of secure attachments with God.

Find out about the "Life Model Informed Therapy" certification here.

Dive deeper in our new book, Landscapes of the Soul: How the Science and Spirituality of Attachment Can Move You into Confident Faith, Courage, and Connection, and learn about our trainings and other resources at embodiedfaith.life.

Stay Connected:

• Check out our Attaching to God 6-Week Learning Cohort.
• Join the Embodied Faith community to stay connected and get posts, episodes, & resources.
• Support the podcast with a one-time or regular gift (to keep this ad-free without breaking the Holsclaw's bank).

Here is an audio snippet of our new book. Description below. Please buy and review.

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Does it feel like you experience life in a totally different way than others? Like you are living somewhere else, and you can’t build connection or intimacy with God like others can?

There’s a good chance that you, like so many of us, have tried it all: read your Bible more, gone to church more, prayed more, and delved deeper into self-awareness. But you still struggle with discontent, anxiety, avoidance and doubt. You still feel stuck.

No matter where you find yourself emotionally, relationally, or spiritually, Jesus meets you there and helps you move toward a place of peace and rest. As pastors, coaches, and educators, Cyd and Geoff Holsclaw are very familiar with this struggle, and they are prepared to help. In Landscapes of the Soul, they draw on the science and spirituality of attachment theory, biblical wisdom, and the language of spiritual formation to show us why Christians tend to get stuck spiritually―and how to get unstuck and move forward.

Whether you feel like you’re living in a spiritual jungle, desert, or war zone, you will discover:

• how you are designed to grow good roots through healthy relational attachment
• how things go wrong through your often-distorted survival strategies
• how God repairs your faith, hope, and love for Him, others, and ourselves
• how Jesus quiets your anxious and avoidant faith
• how to incorporate practices for building your security with God

You aren’t meant to live in the anxiety of a jungle, the desolation of a desert, or the chaos of a war zone. God designed you to live in joy and peace in relationship with Him, as if you are in a pasture, under the protective care of the Good Shepherd.

Dive deeper in our new book, Landscapes of the Soul: How the Science and Spirituality of Attachment Can Move You into Confident Faith, Courage, and Connection, and learn about our trainings and other resources at embodiedfaith.life.

Stay Connected:

• Check out our Attaching to God 6-Week Learning Cohort.
• Join the Embodied Faith community to stay connected and get posts, episodes, & resources.
• Support the podcast with a one-time or regular gift (to keep this ad-free without breaking the Holsclaw's bank).