This podcast looks at the connections between spirituality and resilience through the lens of the Biblical Psalms. It explores how the Psalms help people through difficult times – times of personal and collective trauma – through conversations about personal story, field research, and theological reflection from a variety of backgrounds and perspectives. Listeners might include clergy, seminarians, spiritual directors, hymnwriters, church musicians, mental health practitioners, anyone interested in the intersection between spirituality and lived experience. <br/><br/><a href="https://psalmsforthespirit.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast">psalmsforthespirit.substack.com</a>
Psalms for the Spirit
Claim This Podcastby Kiran Young Wimberly
4.3(7 reviews)
105 episodes
Updated Bi-weekly
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Podcast Overview
This podcast looks at the connections between spirituality and resilience through the lens of the Biblical Psalms. It explores how the Psalms help people through difficult times – times of personal and collective trauma – through conversations about personal story, field research, and theological reflection from a variety of backgrounds and perspectives. Listeners might include clergy, seminarians, spiritual directors, hymnwriters, church musicians, mental health practitioners, anyone interested in the intersection between spirituality and lived experience. <br/><br/><a href="https://psalmsforthespirit.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast">psalmsforthespirit.substack.com</a>
Language
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Publishing Since
1/31/2021
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Recent Episodes
May 15, 2026
Anatomy of the Soul: John Calvin, Collective Suffering, and the Spiritual Practice of the Psalms
<p>Watch this episode on YouTube here. Paid Subscribers can view the video directly in Substack.</p><p>In this episode of Psalms for the Spirit, Kiran Young Wimberly sits down with renowned theologian, author, and longtime Union Theological Seminary president, Rev. Dr. Serene Jones, for a profound conversation about trauma, healing, and the enduring power of the Psalms.</p><p>Drawing from her influential book Trauma and Grace: Theology in a Ruptured World, Serene reflects on John Calvin’s beautiful description of the Psalms as “an anatomy of all parts of the soul.” Together, Kiran and Serene explore how the Psalms give voice to grief, rage, fear, hope, and healing — and how prayer, lament, singing, and communal worship can help people process trauma and rediscover courage, agency, and grace.</p><p>The conversation touches on collective suffering in today’s world, the role of faith communities in healing, and the deep comfort of knowing that God can hold even our most painful cries.</p><p>One especially moving reflection from Serene reminds us: “God is there holding you, listening to you, hearing your tears and your cries, your woes, not afraid of them, tough enough to hold them.”</p><p>This episode is an invitation to bring every part of yourself before God — even the broken and wounded parts — and to discover how the Psalms continue to guide us toward hope, resilience, and healing.</p><p><strong>Rev. Dr. Serene Jones</strong> is a highly respected scholar and public intellectual, and the 16th President of the historic Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York. The first woman to head the 190-year-old institution, Jones occupies the Johnston Family Chair for Religion and Democracy. She is a Past President of the American Academy of Religion, which annually hosts the world’s largest gathering of scholars of religion. Jones came to Union after seventeen years at Yale University, where she was the Titus Street Professor of Theology at the Divinity School, and Chair of the University’s Program in Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies. She is the author of several books including Trauma and Grace and, most recently, her memoir Call It Grace: Finding Meaning in a Fractured World. Jones, a popular public speaker, is sought by media to comment on major issues impacting society because of her deep grounding in theology, politics, women’s studies, economics, race studies, history, and ethics.</p><p>Learn more about Rev. Dr. Serene Jones here:</p><p><strong>BlueSky:</strong> https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:djxudgtenayfvh2bepg4s2ky<strong>Union Theological Seminary:</strong>Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unionseminary/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/unionseminary/Threads: https://www.threads.com/@unionseminaryBlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/unionseminary.bsky.socialLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/school/union-theological-seminary/</p><p>Featured Celtic Psalms Songs:</p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.celticpsalms.com/portfolio/you-have-turned-my-sorrow-psalm-30/">Psalm 30: You Have Turned My Sorrow</a></p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.celticpsalms.com/portfolio/by-the-waters-psalm-137/">Psalm 137: By The Waters</a></p><p><p>Psalms for the Spirit is a listener-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.</p></p><p></p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://psalmsforthespirit.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2">psalmsforthespirit.substack.com/subscribe</a>
April 17, 2026
Better than Normal: Orientation, Disorientation, Reorientation and the Psalms
<p>Watch this episode on YouTube <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG5yeBbFqLo">here</a>. Paid Subscribers can view the video directly in Substack.</p><p>In this episode of Psalms for the Spirit, we are joined by MaryAnn McKibben Dana ~ pastor, writer, and author of the new book Better Than Normal: Virtues for an Off-Script Life.</p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://amzn.to/4dQdMC1">Get MaryAnn’s new book here</a></p><p>MaryAnn shares the heart behind her latest book, inspired by her journey as a parent navigating neurodiversity, and her growing awareness of how narrow definitions of “normal” can limit both individuals and communities. Together, we explore how the Psalms ~ through themes of orientation, disorientation, and reorientation ~ offer a powerful framework for making sense of life when it no longer feels predictable or clear.</p><p>This conversation invites listeners to move from certainty to curiosity, from comfort to courage, and from striving to presence. It is an honest reflection on faith, vulnerability, and the beauty of a more inclusive and compassionate way of being.</p><p><strong>“Having gone through the disorienting experience and realizing how we might put it is that God was with us or helped guide us and never abandoned us, even when we felt like we were abandoned… if I can make it through that, I can make it through anything. And it's God's leading that will ultimately help us in this new chapter.”</strong></p><p>Whether you feel grounded, lost, or somewhere in between, this episode offers a reminder that you are not alone ~ and that even in disorientation, there is a way through.