The gift of counseling

Terri Speirs on July 17, 2017

special to the Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center, July 2017

By Billie Wade

Billie Wade

Counseling is a gift accessible to most people who want to explore and transform their lives. My experience with the gift of counseling spans several decades as a client as well as a seven-year stretch during which I sat in the counselor’s chair as a chemical dependency treatment counselor. I was a counselor in counseling, which is imperative. Counseling provides a safe place to explore my inner world and help me reframe the outer world. Counseling is a gift I receive on my journey of self-discovery. Counseling frees me to voice my deepest thoughts, confront my most pressing problems, and receive feedback, encouragement, guidance, support, and reflection.

The eldest of three children, I grew up in a turbulent home. At age thirteen, I wanted counseling, but my mother refused, thinking counseling was for “crazy” people. My family doctor prescribed “nerve pills.” Shortly after my fifteenth birthday, I experienced a miscarriage. I graduated from high school at age seventeen and married a year later. At the age of twenty-two, I attempted suicide. My husband ridiculed me. The medical staff in the emergency room told me not to do it again and sent me home. In my mid-twenties, my doctor diagnosed me with clinical depression. Thus, began my rounds with counseling and medication.

Counseling helps me detangle the tightly woven threads of confusion and shame that I’ve protected for years. Counseling helps me face the challenges as I confront the issues of my life. Counseling helps me gain clarity about the events of my life. I can see options as I learn to look at my life from a new vantage. Talking with someone I trust helps me see a problem as it is. Unless I share my thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and opinions, they go unchecked. I think I am right and I may be wrong, very wrong. My counselor validates my process by encouraging me to explore my experiences and feelings.

Counseling has carried me through many difficulties. Family of origin. A difficult marriage, and divorce. The birth of my child. My return to school as an adult learner. A career change. Loss of two jobs. Loss of identity. Grad school. Forced retirement. The deaths of my parents, sister, and partner. I could not have walked those dark hallways alone. I’ve needed a nonjudgmental person who could see all of me, help me recognize patterns and blind spots, and cheer me on in my growth.

Counseling has helped me see other people differently as I bring my own life and behaviors into perspective. I more readily see that we all have something to offer each other. People I find abrasive or unpleasant may hold valuable lessons for me if I give them the opportunity. Likewise, I have wisdom and insight to share. I am now more prone to consider the difference between responsibility and fault.

I have learned to respect my needs. Despite societal messages to the contrary, seeking professional counseling takes courage. It takes courage to look in the mirror and accept that we need the guidance, support, and encouragement of another person. It takes courage to pick up the phone and stay on the line long enough to say, “I need to make an appointment.” It takes courage to show up the first time. It takes courage to lay one’s life in the lap of a stranger.

My journey led me to the door of Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center when the organization was on Ingersoll, then to Westown Parkway, and finally to the present location. Most recently, the Center has seen me through the past four years as I faced life-changing losses on several fronts.

I am grateful for the gifts of counseling and the Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center. Peace to everyone.

Billie Wade is a gregarious introvert whose primary interests are writing, lifelong learning, personal development, and how we all are affected by life’s vagaries. Issues facing black people, women, the LGBTQ community, and aging adults are of particular concern to her. She enjoys open-hearted dialogue with diverse people. The opinions expressed here are her own.

Read more blog posts by Billie

Understanding and treating “self-injury”

Terri Speirs on June 26, 2017

by Alison Li, L.I.S.W., therapist at the Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center

Alison Li, L.I.S.W.

(June 2017) People cope with stress and emotional pain in many ways: exercise, alcohol, eating chocolate, meditation, using drugs, therapy, self-injury. All of these can be effective coping mechanisms in the short-term; not all, however, are effective in the long-term.

Self-injury, also called deliberate self-harm, is the act of intentionally hurting one’s body for purposes that are not socially recognized, and without suicidal intent. The most common form is cutting, although it can take many forms. It usually starts early in life, around adolescence. Studies have found that 12-24 percent of young adults have self-injured, and that around 6 – 8 percent chronically self-injure.

The reasons for self-injuring are diverse, but share a common theme of providing a release or relief for overwhelming negative emotion or emotional pressure. Sometimes, it is a way of feeling physical pain in the face of overwhelming emotional pain, or as a way to “feel something” when an individual feels emotionally numb. It can also be used as a means of coping with anxiety.

