Good Faith

How Does Therapy Culture Undermine True Healing?
 
Host Curtis Chang talks with physician and author Matthew Loftus about how therapeutic language can distort ordinary suffering, turn disagreement into "gaslighting," and leave people feeling less capable of changing their lives. They examine the overmedicalization of grief and anxiety, the rise of mental health culture in schools, and why churches risk losing their purpose when pastors start acting like therapists.
**This is not an attack on therapy or psychiatric medication. It is a provocative conversation about when mental health care becomes a worldview—and whether our relentless focus on feeling better is actually making us sicker.
 
02:10 - Therapy Practice vs. Therapy Culture
03:52 - The Importance of Personal Experience
06:34 - The Three Elements of Therapy Culture
10:09 - The Problem with Focusing on Mental Health
13:22 - The Suggestive Power of Diagnosis
15:30 - A Christian Understanding of Suffering
17:57 - Finding Solace in the Midst of Suffering
21:40 - The Role of Medication in Mental Health
25:49 - Knowing When Therapy Becomes Unhelpful
28:30 - The Unique, Healing Functions of the Church 
32:21 - How Parents Can Counter Therapy Culture in Schools
35:01 - A Final Word of Encouragement
 
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Mentioned in This Episode:
Matthew Loftus's Resisting Therapy Culture
Curtis Chang's Anxiety Opportunity
Kathryn Greene-McCreight's Darkness Is My Only Companion
What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?
 
 
Further Reading:
DSM5 and the Medicalization of Grief: Two Perspectives (article)
Matter over mind: How mental health symptom presentations shape diagnostic outcomes
Effectiveness of school-based mental health programs on mental health among adolescents
 
 
Scriptures:
Romans 8:38–39 (ESV)
 
More From Matthew Loftus:
Matthew's website
Matthew's writing at Mere Orthodoxy
Matthew's articles at Plough
 
 
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The Good Faith Podcast is a production of a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan organization that does not engage in any political campaign activity to support or oppose any candidate for public office. Any views and opinions expressed by any guests on this program are solely those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Good Faith.

Bridging Two Worlds: An American Immigrant's Story of Faith, Anxiety, and Political Calling
 
Today, we are sharing a conversation between Curtis Chang and Lee C. Camp on the Signal Award-winning and 2026 Ambie Award-nominated podcast No Small Endeavor. Hosted by award-winning teacher and Professor of Theology and Ethics Lee C. Camp, No Small Endeavor explores what it means to live a good life through conversations about culture, ideas, and the habits that help people flourish.
 
In this episode, you'll hear from Curtis Chang as he reflects on his experience as a Chinese American immigrant, former pastor, and public theologian, and argues that anxiety sits at the root of America's political crisis. Chang explains how anxiety is rooted in a fear of future loss, and offers actionable ways to name, face, and move through that anxiety with compassion rather than avoidance.
 
You'll also hear Chang and Camp dig into how institutions are made up of people rather than systems, why that means they're capable of being healed rather than torn down, and why refocusing on the how of politics rather than just the what is essential to moving beyond our current moment of division.
 
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00:00:19 - Introducing You to No Small Endeavor
00:04:07 - What Is Curtis Chang's Earliest Memory?
00:05:26 - Immigrant Curtis and Cultural Displacement
00:07:24 - The Subtle Art of Bridge Building
00:11:44 - Henry Kissinger and Harvard
00:16:32 - Reconciliation Work in South Africa
00:20:20 - Is Anxiety an Opportunity?
00:27:54 - Anxiety in American Politics
00:39:20 - Are Institutions Multipliers of Humanity?
00:43:44 - The "How" vs. The "What" of Politics
00:50:21 - Curtis Navigates Cynicism
00:54:23 - Pessimism, Hope, and the Resurrection
00:59:40 - The Practice of Contemplative Prayer
 
 
Mentioned in This Episode:
Listen to episodes and follow No Small Endeavor
Lee C. Camp's Scandalous Witness: A Little Political Manifesto for Christians 
Curtis Chang & Nancy French's The After Party: Toward Better Christian Politics 
Curtis Chang's The Anxiety Opportunity: How Worry Is the Doorway to Your Best Self 
 
Projects and Courses:
Video Course: The After Party
Video Course: The Anxiety Opportunity
 
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The Good Faith Podcast is a production of a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan organization that does not engage in any political campaign activity to support or oppose any candidate for public office. Any views and opinions expressed by any guests on this program are solely those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Good Faith.

What Does the Confederacy's Legacy Mean for the Modern South and Christian America?
 
Host Curtis Chang and New York Times columnist, and Good Faith podcast "founding friend," David French confront the enduring power of the Confederate myth. David reflects on growing up as a white Southerner in a culture shaped by Confederate symbols, revisionist history, racial injustice, and a deeply rooted shame-and-honor code. Curtis, a Chinese American immigrant, brings an outsider's perspective that challenges familiar assumptions about heritage, memory, and belonging. Together, they examine Confederate monuments, the theological defenses of slavery, the meaning of "heritage, not hate," and whether honest historical reckoning can lead to redemption and reconciliation.
 
