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E-Connect Newsletter / 6.8.16
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Meet our 2016 board president, Mary Gottschalk
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Mary Gottschalk, 2016 Board President
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We are pleased to present this brief interview with our 2016 board president, Mary Gottschalk. We offer thanks to Mary for offering us a glimpse into her commitment to leadership and to the Center's mission.
What is your connection to the Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center?
I have been involved with mental issues for many years. Both my parents were the field of psychology, and I availed myself of mental health services for several years in my early adulthood. In mid-1990's I was deputy director of Community Access, Inc., a non-profit that provided housing and mental health services to the mentally ill in New York City. I have been a supporter of the Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center since I came to Des Moines in 2000, but only recently joined the board.
What is your educational background:
I have a BA (history and philosophy) from the University of Chicago, and a MBA (finance and economics) from the University of Cincinnati. However, I am a perpetual student and have audited courses in philosophy at Drake for the last seven to eight years.
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COOL (Children Overcoming the Obstacles of Life)
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To schedule a counseling appointment for your child or teen, call 515-274-4006 or email [email protected] |
The following quotes are some of the comments we received from the teen client survey for 2015:
"I feel comfortable and safe here."
"I am able to better express my emotions and feel more secure in relationships."
"Awesome people changing lives!"
"Learning how to stand up for myself and what that can mean for my life."
The Center's COOL practice is an experiential approach to counseling that integrates integrates play, art and physical movement to help young people communicate their inner life. (See the video below to view the COOL facilities.)
To schedule a counseling appointment for your child or teen, call 515-274-4006.
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An excerpt from our 2015 annual report:
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Click image to launch full annual report.
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Career Opportunity: Finance Coordinator
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Click image for more information
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Have you seen our new three-minute video?
View our three minute video for a brief overview of our clinical services, including a tour of our facilities designed especially for children and adolescents. We were pleased to launch the video at the Women Helping Women luncheon on May 13 (see below).
The video was produced with thanks to our good friends at the Business Record and Click! Photography.
We also extend sincere gratitude to two courageous former clients who were willing to tell their story on tape so that others may be inspired. Kim and Ellie, thank you.
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to launch full annual report, click image
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View our 2015 annual report
The Center's 2015 annual report, a snapshot:
* 23,945 hours of counseling were provided
* 1,845 psychiatry sessions were provided
* 60 percent of clients were girls and women
* 35 percent of clients utilized our sliding pay scale
* 75 community members were trained in suicide prevention skills
Thank you to everyone who made 2015 a fantastic year, continuing into the present.
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Welcome Zeb!
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Zeb Treloar-Reid, M.Div.
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We're pleased to introduce our new administrative assistant/receptionist, Zeb Treloar-Reid.
Zeb is a friendly face who greets those who walk in the Center's front door, a helpful voice who answers the telephone, and a generally supportive individual dedicated to making everyone's lives easier. Zeb provides key administrative and technical services to the Center, including direct support to the Center's psychiatry team and the development office.
Zeb has a B.A. in religion with a minor in psychology from Nebraska Wesleyan University and a Master of Divinity from Candler School of Theology at Emory University.
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Welcome Rhonda!
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Rhonda Haler
Licensed Psychologist
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We're pleased to introduce our newest therapist, Rhonda Haler, a licensed psychologist providing services in the Center's COOL practice (Children Overcoming the Obstacles of Life).
Rhonda has a M.S. in psychology from Drake University and comes with more than 30 years of clinical experience. Rhonda provides individual and family therapy to children, adolescents and young adults. Her area of treatment interest include depression and mood issues, anxiety, trauma, attachment and adoption issues, parenting issues,
dissociative disorders and
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing).
To make an appointment with Rhonda, call 515-274-4006 or email [email protected].
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Redefining Aging, a conversation series - register for more chats!
Thank you to everyone who participated in April and May.
We are hosting two more conversations (June and July) and you are welcome to join us. Not a class, not a support group, this conversation series will explore ways to reframe common misconceptions about a universal experience: growing older. While pop culture tends to focus only on the losses that come in this time of life, we will consider the significant opportunities.
Participants will discover new ways to express their values, creativity and spirituality - in a joyful and supportive community.
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More opportunities to enhance Leadership and Spiritual Life
Watch for more information for summer and fall programs.
For more information contact Diane McClanahan, Director of Leadership and Spiritual Life,
[email protected]
, 515-251-6667.
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View the 2016 Women Helping Women photo album
Thank you to our dynamic, smart and compassionate planning team -- chaired by Sharon Goldford and Lauren Burgeson -- for the 18th Annual Women Helping Women Luncheon (held on May 13, 2016). This group of dedicated volunteers invested many months and much thought in creating a beautiful, meaningful community event. We extend heart-filled gratitude for their commitment to raising awareness and funds for vulnerable girls and women who need quality mental health counseling.
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Our mission is to bring understanding, hope and healing to people of all ages through counseling and education.
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Our key services:
Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center is a nonprofit, nonsectarian organization
serving more than 4,000 individuals annually including children, adolescents, adults, couples and families.
Although best known for its 44 years of quality, professional mental health therapy, the Center is a multi-faceted organization providing a range of services:
- Counseling, including specialized services for children and adolescents
- Psychological testing and assessment
- Psychiatric consultation and care
- Training for clinical professionals
- Leadership and spiritual life programming
- Career Coaching
- Conflict transformation and strategic planning services for congregations, nonprofits and businesses
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6.8.16
Dear Reader,
I am a fan of used books and specifically this book: The Four Agreements by Don Miquel Ruiz. Thus, I have a preowned copy, hardcover. I keep it close because I like to look at the cover art. Though it's used, my copy of the book is in great condition and I love that it includes a handwritten, heartfelt note on the inside cover from someone I don't know, to someone else I don't know.
In a way the handwritten note kind of makes me laugh. Wisdom so earnestly presented yet sold to the highest bidder (me, apparently). The note points to a dynamic I've had with my own kids, now nearly 17 and 19. A few years ago I gave them wisdom books as a sort of growing up present, and
my dear offspring exchanged them for quick cash (like the original owner of this book). It
was a stack of brand-new, age-appropriate health education books that I, a well-meaning mom, thought tweens would find useful as they entered a new life stage. Their first reaction was horror. I would find out later their second reaction was opportunity. I discovered they took my gifts to the
half price book store without me knowing and made a profit. I cannot speak for the original giver of this book, but for my own situation the Merle Haggard song "Mama Tried" comes to mind.
The note between strangers on the inside of my book says: "I trust your launch of your new life will best be experienced in your own ways." I think it's a pretty good note even if it wasn't specifically written to me, and even if the giver probably didn't intend the giftee to experience profit. (Maybe they needed the money?)
My own experience with The Four Agreements goes back a long ways, and I once had the
opportunity to reflect on this book
. For those of you who are still with me here, way down to the very bottom of this long newsletter (thank you!) I'd like to sign off with the listing of Ruiz' four agreements, life guidance if not for anyone else, but for me.
1. Be impeccable with your word.
2. Don't take anything personally.
3. Don't make assumptions.
4. Always do your best.
Thank you for your interest. I trust you are experiencing this newsletter it in your own way.
All best,
Terri Speirs
Director of Marketing and Communications
Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center
515-251-6670
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