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Caring for the Soul

Today there is a growing awareness among psychotherapists and counseling professionals that a healthy integration of faith and spiritual depth into one's life is a vital and important part of mental health.

Beyond the immediate needs of treating personal and relational problems in crisis situations, people have a need to care for their souls by cultivating depth, meaning, and sacredness into every day life. In a word, it's about love: learning to love and be loved, and by that opening oneself up to depth and meaning.

Part of my own faith background that informs and shapes my work entails a deep belief in the inherent value and dignity of people, no matter where they are at or what they are going through, and a belief that everyone deserves a new start, a chance for grace.

Broken relationships, tragedy, illness, and trauma can all have the effect of making people feel cut off from others, even from themselves. In such times, it's easy to feel alone, severed from God, life, and hope. Caring for the soul involves reminding people in crisis that what they are experiencing now is not all of who they are. It's about learning to see the "more" of ourselves, and the "more" of life. Remembering that even in the midst of our struggle and hurt, we are whole people, valued and loved.