After 13 years on the faculty at Wheaton College in Illinois, in 2006 I found my way home, back to Oregon where I was raised and back to George Fox University where I began my career. Wistful for a midlife adventure, I took on the challenge of building a house on a hillside in Oregon. A year later, as the project nears completion, I realize how much I love building. Power tools are one of the great pleasures of life. The smell of lumber is another.

Building is a metaphor for what I love about my professional work as an author, professor, and clinical psychologist. Sometimes I construct books or articles, and I build teaching and mentoring relationships with doctoral students in clinical psychology.

I am married to Lisa Graham McMinn, also an author and college professor. We have three grown daughters.