NEWS PROVIDED BY
Rankin Books
June 23, 2022

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C., June 23, 2022 /Christian Newswire/ -- When well-respected psychologist Dr. Howard Rankin lost his license after a very brief, consensual sexual encounter with a former client, he had gone from paragon to pariah. The community where he had lived, practiced, and contributed for almost three decades now knew about his horrendous mistake, which was front page news in the local paper.

In his new book "Falling to Grace: The Art and Science of Redemption" Dr. Rankin traces his story with openness, highlighting the steps that need to be taken to honestly accept the situation and not fall into the victim trap. For Howard, overcoming rationalization and the victim mentality started with his spiritual life.

Howard faced the worst crisis of his life. And the first step towards Hell was having to tell his wife of more than 20 years about his sin and its horrendous implications: loss of profession, status, and money.

Despite the horror of the situation into which she had now also been cast, his wife was able to rise above the anger and find forgiveness, which Howard attributes to her Catholicism.

"I was honestly overwhelmed by her ability to rise above the anger," writes Rankin.

Howard had been attending and even ushering at the local Catholic church for several years but had never seriously converting from his Jewish upbringing. Now he saw things differently.

"I realized that if I was to have a relationship with God, it needed to be on His terms not mine."

Howard was baptized and entered the Catholic church a couple of weeks before the final Board hearing.

"It was an uplifting moment that gave me both strength and courage. No matter what the outcome in my worldly life, this was the right spiritual decision for me, and it significantly affected my life trajectory."

In his last clinical session before his hearing, Rankin was doing some joint therapy with a Catholic couple who were constantly fighting. As the session ended, the woman asked Rankin whether he had anything more to say. He responded by saying the Rosary in order to get the couple thinking with gratitude rather than narcissism. The Rosary was, in fact, the last words he ever uttered as a practicing psychologist.

A few weeks later Rankin faced another challenge; going to church just two days after his sins were headlined in the newspaper.

"I was very apprehensive. My first public appearance after the news story broke and I had to do it in front of God. However, here, in the presence of God, I found love and compassion rather than hate and ostracism. It made a huge difference to my outlook."

What Dr. Rankin has discovered on his amazing journey is that Christian teachings are exactly what we need to embrace for redemption and healing from any traumatic or difficult situation. We need to stop being defensive, egotistical, rationalizers which is the default setting of the human mind, and instead embrace humility, honesty, gratitude, compassion, respect, kindness, and emotional intelligence.

After all the "meek" (those who prioritize virtues) shall inherit the earth.

Once he accepted his situation, Howard set out to find meaning in this dark time of uncertainty. Using his psychology background and writing skills, he quickly found clients on various freelance platforms. In the last nine years he has worked with many great people and has now written 12 books in his own name, co-written another 12, including "In God’s Waiting Room" about a miraculous spiritual and physical awakening, and ghostwritten 30 others. He is also host of the successful podcast How Not to Think.

Howard has discovered that being humiliated and shamed put him in a unique position of observing how others reacted to someone of low status. He recalls an experience with his young autistic son, in which some people mocked the boy and others showed compassion.

"The disabled, the different, the diverse, the disparaged, the diagnosable, are all mirrors. In them the souls of others are reflected. They are like God's Secret Shoppers come to assess you through your attitudes to others to whom you don't seem to relate."

God's Secret Shoppers is the name of the Meta forum Rankin runs to help provide support and understanding for those struggling with these issues.

Falling to Grace can be found here: https://amzn.to/35f0xKe

SOURCE Rankin Books

CONTACT: Howard Rankin, 843.247.2980, DrHRankin@gmail.com

Related Links

DrHowardJRankin.com

FallingtoGrace.Org