Skip MacCarty, DMin, is the founder and creator of the Stress: Beyond Coping seminar series and education programs. Dr. MacCarty began studying stress management in the early 1970s. As a Christian pastor, he strongly believed that stress management should be an integral part of church ministry, so he started teaching classes to his own congregation and other local church groups.
Then he went through a crisis in his own life—one that seemed to sweep away everything and everyone that he valued: a beautiful wife and family, loving friends, supportive extended family, and a stable career. The rest of Dr. MacCarty’s story—a modern take on the biblical story of Job—is told in the Stress: Beyond Coping seminar series and education programs. During that desolate period, he discovered that most of the stress management principles he had been teaching were utterly useless in a personal crisis. And through the rebuilding years of his life, he learned—and applied—the principles he now shares in his current seminars and educational materials.
The Chinese character for “crisis” is a compound word of two other characters —“danger” and “opportunity.” Dr. MacCarty learned that in every crisis lurks danger. But it’s equally true that embedded in every crisis is an opportunity, even though the opportunity may be hard to see at the time. Through his personal crisis, Dr. MacCarty recognized an opportunity to create a stress management seminar that could truly help others. That is how Stress: Beyond Coping was born.
Dr. MacCarty is currently an associate pastor of a 3,000+ member church in Michigan. He continues to study and teach stress management, which has now been his passion for over 30 years.
Skip MacCarty has been accepted as a Fellow of the American Institute of Stress on the basis of the seminar.
The Business Story
The Stress: Beyond Coping seminar series was first introduced in San Diego, California in 1999. Since then, it has been taught across the United States and around the world in India, Serbia, Australia, Canada, the Caribbean, and Japan. The series has also been translated into Spanish and French.
In 2009, Dr. MacCarty formed his own company to distribute the Stress: Beyond Coping seminar materials on the World Wide Web. Participant workbooks are currently published by Health Connection (www.healthconnection.org). The seminar materials are also currently being developed into online education courses for use by individuals, church outreach programs, and businesses to include in their corporate wellness programs.
In 2008, Dr. MacCarty formed a business alliance with Rock @ Science LLC, a company that specializes in science and health education. Rock @ Science founder and owner, Dr. Pamela Coburn-Litvak, received her PhD in Neurobiology & Behavior from the State University of New York, Stony Brook, and is currently serving as Associate Professor of Biology, Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan. She has published research articles on the effects of stress on the brain in Neuroscience and Neurobiology of Learning and Behavior. Dr. Coburn-Litvak developed the brain/body physiology segments of the Stress: Beyond Coping seminar and continues to collaborate with Dr. MacCarty on course development and other education programs.
About the Stress Beyond Coping Co-Creators
William “Skip” MacCarty, D.Min., a Fellow of the American Institute of Stress, has been teaching stress management for 30+ years. His research on the subject and his 40 years’ experience as a Christian minister have contributed to the comprehensive and practical depth and breadth of this seminar.
Pamela Coburn-Litvak, PhD in Neurobiology and Behavior (SUNY Stony Brook), is a published researcher who specializes in the effects of stress on the brain. She developed the brain/body physiology segments of the Stress: Beyond Coping seminar.