Our next Faculty Friday highlight is Professor of Counseling Psychology and Founding President Dr. Dan B. Allender. Dr. Allender received his MDiv from Westminster Theological Seminary and his PhD in Counseling Psychology from Michigan State University. Before moving to Seattle, he taught in the Biblical Counseling departments of Grace Theological Seminary and Colorado Christian University.

Dr. Allender has pioneered a unique and innovative approach to trauma and abuse therapy over the past 30 years, which led to the creation of The Allender Center. He travels and speaks extensively to present his unique perspective on the impact of sexual abuse and trauma, the journey of recovery, and the art of knowing and telling our stories. Dan is the author of Healing the Wounded Heart and The Healing Path and has co-authored several books with Dr. Tremper Longman (Intimate Allies, The Cry of the Soul, Bold Love, and Bold Purpose).

Dr. Allender co-teaches an integrative class, Lost at Sea, with Dr. Chelle Stearns. He and his wife, Rebecca, live on Bainbridge Island. They have three adult children, Annie, Amanda, and Andrew, two son-in-laws Jeff and Driscoll, one daughter-in-law Elizabeth, and six beautiful grandchildren.

What are you currently reading?

The Unreasonable Virtue of Fly Fishing by Mark Kurlansky

What have you been listening to lately?

Half the City by St. Paul and The Broken Bones

What research do you find yourself drawn to at the moment?

The methodology of engaging narratives that invite ownership to one’s ground of being.

Any exciting summer plans?

I delight in getting to go fishing with my friend Steve Call every summer.

If you could have dinner with any person, dead or alive, who would they be?

Oliver Wendell Holmes Bope, my grandfather, whom I never met. I’d like to ask him about his relationship with my mother, hoping to better understand her brokenness and beauty.

If you weren’t in your current profession you’d be…?

A trial attorney.

Who is your literary or living hero?

Soren Kierkegaard.