Agency

A transcript of Dr. Finlayson-Fife's podcast interview with Sherrae Phelps. In the interview, Dr. Jennifer Finlayson-Fife and Sherrae discuss how we can approach our religious challenges with strength and integrity

Jody Moore: Hey everybody, welcome to Episode 281 of the podcast. Today's episode is so good, you're going to love it! And it's not bragging for me to say that because the goodness comes from my guest today, Dr. Jennifer Finlayson-Fife. If you aren't familiar with her, I don't know where you've been, but I'm happy to get to introduce you to her. Most of you probably have already heard from her, but she's one of my most favorite people to listen to and learn from, because she's brilliant. She has really valuable insight for all the things that she speaks about. Her specialty is in relationships...

Preston Pugmire: On the podcast today we have Dr. Jennifer Finlayson-Fife. She is a licensed psychotherapist and she specializes in relationship and sexuality counseling. She primarily works with LDS couples. I first came to know about her through listening to her on other podcasts. And actually, me and my wife have bought her courses and love, love, love her work. So, Jennifer, thank you for coming on the podcast today.  Jennifer Finlayson-Fife: Thanks for having me. My pleasure.  Preston Pugmire: So just kind of introduce yourself a little bit, even though I already did. But tell...

I understand why we value obedience, but I think we can hyper-value it at the expense of our moral development. I don’t believe in a god who would let us obey our way into godhood. Instead, God gives us a world in which we may borrow wisdom from others, but we also must learn through the exercise of free will, through mistake-making, through the earnest seeking of truth based in our own thinking, discerning, and seeking.

I despair sometimes at the profound divisions in our country and how much difficulty we seem to have in healing them. Our political divisions are deeper and seemingly more entrenched than ever. And in the face of George Floyd’s murder and the ensuing demonstrations against police abuses, it seems that hatred and division might consume us. What does it take to create meaningful peace? How do we create peace in a diverse and often discordant society? This challenge seems all the more overwhelming when most of us struggle to create peace in our most important relationships. The ease w...

I’ve been thinking lately about what it means to “do your best”. The reality is that we are inherently flawed and have a limited understanding of our own and others’ motivations. This impairs our ability to always do what is best or wise. There’s no getting around this. Additionally, we all have a narrative of who we are that makes our choices make sense to us, but that often are destructive to ourselves and/or others. This makes repetition of our limited choices easy, and meaningful development hard. My work is helping people see what they can’t yet see about themselves (and others),...

Dr. Finlayson-fife is quoted by author Sherrae Phelps in her article "How do I figure out God's plan for me?".  Jennifer offers her thoughts under the sections Waiting for God and Moving Forward with Faith. You can view the article using the link below: http://www.ldsliving.com/What-if-You-Can-t-Figure-Out-the-Work-God-Has-for-You/s/90057 What If You Can't Figure Out God's Plan for You? by Sherrae Phelps What does God want me to do? This is a common question that is sincerely asked by individuals seeking to live a good life and wanting their actions to be in alignment with God’s wi...

This week, LDS Living posted an article referencing an interview with Dr. Finlayson-Fife on the subject of submission.  Author Sherrae Phelps explores the theological and psychological difference between destructive submission and virtuous submission drawing on Dr. Finlayson-Fife's perspectives on the matter.  You can read the article by clicking here: http://www.ldsliving.com/When-Is-Submission-Good-and-When-Is-It-Dangerous/s/89758 When Is Submission Good and When Is It Dangerous? by Sherrae Phelps Submission has a bad reputation. As Elder Jeffery R. Holland has said, “You can be...

The text below was adapted from a presentation given by Dr. Finlayson-Fife at the "Of One Body" Singles Conference in New York City on May 16, 2015 To listen to the audio recording of this presentation click HERE. When I told a friend recently that I would be presenting in NYC on Singles and Sexuality, she smiled and asked “Is there any overlap between those two topics?  What on earth are you going to talk about?” Of course, what is comical about her question is that it exposes the deep-seated desire among us, especially among those of us who are married, to pretend that the sexuality of Sin...