X. Nader Sahyouni is a licensed clinical professional counselor and a spiritual director with a Doctor of Ministry in Spiritual Formation. He also regularly speaks at retreats and conferences on the intersection of psychotherapy, spiritual formation, and brain science. He is the author of “Anxiety Transformed: Prayer that Brings Enduring Change.” Nader lectures annually at North Park Theological Seminary’s Center for Spiritual Direction.
Anxiety drove me into the arms of Jesus. And over the years, I began to see patterns of how some ways of prayer mirror psychotherapy techniques that help reduce anxiety. Going further and studying spiritual formation, I was exposed to even more ways to pray in ways that are helpful. I was intrigued that the little bit of neuroscience that had informed my early graduate work helped me make sense of new discoveries about the brain and how it’s shaped by anxiety and reshaped by various forms of prayer.
