Dawn Gabriel on How To Know If You Are A Spiritual Explorer | PoP 580

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Welcome to the Faith Fringes Podcast, a place to explore more than the traditional norms of the Christian culture. For those desiring a deeper connection with God and engaging their spirituality in new ways, this place will allow doubt, questions, and curiosity without judgment.

In this reverse podcast episode, Dawn Gabriel talks about how to know if you’re a spiritual explorer.

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Meet Dawn Gabriel

Dawn Gabriel is the owner of Authentic Connections Counseling Center, private practice consultant, and host of Faith Fringes podcast.

She is passionate about helping people achieve freedom from what’s keeping them stuck and specializes in creating space to look deeper into our spirituality and faith free from judgment and shame.

Dawn is a wife and mom of 2 boys who all love living and adventuring in Colorado.

Visit her counseling website, connect on Instagram and Facebook.

Visit her podcast website and connect on Instagram and Facebook. Sign up for Dawn’s free 9-week email course.

In This Podcast

  • Meet your host
  • Why I started this podcast and who it’s for
  • Pillars of this podcast

Meet your host

I’m Dawn Gabriel and I am from Castle Rock, Colorado. I have been married to my husband Chris for 11 years and we have two boys, and have been a therapist for 15 years and I am the group practice owner of a counseling practice in Castle Rock.

I love hiking and reading, I’m a wine enthusiast and a chai-connoisseur.

I actually grew up in a Christian home in the midwest. There, I grew up going to youth group and I even went to a Christian college and a Christian grad school but after I graduated college I had decided there were some things that weren’t really sitting well with me. I went through some major life events and transitions that really made me question if I was a “good enough” Christian. (Dawn Gabriel)

That’s when I began questioning my faith, and myself. It was not my faith in God that I was questioning, but what I had been taught to believe about Him.

I wrestled and doubted and what I came away with was different from what I had learned in the church.

In my 20’s, my new faith journey began. I moved to Colorado in my 30’s and my faith journey exploded in a different way because I moved out of the midwest church culture and into the more religious openness of Colorado where I had the space to recreate my faith and what I believed in.

Why I started this podcast and who it’s for

My journey is a little different to what I experienced in church and what was expected of me and so I realized even though I was different than what the culture was telling me … I still wanted to connect with God on such a deep level, I still have that longing and I bet other people do too. (Dawn Gabriel)

A fringe, for me, is edgework. Edgework is where you push yourself over the edge of your comfort zone and this is the space where you grow and learn.

You have to push yourself and do edgework, meaning I want to grow, I want to learn, I want more … that’s what I think of when I think of this podcast: this is for people who are spiritual explorers. They have been comfortable – or not comfortable – and want to do more. They know there is more connection and they long for more. (Dawn Gabriel)

I am hoping to provide some hope and the opportunity for you to explore your edgework around your spiritual and religious boundaries about what you think you should, or should not, do or be.

Pillars of this podcast

  1. Spiritual explorers: creating a space where people can talk about their religion and faith when they yearn for more than what they were taught.
  2. Talking with people who have experienced hurt or pain or doubt on their religious journey. I have seen so much healing in the intersection between spirituality and therapy and that is something that I would like to do with this podcast: create a space for healing where you can strengthen your relationship to and with your faith.
  3. Trail therapy: this is important to me and so I will expand this podcast into the realm of nature and how much healing is involved in nature, beauty, and “getting out there”.
  4. Community: the importance of people who are safe to talk to about the deep things that we have in our soul and want to examine and put to rest.
  5. Stories: when you hear someone’s story, it changes a lot and provides perspective to all the different experiences around us in the world.

Books mentioned in this episode

Useful Links:

Meet Joe Sanok

private practice consultant

Joe Sanok helps counselors to create thriving practices that are the envy of other counselors. He has helped counselors to grow their businesses by 50-500% and is proud of all the private practice owners that are growing their income, influence, and impact on the world. Click here to explore consulting with Joe.

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