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Brad Walch
Emotional Needs
What are your emotional needs?
An emotional need that I have is to be understood. I do not always feel understood by people
but when it happens it makes me feel great and accepted. I want some form of acceptance as well. I
do not need to be accepted by everyone but those in my close inner circle I want some form of
acceptance from them. I want reciprocity from people. I understand that means that I need to give
back and I am willing but I want people to reciprocate and have common curtsey with me. I want to
be heard. I have many thoughts that run in my head and sometimes I just want to share them with
someone and have them listen to the noise in my head.
How are you meeting your emotional needs?
I have a close friend that actually fulfills all of my emotional needs. The needs get met when I
spend time with my friend. This is opening my eyes into seeing that it is important that I make time
to see my friend because it helps me to get my emotional needs met. I do not get to spend as much
time with my friend as I used to but any time I spend with my friend now is always meaningful to
me and it has helped me to continue to keep my head up and to see life more positively.
What do you need to do differently?
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I need to find other ways of meeting my emotional needs because I cannot put all that burden on
one person. People have lives and I cannot look to one person to fill my emotional needs. I need to
get connected with other people in my life and have multiple sources that help me meet my
emotional needs. I need to be more cognitively aware of my emotions and my emotional needs.
This is the first time that I have actually thought about what I need emotionally. I need to have
quiet meditation where I am able to ponder and think about what emotions I’m feeling.
Mental Needs
What do you set your thoughts on?
I think about the future and the present stressors that are currently in my life. I sometimes think
that I’m not doing well in my life and that I don’t know how I am going to make it through this life
stage successfully. I think that I am not doing well as a counselor in training and that I need to get
back to practicing the 505 basic skills. I try to take one day at a time and deal with each situation as
I meet it during my day. I think that I am failing at achieving the life that I want sometimes.
How can you change your thought life to a positive thought life?
I can continue to focus on the present and each day and make sure that I try to live it to the best
of my ability. I need to remember to think on the thoughts and the past to go back to all that God
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has brought me through and use that as fuel to increase my faith to see that God will bring me
through this life stage successfully not because of my own efforts but because of His goodness. I
need to give myself grace and remember that LPC’s must have felt that they too were not doing
well when they were starting out in their practicum. I need to remember that I am in control of my
decisions and that the decisions I make influence my life and they can either bring me closer to the
life I want or further away from the life I want.
What do you need to do differently?
I need to mentally take inventory of where my life is going and what actions I need to do in
order to redirect my life back to the path that I want it to be on. I need to make sure that I am
keeping God as my focus and He will help me to see the positives in life and help me to transform
my negative perceptions to more positive perceptions. I need to not only take one day at a time but
assess my life and ask myself “if I keep doing what I’m doing now, will it lead me to a life that I
want?” I need to tell myself that the past doesn’t have to define what I do in the here and now. Just
because I struggled with assignments in the past doesn’t mean that I have to struggle with them
now.
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Physical Needs
What are your physical needs?
I need to exercise more consistently. I need to drink more water throughout my day. I need to
learn to cook better and healthier meals so that I do not turn to garbage food. I need to move more
throughout my day in general because most of my day requires me to sit. I get good sleep
throughout my week and I usually get around 6 hours, which is good for me.
How are you meeting your physical needs?
I exercise some days but not as consistently as I want to. I am meeting my physical need for
sleep as I believe that I am getting at least 6 hours of sleep on most nights. I try to eat healthy but at
times I grab junk food. I try and tell myself that at least I’m getting movement in when I have to
walk to class on Monday mornings but that is not sufficient.
What do you need to do differently?
I need to schedule time in my day to exercise. I need to try to cook healthier recipes and learn
how to become better at cooking in general. Realistically I would probably need to schedule time to
cook. I need to cut back on sugar. I need to schedule time for walks/runs throughout my week to
increase my movement.
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Social Needs
What are your social needs?
I do need more moments of laughter in my life. I want to listen to more worship music than
what I currently do because that definitely helps brighten my mood. I would like to take walks in
nature because there is something about being out in natural sunlight and God’s creation that feeds
my soul. I found out in the past that comedy movies helped me to find joy and goodness in life
when it was hard for me to see. I haven’t watched a comedy movie in awhile and that is something
that I could benefit from doing again.
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How are you meeting your social needs?
I have a small group of tight friends that are good influences and provide life giving
relationships that keep me seeing the good in life. I listen to worship music here and there and it
helps to bring positivity back to my life. I walk in nature very in frequently and haven’t done it in
probably over a month. I go to the movies with friends every once in awhile and that not only is a
nice activity to get out of the house but then I usually will converse with them afterwards which
helps to bring my mood up.
What do you need to do differently?
I need to get out of the house more. I feel like the majority of the time, going to school and
going to my practicum site are the only other places that I go outside of the house except for the
grocery store. I spend too much time on social media and staying locked up in the house. I can
listen to more worship music than what I currently am. I can start adding comedy movies into my
watch list again.
