Kate Motaung

About Kate Motaung

Kate Motaung is the Senior Writer, Editor, and Content Manager for a multi-state company. She is the author of several books including Letters to Grief, 101 Prayers for Comfort in Difficult Times, and A Place to Land: A Story of Longing and Belonging. Kate is also the host of Five Minute Friday, an online writing community that equips and encourages Christian writers, and the owner of Refine Services, a company that offers editing services. She and her South African husband have three young adult children and currently live in West Michigan. Find Kate’s books at katemotaung.com/books.

6 Tips for How to Help Your Children through a Difficult Season

2025-04-23T05:57:22+00:00January 31st, 2023|Christian Counseling for Children, Christian Counseling For Teens, Family Counseling, Featured|

As parents, one of our biggest desires is to raise godly, productive members of society. We want our children to be strong, independent, God-fearing, loyal, kind, and respectful. We desire for them to stand out from the crowd, notice people who are struggling, respect authority, work hard, and grow in their relationship with Christ. Christian Counseling Allen can support families in nurturing these values through faith-based guidance and counseling. We pray they save themselves for marriage, choose godly spouses, choose the best career path for their dreams, and continue to come to us for guidance and direction. The reality is that our children will struggle. They might be teased or ridiculed. They might get cut from a team or club to which they desperately want to belong. They might feel invisible. They might want to fit in. They might choose friends we would not choose for them. They might struggle in sports. They might struggle in school. They might have their heart broken by a friend or crush. They might struggle with mental health issues. They might struggle with faith. They might struggle at home. 6 Tips for How to Help Your Children Here are a few things to keep in mind to help support your children through the difficulties of their journey: 1. Don’t compare one child’s journey to another child’s journey. Just as it can be all too easy to compare our journey to those around us, it often produces unwanted pressure and negative feelings in our children. It is important not to compare one child’s journey to another child’s journey. Each child is unique and will feel and experience things differently. Sit with them in their grief. Validate what they are feeling. Get on their eye level when talking and let your heart and emotions connect [...]

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Coping Mechanisms for Stress

2025-04-23T05:48:29+00:00November 29th, 2022|Featured, Individual Counseling, Personal Development|

Stress affects us all sometime during our lives. A stressful event like a natural disaster, sudden loss of a loved one, or a constant state of chronic stress can lead to physical ailments and mental health conditions like anxiety and depression. However, you can implement coping mechanisms for stress to manage your reactions and reduce the adverse effects. Why is stress harmful? Why are coping mechanisms for stress important? Our bodies produce an influx of hormones when confronted with a threat. Cortisol and adrenaline rise, and we can either take flight (escape) or fight (stand our ground). This stress helps us get away from predators. In today’s advanced society, we are not confronted by predators wanting to eat us. However, we still experience the same stress response when faced with what our brains conclude as threats: deadlines, bills, relationship problems, illness, work issues, trauma, and losing a loved one. Whether the stress is from sudden trauma or chronic from an ongoing situation, it takes a toll on the body. It affects your mental, emotional, and physical well-being. Christian Counseling Allen can provide support and strategies to help you navigate these challenges and work toward healing on all levels. Chronic stress can cause: High blood pressure Rapid heart rate Digestive issues Headaches Weight gain Sleep disturbances Appetite changes Lower immunity Aches and pains Anxiety Depression Mood swings Irritability It can help if you speak to your primary care physician if you believe your physical symptoms are due to stress. The doctor will perform tests to determine that your symptoms are not due to a medical condition. Once physical illness is ruled out, you may want to seek the help of a therapist to manage symptoms and adopt coping mechanisms for stress. Adding stress management activities to your daily routine will [...]

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How a Mindful Skin Care Routine Can Improve Mental Well-being

2025-04-23T05:36:20+00:00November 24th, 2022|Featured, Individual Counseling, Personal Development, Women’s Issues|

A mindful skin care routine is something you do daily, preferably in the morning and evening, that helps reduce stress, encourages self-care, builds self-worth, improves social bonding, and is a lot of fun. Not only will it keep your skin healthy and protected, but it will also do wonders for your mental and emotional well-being. Christian Counseling Allen often emphasizes holistic approaches like this to support both emotional and spiritual wellness. Your sense of worth is strengthened by a mindful skin care routine. Your self-worth may be low if you have a mental health disorder like anxiety or depression, and you might not practice self-care because you don’t believe you deserve it. If this is you, you need to know that you are valued and loved. Self-care doesn’t have to involve doing something crazy like visiting a spa resort on the beach. While those things are luxurious, realistic self-care should be small things that are part of your regular life. Even little things like washing and moisturizing your face can be incredibly calming and give your day structure. Doing these little things will help you feel productive and secure even on days when you wake up wanting to do nothing. Don’t undervalue the power of skincare to boost your sense of worth. It may seem insignificant in comparison to other facets of life but it can make a big difference. Don’t take for granted the little victories you score every day; instead, celebrate them. A conscious skin care routine can strengthen social bonds. You will feel more at ease in social situations if you love and take care of your skin. People will notice your glowing smile and skin because they will be drawn to it. When your partner notices how well you’re taking care of your skin, you [...]

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Dealing with Stress by Using its Strength to Take Control

2025-04-17T06:48:43+00:00August 18th, 2022|Anxiety, Featured, Individual Counseling, Personal Development, Professional Development|

Persistent and powerful feelings of stress come from our minds. If you or someone you know is dealing with stress and anxiety, then this will ring true for you. We all react to stress in our own way, for some the contrast between choices and outcomes becomes stark, yet for others, moments of high stress bring confusion and indecision. Christian Counseling Allen offers support to help you process these emotions and find clarity through faith-based guidance. Those dealing with stress will know that working through stress systematically and logically is sometimes like coming face-to-face with a faster, more vigilant, and more powerful side of yourself. It outwits your rationalizations, outpaces your attempts to calm down, and has the potential to make you feel helpless. How can the power of your hyper-aware mind benefit you instead of opposing you? You could have a powerful ally when things got tough. Stress and anxiety are experienced by everyone and exist in a wide range of states. Dealing with stress is part of being human and is the usual response from a healthy, capable brain that expects trouble. Our brain can flip a switch and bring out a faster, more vigilant, and more powerful side to each of us. This is good when you need its help, but it can sometimes press the “panic” button and all you can hear and think about is the siren. Having our brain make us aware of when we should feel stress is very useful, it tells us about danger and helps us out of harm’s way in a very loud and overriding manner. When our brain tells us to stress out it is an instinctual reaction, which means that it feels like it is doing its job. The more we push back against feeling stressed, the [...]

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