02:51 - Curtis Congratulates David on the Birth of His Latest Grandchild
05:54 - Why Does the Confederacy Still Matter?
10:12 - The South's Distinct Cultural Cohesion
22:19 - "Heritage, Not Hate": A White Southern Perspective
29:52 - Race, Religion, and Revisionism in the South
42:13 - The Resurgence of Explicit Racism
47:20 - What to Do with Confederate Memorials
56:32 - Repenting of Southern Shame-Honor Culture
01:01:32 - Institutions Founded on Injustice Can Carry Spiritual Darkness
 
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Mentioned in This Episode:
Learn about the Tulsa Race Massacre
Learn about The Great Migration
Watch MLK50 Conference (video)
More about General George H. Thomas
More about the Southern Baptist Convention and slavery
What is Kinism
More about the South's resistance to Reconstruction
Read the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Watch: Selma and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (video)
 
Scriptures:
Ephesians 6:12 (ESV)
Colossians 2:15 (ESV)
Luke 10:25–37 (ESV)
Matthew 20:16 (ESV)
Matthew 10:39 (ESV)
 
More From David French:
David French's New York Times pieces HERE
Follow David French on Threads
 
Follow Us:
Good Faith on Instagram
Good Faith on X (formerly Twitter)
Good Faith on Facebook
 
The Good Faith Podcast is a production of a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan organization that does not engage in any political campaign activity to support or oppose any candidate for public office. Any views and opinions expressed by any guests on this program are solely those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Good Faith.

What can Protestants learn from the Catholic tradition?
Host Curtis Chang and The Atlantic writer and former White House staffer Pete Wehner explore how Catholic social teaching—from subsidiarity and solidarity to the preferential option for the poor—offers a rich framework for Christian public life. They consider the limits of sola scriptura, unpack the importance of intellectual rigor, and define Christian humanism. Curtis and Pete also contrast the public faith of Pope Leo XIV and Vice President JD Vance, asking why faithful Christian witness should shape how believers respond to artificial intelligence and other challenges of our time.
02:31 - Does Catholic Theology Meet a Protestant Need?
04:41 - Tradition Is Powerful
08:43 - Does Sola Scriptura Have Limits?
10:19 - Protestant Traditions and Discernment
13:54 - Catholicism's Robust Frameworks 
17:08 - Reclaiming Tradition for Protestants
21:36 - Embracing the Life of the Mind
27:22 - Christian Humanism fand 21st Century Questions
30:08 - A Protestant-Catholic Convergence
37:42 - Comparing Visions: JD Vance and Pope Leo
41:16 - The Power of a Faithful Witness
 
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Referenced in the Episode:
Pete Wehner's article American Christians Face a Choice
Learn about the seven themes of Catholic social teaching
Carl F. H. Henry's The Uneasy Conscience of Modern Fundamentalism
Alan Jacobs's The Year of Our Lord 1943: Christian Humanism in an Age of Crisis
Christian Wiman's My Bright Abyss
John F. Kennedy's 1960 address to Protestant ministers in Houston (video)
Pope Leo XIV's encyclical on artificial intelligence, Magnifica Humanitas
Pope Leo XIII's encyclical on capital and labor, Rerum Novarum
Daniel K. Williams on J.D. Vances' Communion What Type of Christian is J. D. Vance?
Miroslav Volf on Forgiveness, Justice, and Reconciliation (video)
Miroslav Volf & Christian Wiman's Glimmerings
 
Scriptures Referenced:
Psalm 127:3–5 (ESV)
Acts 2:42–47 (ESV)
Luke 4:1–13 (ESV)
 
More from Pete Wehner:
Pete Wehner's articles at The Atlantic
Pete Wehner's opinion pieces at The New York Times
 
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The Good Faith Podcast is a production of a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan organization that does not engage in any political campaign activity to support or oppose any candidate for public office. Any views and opinions expressed by any guests on this program are solely those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Good Faith.

The Odyssey Isn't About Monsters. It's About Trust.
 
Before Christopher Nolan brings The Odyssey to the big screen, Curtis Chang and Jessica Hooten Wilson revisit Homer's ancient epic to ask what the story is really about: monsters, homecoming, and the search for truth among intentional lies. They explore why reading The Odyssey still matters in the age of film and AI, how Odysseus forces us to ask who we can trust, and what Christians can learn from Greek myths and pagan gods about the one true God revealed in Scripture.
 
03:53 - Reading the Homer vs. Watching Matt Damon
05:38 - When to Read the Book First?
11:06 - How "The Odyssey" Changes with the Reader
13:32 - Did A Woman Really Write The Odyssey?
16:50 - What Is The Unreliable Narrator?
23:23 - The Psychological Impact of an Unreliable Narrator
31:27 - A Christian Approach to Greek Mythology
34:37 - Understanding The Greco-Roman Culture of Jesus
41:36 - The Irreplaceable Human Elements of Teaching Literature in the Age of AI
 
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Mentioned in This Episode:
Homer's The Odyssey (Stanley Lombardo's translation)
Homer's The Iliad
Nadya Williams's Christians Reading the Classics
Yann Martel's Son of Nobody
Yann Martel's Life of Pi
Edith Hamilton's Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes 
Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology
Natalie Haynes's Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths 
Christopher Nolan's Memento (trailer)
David Fincher's Fight Club (trailer)
An Introduction to 1 and 2 Samuel (The story of King David)
 
More From Jessica Hooten Wilson:
Jessica Hooten Wilson's website
Explore Jessica's books HERE
Read articles and Essay by Jessica HERE
Follow Us:
Good Faith on Instagram
Good Faith on X (formerly Twitter)
Good Faith on Facebook
 
The Good Faith Podcast is a production of a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan organization that does not engage in any political campaign activity to support or oppose any candidate for public office. Any views and opinions expressed by any guests on this program are solely those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Good Faith.