</p><p><strong>Rev. MaryAnn McKibben Dana</strong> is a writer, pastor, speaker, and ministry coach living in the Virginia suburbs of Washington DC. She is author of four books, most recently Better Than Normal: Virtues for an Off-Script Life. She writes a weekly newsletter for thousands of subscribers called The Blue Room, and her writing has also appeared in multiple outlets including TIME.com and The Washington Post. She was featured on PBS’s Religion and Ethics Newsweekly for her work on Sabbath and was recognized by the Presbyterian Writers Guild with the 2015-2016 David Steele Distinguished Writer Award. MaryAnn currently serves as associate pastor at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Herndon, Virginia. She is a graduate of Rice University in Houston, Texas and received her M.Div. from Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia. She is a mother of three young adults, an aspiring gardener, and an occasional ultramarathoner.</p><p>Click <a target="_blank" href="https://maryannmckibbendana.substack.com/">here</a> to learn more about Rev. MaryAnn.</p><p>Featured Celtic Psalms Songs:</p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.celticpsalms.com/portfolio/you-have-turned-my-sorrow-psalm-30/">Psalm 30: You Have Turned My Sorrow</a></p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.celticpsalms.com/portfolio/i-love-the-lord-psalm-116/">Psalm 116: I Love the Lord</a></p><p><p>Psalms for the Spirit is a listener-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.</p></p><p></p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://psalmsforthespirit.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2">psalmsforthespirit.substack.com/subscribe</a>
April 2, 2026
Drawing Closer to God through Lament: Trauma, Healing, and the Psalms
<p>Watch this episode on YouTube <a target="_blank" href="https://youtu.be/NO9DMHkB6CA">here</a>. Paid Subscribers can view the video directly in Substack.</p><p>In this episode of Psalms for the Spirit, we are joined by Dr. Cynthia Eriksson, a clinical psychologist, professor, and Dean at Fuller Theological Seminary, whose work sits at the intersection of trauma, spirituality, and resilience.</p><p>Cynthia shares her passion for helping people understand their emotional lives and build resilience not only in therapy spaces, but within everyday communities. With decades of experience studying trauma, she offers a compassionate and practical perspective on how we can care for our mental and spiritual well-being in honest and meaningful ways.</p><p>Together, we explore how the Psalms can become a daily practice, giving us language for joy, grief, anger, and everything in between. They reflect on lament as a pathway to healing, the importance of safe spaces where we can be fully honest, and how bringing our whole selves before God can gently restore connection in the midst of pain.</p><p>This conversation is both grounding and hopeful, reminding us that we don’t have to hide our emotions or carry them alone.</p><p><strong>“I find myself amazed at the ways that Psalms end up articulating things that I’m feeling right now. That they give language to places of frustration, and they also give language to requests to God.”</strong></p><p>Whether you are navigating personal struggles or simply seeking a deeper spiritual practice, this episode offers a quiet invitation to slow down, be honest, and let the Psalms hold what you’re carrying.</p><p><strong>Cynthia Blomquist Eriksson, PhD</strong> is an American clinical psychologist, professor, researcher, and academic leader specializing in trauma, spirituality, and caregiver resilience. She currently serves as Dean of the School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy and Professor of Psychology at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California.Dr. Eriksson earned her BA in psychology from Wheaton College and completed her MA and PhD in Clinical Psychology at Fuller Theological Seminary, where she began her doctoral studies in 1990 with a focus on trauma in children. She joined the Fuller faculty in 2000 and has held several leadership roles, including PsyD Program Chair, before being appointed dean of the School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy in 2023.Her research and teaching focus on trauma and posttraumatic stress, spirituality and trauma, burnout and chronic stress in caregivers, missionary and humanitarian aid worker mental health, and resilience in cross-cultural contexts. She has conducted trauma training, research, and consultation internationally in countries including Liberia, Japan, Cambodia, the Netherlands, Spain, Guatemala, Uganda, and Jordan.Dr. Eriksson is affiliated with the Headington Program in International Trauma and has collaborated on longitudinal research on stress and resilience among humanitarian aid workers, including projects funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Her work often explores the intersection of trauma, faith, cultural humility, and resilience, particularly among ministry leaders, missionaries, and urban youth workers.In addition to her academic leadership and research, Dr. Eriksson has taught courses on trauma, diversity, program evaluation, and self-care in ministry contexts. She also serves her local community by offering resilience training and consultation through local churches. Her professional work reflects a long-standing commitment to integrating psychology, spirituality, and community-based mental health care.</p><p><strong>Learn more about Dr. Cynthia here:</strong></p><p><strong>Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy: </strong></p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://fuller.edu/school-of-psychology/">https://fuller.edu/school-of-psychology/</a><a target="_blank" href="https://fuller.edu/academics/school-of-psychology/travis-research-institute/eriksson-lab/">https://fuller.edu/academics/school-of-psychology/travis-research-institute/eriksson-lab/</a></p><p><strong>Featured Celtic Psalms Songs:</strong></p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.celticpsalms.com/portfolio/from-dust-we-came-psalm-90/">Psalm 90: From Dust We Came</a></p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.celticpsalms.com/portfolio/how-long-psalm-13/">Psalm 13: How Long</a></p><p></p><p><p>Psalms for the Spirit is a listener-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.</p></p><p></p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://psalmsforthespirit.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2">psalmsforthespirit.substack.com/subscribe</a>
105 total episodes available
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- What is Psalms for the Spirit?
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This podcast updates bi-weekly.
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This podcast is available on 10 platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. You can also use the RSS feed directly.
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