When God Feels Far Away: Finding Hope in the Difficult Seasons
Relationship Prescriptions with Dr. Carol
Release Date: 08/11/2026
When God Feels Far Away: Finding Hope in the Difficult Seasons
Relationship Prescriptions with Dr. Carol
Have you ever experienced a season where God felt distant, your prayers felt unanswered, or your faith seemed harder than it used to be? What if those moments are not signs that something is wrong, but invitations into a deeper kind of transformation? In this episode, Dr. Carol talks with author Tish Harrison Warren about the unexpected spiritual growth that can happen in seasons of uncertainty, weariness, and longing. Tish shares from her own journey of feeling distant from God and discovering that the way God meets us often changes as we mature. She reflects on how these seasons revealed her...
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Your Feelings Are Trying to Tell You Something
Relationship Prescriptions with Dr. Carol
What do you do when a wave of anger, sadness, or anxiety hits? Do you shove it down and push through, or do you let it take the wheel completely? In this episode, Dr. Carol sits down with Zion and Avery Montgomery to explore the "ditch" most of us fall into when it comes to processing emotions, and why neither extreme actually serves us well. They dig into how our emotional habits are often formed in childhood; Avery shares how he learned to suppress tears and "man up," while Zion describes becoming her mother's emotional caretaker and convincing herself she didn't have needs of her own....
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From Reactive to Regulated: Rewiring the Brain for Healing
Relationship Prescriptions with Dr. Carol
Do your feelings ever hijack your thoughts and behavior? In today’s episode, Dr. Carol sits down with experienced therapist Dr. Eddie Capparucci to explore one of the most overlooked skills in the healing journey: emotional self-regulation. They unpack what it really means to stay regulated as Dr. Capparucci explains how staying within the internal bandwidth of one's "window of tolerance" allows people to respond to stress and triggers without swinging into hyper-reactivity or shutting down entirely. He makes the case that regulation isn't something you simply will yourself into during a...
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Healing from Spiritual Trauma: When Church Hurt Makes Faith Feel Unsafe
Relationship Prescriptions with Dr. Carol
What happens when the very things that are meant to draw you closer to God become sources of fear, anxiety, or pain? Spiritual trauma is more than disappointment with church or difficult experiences with Christians. It happens when faith becomes intertwined with trauma, leaving your nervous system physically reacting to prayer, Scripture, worship, or church as though they are unsafe. In this compassionate conversation, Dr. Carol welcomes trauma therapist Colleen Ramser to unpack what spiritual trauma really is, why it affects both body and soul, and why simplistic advice like "just pray more"...
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Belonging Without Compromise: A Journey of Faith and Same-Sex Attraction
Relationship Prescriptions with Dr. Carol
In this episode, Dr. Carol sits down with Tony Scarcello to explore his deeply personal journey involving faith, sexuality, loss, and redemptions. Tony shares about growing up in conservative Pentecostalism, discovering his same-sex attraction at age 12, and the depression and substance abuse that followed. He talks candidly about his first sense of redemption at age 16, being fired from his position as a youth pastor, the complications same-sex attraction brought to his marriage, and the journey of rebuiding his life and ministry calling. This conversation looks at the biblical passages often...
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Training vs. Trying: Why Willpower Isn't Enough
Relationship Prescriptions with Dr. Carol
Why do so many of us walk away from a great sermon or podcast fired up to change... only to fall back into old patterns a week later? In this episode, we explore the critical difference between trying and training—and why most spiritual growth advice sets people up to fail. This conversation continues our monthly conversation between Dr. Carol, Avery Montgomery, and Zion Montgomery as we draw on insights from the ancient practice of a "Rule of Life," and unpack what it actually looks like to build sustainable, daily habits that reshape what we love, not just what we know. What...
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The Rise of Artificial "Intimacy": Why Human Connection Still Matters
Relationship Prescriptions with Dr. Carol
Artificial intelligence is changing nearly every aspect of modern life. But what happens when it begins reshaping intimacy, relationships, and human connection itself? In this eye-opening conversation, Dr. Carol sits down with Michael Leahy, founder of , to discuss the rapidly growing intersection of AI, pornography, addiction, and relational health. Michael explains how AI systems are becoming more personalized, emotionally responsive, and potentially addictive—especially for young users seeking connection, comfort, or escape. The conversation also explores the alarming increase in...
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From Brokeness to Healing: Restoring Your Marriage After Betrayal
Relationship Prescriptions with Dr. Carol
In this third installment of the special marriage challenges miniseries, the conversation turns to one of the most painful and complex struggles couples can face: sexual addiction, betrayal trauma, and the long road toward rebuilding intimacy. In this deeply honest conversation, Dr. Carol's guests Clinton and Charity Munoz pull back the curtain on their journey through pornography addiction and betrayal trauma and discuss what it actually took to come out the other side together. Together, they explain how healing and recovery isn't about managing behavior on the surface it's about the...
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How to Build a Blended Family That Works
Relationship Prescriptions with Dr. Carol
In this heartfelt and honest conversation, Dr. Scott and Deana Thayer share the journey that brought them together from painful divorces and personal rebuilding to creating a thriving, blended family rooted in faith, grace, and intentionality. They open up about how difficult seasons unexpectedly became part of God’s plan for their lives and how blending two families came with both beautiful moments and significant challenges. The conversation dives deep into the emotional realities of blended families, including the unexpected aspect of grief blending a family includes. Scott and...
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What No One Tells You About Marriage and Staying in Love
Relationship Prescriptions with Dr. Carol
What does take to really build a marriage that thrives, not just survives? In this episode, Pastor Mike Novotny discusses with Dr. Carol the foundational principles for building a lasting and healthy marriage, particularly during the first year of marriage. From issues like faith, communication, sex, finances, chores, in-laws, and more, Mike delves into one of the most common — and most overlooked — sources of conflict in marriage: colliding expectations. Mike also opens up about his struggle with pornography, explaining how embracing vulnerability and living out the principle of...
info_outlineHave you ever experienced a season where God felt distant, your prayers felt unanswered, or your faith seemed harder than it used to be? What if those moments are not signs that something is wrong, but invitations into a deeper kind of transformation? In this episode, Dr. Carol talks with author Tish Harrison Warren about the unexpected spiritual growth that can happen in seasons of uncertainty, weariness, and longing. Tish shares from her own journey of feeling distant from God and discovering that the way God meets us often changes as we mature. She reflects on how these seasons revealed her desire for control rather than surrender—and how learning to trust God’s presence brought greater freedom, joy, and deeper relationships, including with her teenage daughter.
Together, they explore the ancient Christian understanding of “desert seasons” and why spiritual dryness has long been recognized as a place of profound formation. Drawing from the wisdom of the desert fathers and mothers, Tish explains why these seasons should not automatically be viewed as failures or evidence that we have done something wrong. Instead, they can become sacred spaces where God reshapes our desires, deepens our faith, and teaches us to live with greater openness and trust.
Learn more about Tish Harrison Warren and her new book, What Grows in Weary Lands: On Christian Resilience.
Follow her on Instagram-@tishharrisonwarren; X/Twitter-@Tish_H_Warren;
Facebook-@Tish Harrison Warren Author.
More from Dr. Carol Ministries:
In-Person Intensive Weekend - Experience true healing and wholeness as you unpack your personal story around intimacy and relationships in a safe, caring, Christ-filled environment.
Individual Coaching with Dr. Carol - A one-on-one format to help you navigate your personal journey through practical encouragement and scriptural-based perspective.
Have a question for Dr. Carol? She loves to hear from you! You can send her a confidential message here.