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Spiritual Needs
What are your spiritual needs?
I need to be more aware of God and His presence in my life. I need to be getting filled up with
more worship and praise music that I can pour out to God. I need to spend more time talking and
listening to God and allowing Him to feed my soul. I need to rely on God more in my life.
How are you meeting your spiritual needs?
I listen to worship music occasionally. I listen to messages and read the Bible. I pray and thank
God for His goodness to me most every day. I occasionally have conversations with people that are
focused on God and the Bible and that excites my soul and brings happiness to me. My brothers
and our friends pretty much daily encourage each other through Scripture and in the ways of God.
What do you need to do differently?
I need to prioritize my relationship with God. I need to listen to more worship music and talk to
God more throughout the entirety of the day. I need to find new devotional topics/books and read
the Bible with more spiritual sensitivity. I need to schedule my time with God and connect with
Him more.
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How does the devil exploit me with his ploys, the five D’s?
The devil gets me to be in my limbic system and I don’t think, I just lash out and become
reactive to those around me. I don’t process things and situations in a rational or logical way. I get
upset or I just shut down and leave whether it’s physically or emotionally. I see what people do and
say as threats instead of feedback or constructive criticism. I can have a short temper with people
and when I feel like people are judging me or angry with me I will flee and isolate away from
people
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Doubt
The devil gets in my head and I don’t feel like I’m doing well at my practicum. I feel like
maybe I have made a mistake and that I will not be good in this field. I feel like that my future will
not turn out well. I second guest things that I know. I doubt that my life will have a positive ending.
Discouragement
The devil has been weighing on me lately that I’m not good enough. I feel like I have been
feeling the imposter syndrome and I don’t feel adequate and I don’t know what I’m doing. I
sometimes feel like my colleagues are better than me at this field because I see how well they do
things and think through them.
Delay
I feel that I get delayed when I start focusing on how well others are doing around me that I
become judgmental of myself. The devil makes me focus on everything that is going wrong and
makes me lose sight of my relationship with God at times. The devil attacks my mind a lot and this
is perfect because if he can attack my mind then it will be so loud that I sometimes forget to ask
God to be in my situation with me.
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Divisiveness
The devil likes to get me isolated and focusing on what’s wrong with me that I lose sight of God
and all the goodness that I get in my relationships with people. I may see people as negative
because they shine down on the things that I see wrong with myself, but this is just the opposite of
what God intended human relationships to be. The devil will sometimes pull me deep into social
media and this just reinforces the thought that people are better than me and then it is easy for me to
be overly critical and judgmental of myself.
Diversion
The devil gets me to look at myself too much. I sometimes get consumed with thoughts of me
and it becomes easy to start to throw sprinkles of negativity in. It is not to long and then the
majority of my thoughts become negative and I stop seeing people as vessels that can be used to
uplift me but more as mirrors to my faults. I forget to talk to God because my mind is so focused on
me there is no more room to occupy any other thoughts in my head.
What are God’s truths compared to the devils lies?
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God’s truths are the objective truth. God’s truth is the bottom line and is true no matter what my
thoughts and feelings tell me. No matter what the devil whispers in my mind, my Creator has made
my mind and it responds to His Word and truth that over rides the devil’s lies. God’s truths are
what keep me going and staying afloat in this life.
How can I use them against the five D’s?
Doubt
I know that with God all things are possible. I will do well in whatever God has called me to do
not because of who I am but God in me. God has plans and a future of hope and prosperity for me.
If God has called me to this field, He is faithful and just to see me through it.
Discouragement
God has created me wonderfully and I am a child of the King. He qualifies me in situations that
I realistically have no place to be at. Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world. I am
more than a conqueror through Christ.
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Delay
God will never leave me nor forsake me. I look to God, he is my portion and provider. I need
to think on things above (spiritual) and not below (earthly). I need to meditate on God’s word day
and night. In all my ways I need to acknowledge God and he will direct me.
Divisiveness
God is my shelter in the storm; my refuge and my strong tower. I keep my eyes fixed on God
and with Him at my right hand I will not be shaken. I look to Jesus, the author and finisher of my
faith. God will keep me in perfect peace as my mind is focused on Him.
Diversion
I will keep my eyes fixed on the goal that the Lord has placed before me. When I seek out God
I will find Him and He has given me a spirit of power, love, and self-control. I need to draw near to
God and He will draw near to me. I will not be conformed to this world but I will be transformed
by the renewing of my mind.
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What do you need to do differently to standstrong?
I need to replace the lies of the devil with the objective truths of God. I need to take my eyes
and mind off of me and place them on God. I need to spend more time with God and make sure that
I have His law and ways written on my heart and mind. Ultimately I need to keep God first and all
of these things will fall into place. God needs to be the focal point from which everything in my life
flows from.