Self-injury is often misunderstood as suicidal behavior. In fact, individuals who self-injure are doing so in order to cope with overwhelming negative feelings, and most studies find that self-injury is often used as means of avoiding suicide. Self-injury is also often misunderstood by family and friends as a means of getting attention, or as “manipulative” behavior. While attention is often a result of an individual injuring themselves, this is usually an unintended outcome – most people who self-injure do so in private, make great attempts to hide their injuries, and often feel shame or guilt about the injurious behavior.

Effective treatment of chronic self-injury ideally involves working with a therapist to address not only the cutting or injurious behavior, but also the underlying triggers and causes. In addition, it can be very helpful for family members to participate in the therapy, in order to educate themselves about how to best support their loved one through the recovery process.

To learn more about self-injury, an excellent resource is the Cornell Research Program on Self-injury and Recovery. They provide information for individuals who self-injure, as well as family, friends, and youth serving professionals. They can be found online at http://www.selfinjury.bctr.cornell.edu.

*

Alison Li is one of 26 clinicians at the Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center. One of her treatment specialties is self-injury. To make an appointment with her, or another counselor at the Center, call 515-270-4006. The Center’s mission is to bring hope, healing and understanding to people of all ages through mental health counseling, psychiatry and education. For more information please visit our website: www.dmpcc.org or find us on Facebook.

*

For more Health tips from the Center: www.dmpcc.org/healthtips

Men, Boys and Mental Health: An Ongoing Conversation

Terri Speirs on June 7, 2017

Welcome to our blog about mental health issues specific to men and boys. Please watch for monthly posts from a variety of clinicians at the Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center. We hope you’ll join the conversation!

Post 5: Men/Boys and Mental Health: The Courage to Seek Intimacy

Post 4: Men/Boys and Mental Health: Provider Anxiety

Post 3 : Men/Boys and Mental Health: Suicide Awareness and Prevention

Post 2 : Men/Boys and Mental Health: Unique Perspectives

Post 1 : Men/Boys and Mental Health: An Ongoing Conversation

 

 

Post 1 :: Men/Boys and Mental Health: An Ongoing Conversation

Terri Speirs on June 7, 2017

Mark Minear, Ph.D.

by Mark Minear, Ph.D., licensed psychologist at the Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center

(June 2017) The issues facing men/boys with regard to mental health are no more or less diverse, complex, or complicated than those facing women/girls; in some respects, however, they are, at times, different.  And, perhaps, those issues are more challenging with these two basic, well-researched facts: (1) that men are less likely to reach out for professional mental health services when they need it, while at the same time, (2) that men are also much more likely to give up in despair and end their lives by suicide when they are depressed.

One year ago when I walked across Iowa on the Old Lincoln Highway from the Mississippi River to the Missouri River, my focus was on men/boys and mental health while attempting to raise both awareness as well as financial support for the Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center’s counseling assistance fund for men/boys.  (After all, the Center has been very diligent for over the past 20 years with a Women Helping Women influence; and we have lacked options for how men might be able to help men—or how to emphasize the issues facing men and boys.)  Upon the completion of my trek, the Center was ready for me to continue my blog to highlight men’s and boys’ emotional and psychological needs, consider how our Center could be more effective in reaching out to men and boys, and expand and strengthen our services to make them more meaningful with healing and empowerment to men and boys.

This led to a series of conversations over the past year among the men employed at the Center with recognition of our diversity and even some ambivalence in the optimal ways to communicate with men and boys: defining the masculine experience, especially across generations as well as within a cohort, is difficult, limiting, and ambiguous.  What does it mean to be masculine?  Simply being confronted with that question immediately brings up images, prejudices, and stereotypes, for all of us.  It seems that we could simply honor the two long-held affirmations of (1) “how every person is unique” and (2) “folks are the same the whole world over”—and this could be the end of the discussion!  As a matter of fact, the eight of us at the Center even had an exhilarating deliberation about what we should name this blog—acquiescing to the idea that nothing can be said about men or boys as a population… it all depends upon individual differences anyway.

