Tools for Building Resilience in Uncertainty
November 7, 2025 | 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM CT
Fondren Hall at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church
5501 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77004
Continuing Education: 6.25 credits for physicians, nurses, social workers, licensed professional counselors, licensed marriage and family therapists, and psychologists.
Psychotherapeutic and faith traditions offer resources that help individuals and communities respond with resilience, creativity, and care to challenging emotions and experiences. Today’s headlines—marked by conflict, disconnection, and disorientation—often echo in the therapy room, at the hospital bedside, and during spiritual conversations. To help address pervasive feelings of division, disappointment, and existential uncertainty, this year’s conference offers tools and perspectives that can help cultivate connection and resilience.
By drawing on ancient wisdom, contemporary clinical insights, and shared ethical commitments, speakers will explore topics such as the limits and power of sanctification, the healing potential of ritual, and the enduring role of family, community, and tradition. Through dialogue and reflection, we will consider how suffering is addressed—and sometimes transformed—when we listen through both clinical and spiritual lenses.
Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of how religious and psychotherapeutic disciplines can work together to support hope and spiritual evolution towards meaning and wholeness.
Speakers
L. Wayne Ashley, M.M. | Euphonic Resilience: How Music Helps Us Survive, Abide and Thrive in Uncertain Times
L. Wayne Ashley is a vocal musician, recording artist, and educator based in Houston, TX. Heralded for "phenomenal performance" by The Boston Globe, Wayne is a versatile artist known for his charismatic vocal tone and appreciation for many genres. A member of the Grammy® Award-winning Houston Chamber Choir, Wayne has performed with some of the nation's leading music ensembles, including the Handel and Haydn Society of Boston and the Apollo Chamber Players. A native of Arkansas, Wayne was raised in a stellar musical environment surrounded by Gospel, Delta Blues, Zydeco, and RnB musicians, many within his own family.
Carrie Doehring, MDiv, PhD | Featured Speaker: Euphonic Resilience: How Music Helps Us Survive, Abide and Thrive in Uncertain Times
The Rev. Dr. Carrie Doehring is Professor Emerita of Pastoral Care at Iliff School of Theology in Denver. As a licensed psychologist and ordained religious leader (Presbyterian Church, USA), she has explored how people draw upon religious faith and spirituality to cope with trauma, spiritual struggles, moral stress, and moral injury. She is the author of 57 chapters and articles, and three books on chaplaincy and interreligious, research-based spiritual care.
James Lomax, MD | Clinical Integration Panel Moderator
Dr. Lomax is a psychoanalyst who treats individuals with anxiety, mood, and personality disorders, as well as those experiencing grief, trauma, and adjustment issues. He is interested in the connection between psychiatry, religion, and spirituality. His interdisciplinary work involves Baylor College of Medicine, Rice University, Saint Martin’s Episcopal Church, and other Texas Medical Center entities, aiming to explore healing, grief, and loss from various disciplinary perspectives.
Michael McClam, MD, FAPA | Panelist
Menninger’s medical director of inpatient and residential services, Michael McClam, MD, FAPA, is board certified in psychiatry and works on the Compass Program for Young Adults. He also is an associate professor in the Menninger Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. He previously served as director of Admissions. Dr. McClam is the current president of the Medical Staff at The Menninger Clinic. He is a member of the American Psychiatric Association. Dr. McClam earned an undergraduate degree in Mathematics from Morehouse College and his medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine.
Kenneth I. Pargament, Ph. D. | Featured Speaker: Seeing Life through a Sacred Lens: The Bright Side, The Dark Side
Kenneth Pargament is a professor emeritus of psychology at Bowling Green State University. He has authored over 300 refereed articles on the relationship between religion and mental health. He has written The Psychology of Religion and Coping and Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy. Dr. Pargament is Editor-in-Chief of the two-volume APA Handbook of Psychology, Religion, and Spirituality. With Julie Exline, he has authored Working with Spiritual Struggles in Psychotherapy. He was Distinguished Scholar at the Institute for Spirituality and Health. He has won numerous awards from the fields of psychology, psychiatry, and chaplaincy. He was named One of the 50 Most Influential Living Psychologists.
Bobbi Patterson, PhD, MDiv | Featured Speaker: Edgy Resilience
Bobbi cultivates experience-driven reflection and community-partnered action born at the intersection of resilience, community engagement, and mindfulness practices/life. Trained academically as an Interdisciplinarian of Religious Studies, her research and publications range from women’s embodied spirituality to Christian and Buddhist contemplative traditions and community-based pedagogies. Her recent work with Adaptive Resilience Theory benefits organizations and groups working with issues of burnout, healing, and participatory action. A nationally awarded teacher, she designs presentations, workshops, and retreats. An Episcopal priest, member of the Fellowship of St. John the Evangelist, and Steering Council Member of The Mind and Life Institute. Her book is Building Resilience Through Contemplative Practice: A Field Manual for Helping Professionals and Volunteers (Routledge
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this activity, participants will be better able to:
Describe how psychotherapy and faith can support resilience in times of personal and societal disruption.
Support clients experiencing moral or existential distress by integrating psychotherapeutic approaches and religious frameworks.
Apply strategies for fostering connection and reducing polarization in clinical, congregational, and community settings.
Describe how even positive aspects of clients’ religious coping can have negative consequences when there are threats from the environment or negative occurrences in their personal lives.