What's a reasonable wait before you say stop talking about the past? Id once or twice mention is enough.
Balance him out by talking about your past.
Tell him stuff you want to to together.
You are not the therapist.
Lastly, try just giving them a hug.
I think facing what I has become vs what church was saying was hard to accept. I think my pain was internal .i struggled to talk about it .church don't want to discuss awarf topics
When alone in a police cell i found that facing myself actually lowered my temperature. The chill is weird. Idk my folks in church who got in trouble with police . Everyone here seems very good