But it does seem to be important, and hopefully helpful, to get us all to think about what individual men and boys might need—raising the questions pushes us all to reflect, discuss, inquire, re-evaluate.  For instance, does depression or trauma or grief generally look different in men/boys than in women/girls?  And what about shame—how might men/boys present with the emotional distress of shame… or fear or insecurity or anxiety or _______________?

Men are in trouble (as well as boys who grow up in our culture): they often seem to sink alone instead of asking for help—sometimes digging their holes deeper by their lack of healthy coping responses and resources; they often withhold from others what they consider to be indications of their weaknesses; and they often react with anger instead of embracing the deeper, more basic emotions of hurt, fear, or sadness.  Men—and boys following their male role models and buying in to the messages in our current society—seem primarily equipped to express one emotion: rage.

Over the coming months, please watch for this blog and make your contributions.  Other writers here at the Center will join the conversation, but we want to keep it in the form of a blog so you can respond and add to the discussion.  I believe that you can enhance this conversation!  Perhaps there in nothing new to be said about men/boys and their emotional and psychological needs—or at least nothing that can be universally clarifying about this topic; or, perhaps, some written reflections might just speak to someone’s condition—the man who is in emotional pain, the boy who is hurting and scared, or the wife, mother, sister, daughter who cares and is concerned!

Men’s blog homepage: www.dmpcc.org/men

*

In 2016 Mark Minear walked across the state of Iowa to raise awareness and funds for men and boys’ mental health. Read his daily reflections here: www.dmpcc.org/WalkwithMark.

 

Media Release

Terri Speirs on April 28, 2017

The community is invited to the 19th Annual Women Helping Women luncheon, benefitting vulnerable women and girls who need mental health counseling

Click image to launch printer friendly version

(Des Moines, Iowa) May 2, 2017 – The Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center is hosting its 19th Annual Women Helping Women Luncheon, benefitting vulnerable women and girls who need quality mental health services. The luncheon will take place on Friday, May 19, 2017 at the Embassy Suites in downtown Des Moines. To make reservations, please visit www.dmpcc.org or call 515-251-6670.

The keynote speaker will be artist, professor and social activist Tilly Woodward. The honoree will be Pamela Bass-Bookey, whose leadership as a founding member and first President of the Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation has helped to make Des Moines a world class destination for public art.

Women Helping Women has built a strong reputation as an event that provides stimulating, motivational speakers, creates an exceptional opportunity for networking, and, most importantly, supports women in need. Last year nearly 500 people attended the event and the funds raised helped provide over one thousand counseling sessions for women and girls who otherwise would not have had access to counseling.

“It is deeply moving to see how people respond to Women Helping Women with great generosity in spirit and support,” said Terri Mork Speirs, Director of Marketing at the Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center. “Many of us have personal experience with depression, anxiety, abuse, trauma, loss and other emotional challenges – and we want to help others. The luncheon is a chance to enjoy a lovely time with friends for a great cause while being inspired by two amazing women.”

Mental health is an important issue for all. For women and girls the needs are further complicated because of their overrepresentation in populations that experience poverty and crime. Lone mothers can be the most vulnerable and often have little to no access to resources, including counseling and psychiatry.

Since 1999, the Center’s Women Helping Women annual luncheon has raised almost $700,000 to provide counseling assistance so that those who need professional help may access it, including those who are underinsured or live in low-income households.

For more information and to make reservations, please visit www.dmpcc.org or contact Terri Speirs at [email protected] or 515-251-6670.

*

More about the Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center:

The Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center is a nonprofit, nonsectarian organization serving more than 3,700 individuals annually including 645 children and adolescents. The Center is not affiliated with a particular religious group and respects the values of all. Although best known for its 45 years of providing professional mental health therapy, the Center is a multi-faceted organization providing a range of services to promote education and understanding:

  • Counseling, including specialized services for children and adolescents
  • Psychiatry
  • Psychological testing and assessment
  • Training for clinical professionals
  • Leadership and spiritual life programming
  • Career Coaching
  • Conflict transformation and strategic planning services for congregations, nonprofits and businesses

*

Media contact:

Terri Speirs, Director of Marketing and Communications

Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center

8553 Urbandale Ave., Urbandale, IA 50322

515-251-6670 / [email protected] / www.dmpcc.org / YouTube Channel

*

Related photos

Event speaker, Tilly Woodward, click for high resolution image

 

We’re expecting 500 attendees. Click image for high resolution image.

