Remembering Eileen Burtle: A Lasting Legacy of Compassion, Courage and Care
Mind & Spirit Counseling Center mourns the passing of Eileen Burtle, who died on July 30, 2026. One of the Center’s earliest clinicians and a deeply influential member of our community, Eileen served the Center from 1981 until her retirement in 2013. She helped shape not only the care provided to clients, but also the mission and values that continue to guide us today.
Eileen joined what was then Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center during a formative time in its history. After completing additional clinical training at the Menninger Foundation in Topeka, Kansas, she became part of a small and dedicated group of clinicians working to establish the Center as a trusted source of compassionate, professional mental health care.
As a counselor, supervisor and educator, Eileen’s influence extended far beyond her own clients. After becoming a Fellow in the American Association of Pastoral Counselors and obtaining her license as a mental health counselor, she supervised residents in the Center’s clinical training program and helped guide new therapists entering the profession. She also taught ethics, encouraging developing clinicians to approach their work with integrity, thoughtfulness and deep respect for every person who sought care.
Eileen was a steadfast advocate for the Center’s mission. Even during financially uncertain years, she believed strongly that high-quality mental health care should remain available to people regardless of their income. She championed the Center’s sliding-fee program and insisted that honorariums from community presentations be directed to the Counseling Assistance Fund—known today as the Client Assistance Fund—to help individuals and families afford care.
That commitment remains central to Mind & Spirit Counseling Center. Today, the Client Assistance Fund continues to ensure that cost does not interrupt someone’s opportunity to find hope and healing.
Eileen also understood the importance of bringing conversations about mental health beyond the counseling room. She helped develop presentations for churches and civic organizations and contributed to consultation services for congregations navigating staffing challenges and conflict. Shaped by an enduring faith and her early life as a Dominican Sister, Eileen became a trusted counselor to religious sisters, priests and members of the broader faith community.
Her influence is especially visible in one of the Center’s most enduring traditions: Women Helping Women.
Through her extensive relationships across the Des Moines and faith communities, Eileen played a leading role in planning the first Women Helping Women event, created to help women and girls afford counseling. She served as the keynote speaker at the inaugural gathering.
What began as a luncheon for contributors and community leaders has grown into an annual event welcoming more than 500 people and raising more than $2.7 million in support of accessible mental health care. Every person who has received assistance through Women Helping Women is part of Eileen’s remarkable legacy.
Eileen’s colleagues remember her not only for her professional contributions, but also for her warmth, confidence, loyalty and courage. She brought energy and connection to the Center’s early team. She cared deeply for her friends, remembered the people who entered her life and showed up for others during times of loss and transition. She respected tradition, but she was also willing to challenge it when her values—and the needs of others—called her to do so.
Her longtime colleague Dr. J. Jeffrey Means described Eileen as having “a backbone of steel,” as well as a gracious heart and spirit. She offered both strength and tenderness, qualities that shaped her relationships and her decades of service.
Eileen helped build the foundation upon which Mind & Spirit Counseling Center stands today. Her belief in accessible care lives on through our Client Assistance Fund. Her commitment to developing compassionate clinicians continues through our clinical training program. Her dedication to women and girls is carried forward each year through Women Helping Women. And her conviction that counseling should care for the whole person continues to influence how we walk alongside our clients.
We are profoundly grateful for Eileen’s 32 years of service and for the lives she touched as a clinician, teacher, supervisor, colleague and friend. We extend our heartfelt sympathy to her family, loved ones, former clients and all who were fortunate enough to know her.
Eileen’s family has graciously designated Mind & Spirit Counseling Center to receive memorial gifts in her honor. These gifts will help ensure that individuals and families can continue to access compassionate mental health care, regardless of their ability to pay—a commitment Eileen championed throughout her years at the Center.
Those wishing to honor Eileen may make a memorial gift here or read her full obituary and learn more about her life here.
Eileen’s presence will be deeply missed, but the hope and healing she helped make possible will remain part of the Center for generations to come.