Women Helping Women logo

 

When you can’t do it alone

Terri Speirs on April 17, 2017

Carol Bodensteiner is an award winning author, and a member of the 2017 Women Helping Women committee.

Special to The Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center

By Carol Bodensteiner

If you’re at all like me, you feel you should be able to handle what life throws your way. Sure we know we’re going to hit bumps in the road, but even when we go down, we pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, as the song goes, and start all over again.

My sense of how to handle life comes from my German and English heritage. From my mother’s side, I inherited the well known English traits of ‘stiff upper lip,’ and ‘keep calm and carry on.’ From my father’s side, I acquired the German ability to work hard and solve my own problems.

These traits served me well throughout my life. Successful career. Raising a son. Marriage – divorce – marriage. No challenge I couldn’t tackle. If I just put my head down and kept moving forward, all would be fine.

Until it wasn’t.

When my mother died in August 2007, it was a shock because she was healthy. Even though Mom was 91, her death seemed in the order of things. But when my sister died by suicide less than nine months later, I was knocked off balance. Within the following 18 months, two close cousins and my mother’s sister also passed away. Then my husband and I hit a rough spot in our marriage.

The magnitude of such significant losses in such a short time, as well as the threat to my marriage, shook the earth I stood on. Who was I without those people who raised and shaped me? How would I manage if my second marriage crumbled? I questioned everything and everyone, from my church, to the values I was raised with, to who I was and who I wanted to be.

Believe it or not, I thought I could still manage on my own. One foot in front of the other. Keep moving ahead. After all, what else can you do?

Except I wasn’t okay. When my husband lost his footing on a ladder and wound up in the emergency room with a broken ankle, I realized I was done. Life was ‘piling on,’ and I couldn’t take it anymore.

In a rare moment of open sharing, I unloaded my anxiety on a friend. She recommended the Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center. Even though I’d known about the Center for years, counseling is never my first thought. It’s not the way I was raised.

Yet I had nothing left and I knew it. I made an appointment. Then another and another.

Soft spoken and caring, my counselor helped me walk through the present-day trials, even as she teased out relevant factors from my childhood, my relationship with my parents, and my first marriage that contributed to the pit I found myself in.

As a writer, I process things by writing about them. I approached the counseling sessions the same way. Notebook on my lap, pen in hand, I recorded thoughts and words to consider later.

It is difficult to hear, to think, to talk, to write when you’re crying, which is what I did throughout most sessions. I needed to let it all go, and my counselor let me. Without judgment. Mostly she asked questions, forcing me to examine my own self. Periodically she suggested ways to think about a point and possible ways to move forward.

Above all, she gave me an unbiased, non-judgmental perspective, which I desperately needed. Over time I arrived in a better place.

I am grateful to the Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center for offering a safe haven with talented counselors to help me and others through the rough spots, those times when even the most independent of us, in spite of our training and will, can’t go it alone.

Carol Bodensteiner is a writer who finds inspiration in the places, people, culture and history of the Midwest. After a successful career in public relations consulting, she turned to creative writing. She blogs about writing, her prairie, gardening, and whatever in life interests her at the moment. She published a memoir Growing Up Country: Memories of an Iowa Farm Girl in 2008. She indie published her debut novel Go Away Home in 2014. Go Away Home was acquired by Lake Union Publishing, an imprint of Amazon Publishing and re-launched in 2015.

 

A reflection on trust

Terri Speirs on March 14, 2017

March 2017 – A reflection by Jim Hayes, Executive Director, Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center

*

In God We Trust.

When is the last time you looked at a dollar bill—I mean really examined it?

The currency claims we trust God, meanwhile we’ve created a legal tender that is itself an idol. Ironic, eh?

I have been in many conversations of late that have touched on the issue of trust. The topics of the conversations varied: politics, workplace, religion, family relationships, among others. Trust as a common thread certainly helps one to appreciate the necessity of trust in the tapestry that makes up all of our relationships.

As an organization that helps clients to navigate the complexities of relationships—and to bring hope and healing through counseling and education to the scary places where despair and pain lurk—trust is not simply a concept, but life’s blood for the healing process.  For those who bring questions of spirituality, faith and theology into this mix, we raise the stakes by wondering about our trust in the almighty, the creation, the cosmos. If we can’t trust that power, what’s left?

In God we trust? In others we trust? In our country we trust? In our therapist we trust?  In . . . what do we trust?

I have worked hard in my first couple months as the executive director to build trust. I have been meeting with colleagues here at work to better understand what is great about the Center and to deepen my appreciation for the talent and gifts that our staff members bring to work each day. I have been in conversations with board members and lots of donors and others committed to the success of our work. It is clear to me that we need to be an organization worthy of the obvious trust people place in us in spite of the limits imposed by the human nature of all involved. How do we earn and maintain trust? Here are some spontaneous musings:

  1. Keep your word and maintain the integrity of words and actions.
  2. Trust takes time and work. It is only earned through depth of relationship, so never take it for granted.
  3. When we have relationships in our lives worthy of trust, we should continually offer thanks to others for the hard work they have done to earn our trust.
  4. Finding common ground. We certainly don’t need to all think alike or believe in the same things, but we do need to take the time to know one another and appreciate our similarities.
  5. Trust your own values and beliefs. Given all the diverse systems of understanding and belief, we need to be honest about who we are. It certainly opens us up to ridicule and rejection, but we can be trusted to be who we are in all times and places.

What else would you add to this list?

Let me offer an example out of my own faith perspective. The Christians among us (we are a diverse group of many beliefs, who serve an equally diverse clientele) are in the midst of a Lenten journey, preparing for the foundational feast of Easter. It is often a journey of exploration of the many ways we have not been trustworthy.  Before the glory of the resurrection, Jesus becomes the exemplar of trust in the God of creation. In the Garden of Gethsemane, as the powers of distrust, death and darkness close in on him, just when it seems that God has abandoned him and the earth, he offers this prayer: “Abba, all things are possible for you . . . if you are willing, take this cup away from me; still, not my will, but yours be done.”  Talk about trust!

James E. Hayes, D. Min., M. Div.

James E. Hayes, D. Min., M. Div., Executive Director, Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center

My hope is that the Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center will always do our best to be worthy of the confidence our community offers us as we live out our mission. Part of that mission is to help all those we serve to build or re-build healthy relationships, worthy of trust.

*

More from Jim’s blog: dmpcc.org/Jim

Health Tip – Mindfulness: Be Here Now!

Terri Speirs on March 13, 2017

Mark Minear 2012

Mark Minear, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist at the Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center

By Dr. Mark Minear, Psychologist at the Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center  

“We never keep to the present… We anticipate the future as if we found it too slow in coming and were trying to hurry it up, or we recall the past as if to stay its too rapid flight.  We are so unwise that we wander about in times that do not belong to us, and do not think of the only one that does; so vain that we dream of times that are not and blindly flee the only one that is.” (Blaise Pascal, Pensees, 1659)

I know that it may sound simplistic, even trite, to suggest the importance of living in the present moment—but it is true.  The regrets of the past and the fears of the future are the primary culprits that take us from the gift of the present.   And—if you will allow me a little oversimplification, regrets and living in the past fuel depression and fears and living in the future fuel anxiety.  So… it does make intuitive sense that inhabiting the present moment is of great value to our wellbeing.  The challenge, which most of us don’t readily appreciate, is that if you want to improve your ability to attend to the here and now—then you will need to practice!

Jon Kabat-Zinn suggests that “mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally.”  You can understand, then, how meditation is simply an optimal way to practice—paying attention with intention and lovingkindness to one’s breath, one’s thoughts, one’s body, sounds in the environment, a candle or a sunset, the taste of blueberries, the aroma of fresh baked bread, etc.… you get the idea.

It would be wise to take some time each day in a formal way—five to ten minutes is a good start (research has shown that consistency is more effective than lengthy times if they are sporadic); however, you can then augment your practice when you have a few minutes waiting for someone, two to three minutes at work for a mini-break, turning off the television and staying in your chair, etc…. you get the idea.

When you practice, you are more likely to know when you are not in the present moment so that you can gently return to the present moment—even under stressful conditions (when we are conditioned to return to the past or tempted to reach for the future).  So… in closing, here are a few nuggets to consider:

  • Be gentle with yourself: nonjudgmental = self-compassion.
  • When you catch yourself straining, know that you are not on the path of mindfulness.
  • Accept the things you cannot control, including your thoughts—but remember you can make choices (including the observation of and the response to your thoughts).
  • Explore the resources on mindfulness—great books, websites, YouTube, etc.
  • Experiment with your practice—investigate with curiosity for what is beneficial.
  • Integrate mindfulness meditation into your current spiritual practices.
  • Be grateful—always a way to be “in the moment”; consider developing a daily gratitude journal.

Two closing quotations:

“The best spiritual advice is the simplest—pay attention.”  (Alexander Green)

“You must live in the present, launch yourself on very wave, find your eternity in each moment.”  (Thoreau)

Register here for the Center’s upcoming Mindfulness Training class.

*

In 2016 Dr. Mark Minear walked across the state of Iowa to raise awareness for men’s mental health. View his photo gallery and read his travel blog here. 

Hope is the thing with feathers

Terri Speirs on February 14, 2017

February 2017 – A reflection by Jim Hayes, Executive Director, Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center

*

Hope is the thing with feathers by Emily DickinsonHope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul…

So begins the poem of Emily Dickinson on hope. The poor bird is abashed by chill and storm and somehow perseveres.

Hope has often been on my mind of late. We have had many discussions as a staff about how to live our mission of hope and healing in an age of turmoil. For many, the current social and political context, along with the accompanying shouting, has ratcheted up the anxiety levels of many of our clients who already struggle with heightened emotions. They are not alone. Others experience emotional intensity by holding feelings back—not wanting to risk exhibition of feelings or thoughts for fear that they will be judged. If the mission of the Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center is to bring hope and healing through counseling and education, what is our role in this age of turmoil? Such storms threaten to blow the feathers right off us!

My response is rooted in the theological understanding of hope. If you’ve ever run across the word “eschatology,” count your blessings. It’s rooted in the Greek notion of the end times, when all will be brought to fulfillment. You find good examples of the notion in many spiritual traditions, particularly the Jewish and Christian scriptures. Think “apocalypse” and you’re in the ballpark. Eschatological hope is rooted in the notion of that which is fulfilled already and that which is yet to be fulfilled. We experience the “already” in moments of flow, love, and right relationship when the world seems to be a good place. The “not yet” is when we bump up against the limits of this life. These are the scary times of fear, loss, and injustice. Such moments raise questions such as why? Why now? Why this? Wait, what????

As one of our staff mentioned when we were discussing how such moments impact our therapies, spiritual direction and everyday conversation, we stand in the gaps between the already and the not yet. A reference was made to Parker Palmer’s fine book, Healing the Heart of Democracy, which names such gaps and potential responses to such moments. The gaps are not places of comfort, but certainly offer opportunity and hope. For the “already” members of our tribes, it means getting busy making the world a better place in the face of fear, loss, and injustice. Hope doesn’t allow for passivity in such moments, but inspires engagement and getting our hands dirty in doing the good work that needs to be done. The “not yet” folks offer us a message of hope that reminds us that we are a part of a creation that existed before us and will continue after us. As one of my heroes, Oscar Romero, put it: “we are prophets of a future not our own.” Such prophets remind us that we have work to do, but that we also need to acknowledge our inability to bring the fullness of good to fruition.

Let me move from the philosophical and provide an example. I volunteer every Friday at a place called “Hope Ministries,” which works with the homeless. I spend every Friday with men who have messed up their own lives and those they love in ways beyond the imagining of most of us. And yet, we have the audacity to meet every week and talk about hope—a future of possibility. Some of them get there—sober, reconciled with families, re-engaged as employed and contributing citizens. Others return to the streets. Already and not yet.

As each of us contemplates our calling and role in our current social and political context, remember that we are rooted in hope. We take hope and healing very seriously in our daily mission here at the Center. In the moments it’s evident, we celebrate. And we give thanks for all of you who make it possible. In the moments the turmoil tempts us with despair and fear, I encourage us all to remember the following gem from a survivor of one of history’s greatest evils:

“Everything can be taken from a man (person) but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
― Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning

Let us choose hope and healing.

James E. Hayes, D. Min., M. Div.

James E. Hayes, D. Min., M. Div.

For more of Jim’s Blog: dmpcc.org/Jim