What happens when you're thrown into the deep end of the pool? You either sink or you learn to swim. This was my experience with mental health. A few months after getting married and finishing a degree at a seminary, I received a call that a young lady needed help. I went to a friend’s house to meet the young lady and see if I could help in any way. She said that each time she tried to read a certain book that she felt hands strangling the life out of her. I had never heard of this before, but it was obvious she had some hallucinations to add to the mix. My wife and I were trained spiritually to help people with spiritual problems, but I didn’t know what to do when faced with people from complex trauma backgrounds. We did the best we could in praying with the young lady and giving advice that we thought would help. Turns out, her heart was deeply hurting from being a survivor of sexual abuse. She made an amazing recovery and hasn’t had any more issues since that day. Though I was left with so many questions and a deep hunger in my heart to learn more. Shortly after that experience, my family and I moved to Italy to work with refugees coming into the country during the 2016 migration wave. Daily I would meet young men who had tremendously moving stories of torture, abuse, and pain. For seven years I listened and empathetically tried to console their hurting hearts. I prayed, listened and prayed some more, trying to use any and every resource I knew to help these hurting young men. I concluded that I needed more tools. I moved back to America, now with three kids and a wife in tow, and began working in a boys and girls facility in foster care. I began counseling teenagers, waiting for the right time to go back to school and get my master’s in clinical counseling. After a year, I felt the pull from God to apply and begin an online program. I told God, as if he didn’t already know, that I had no spare money to pay for school, let alone provide for all our expenses at home. I knew it was time, so I dove in the deep end once again and began studying. My goal is to become a LPC and eventually specialize in trauma among refugees, migrants, or survivors of natural disasters. I have had this dream since I was young, I just didn’t think it would be through the lens of a counselor. I had envisioned being a doctor and missionary when I was a kid but here I am, now in my 30’s with a family of 5 and longing with the same intensity to help broken people become whole again. My experience living in India and then having lived in Italy for 7 years has taught me about how to listen to those who have suffered at the hands of others. Now, as a counselor and case worker for the past two years, I hear horrendous stories of kids who are in the midst of the greatest battle of their lives. They wrestle with their mental illness and speak with the experience of an aged adult who has been to war and back. The children long for healing and normalcy though all they know now is pain. Seeing them experience joy is my greatest joy.

One of my greatest challenges, other than being a husband and father, has been to integrate my faith and my work. I went to undergrad with the hope that I would be a doctor in the future. During my junior year, I heard God clearly speak to my heart during a retreat and say, “I care more about who you are, than what you do.” This radically changed my career path as I surrounded medical school to God and picked up the assignment to go to seminary. I left seminary having a firm grip on my faith, yet I was focused on pleasing God as if I had to perform at a certain level. I served in India for 2 years as a missionary. Then I came back to the States to get married and lived on mission in my apartment complex that consisted of mainly Hindus. During this time, God opened many opportunities for my wife and I to counsel families and young women who have been abused and traumatized. After a few years of that, we moved to Italy and worked with refugees on the street who suffered a lot from mental illness. A passion grew in me to study mental health and become a licensed therapist. I am currently working in foster care and counseling young women who have had abortions or teenage pregnancies. I am learning how to navigate these conversations and encourage the broken hearted. One of my greatest passions is to minister to people and walk with them as Jesus heals their brokenness. I must be very careful how I incorporate my faith in my work as I work for an agency and do case management. I am learning to speak about Jesus and invite people to open their hearts to Jesus’ power to heal without being religious. I have come to see that religion is defined by rules and rituals where spirituality is a way of living in relation to Jesus. Jesus was a master at loving the broken and marginalized. I am trying to emulate his example by going to the “least of these,” in particular, the young people who have had miscarriages or abortions and help them experience the healing touch of Jesus. My education will bridge the three worlds of spirit, body, and soul. I have completed degrees in biology and religious studies, so now I am completing a third degree in counseling so that I can integrate the three fields in a holistic approach. Wholeness comes as we integrate our faith into our lives and allow Jesus to speak truth into our hearts because truth is what sets us free from the lies that get us stuck. Our true identity is only found in who God made us to be, but so many people don’t realize who they really are which is why they act out and end up making negative decisions. My passion is to help people get unstuck and receive wholeness.

The middle-aged man sitting across the room was shaking and appeared emotionally, mentally drained. I asked what was going on and the staff said he was in withdraws from suboxone. This really bothered me and led me to take a step of action to get involved in the 13 month recovery program that was brand new to our agency. I had been working in foster care for the past year, but now the time was right for me to start volunteering with the young and old men streaming into the newly established recovery program that would begin walking these men into sobriety and a sound mind. Since the time I was young, I heard comments from family and friends that I ask deep questions and quickly jump into the mire with people who are suffering. I thought nothing of it as I just figured everyone should be like this. Later on in life, after spending a few years mentoring and counseling out of my living room and living 7 years in Europe working as a social worker, I discovered my passion and call to work with people influenced by various forms of evil like war, abuse, and addictions. I first had to process my own hurt and failures that developed over time, but once those were out of the way, I jumped into the field of mental health now that fear no longer held me back. Fear is a major component in life that paralyzes people. I believe every emotion is an invitation into something greater, however, when the emotion is displaced or rooted in something false then it holds us back. Substance abuse oftentimes is rooted in a false belief we believe about ourselves, others, or God. As we root out the false beliefs and come into an understanding of who we were created to be, we discover true life and peace. So this led me to start a process group at the recovery center with the men. Weekly I educate on practical simple principles based in neuroscience and Christian theology. Then we collectively walk through processes to eliminate false beliefs and discover our true selves. It’s beautiful to see the transformation and reactions as people come to see just how ugly their beliefs are regarding themselves and the world. The best part is seeing their faces light up, as they hear the simple truths that they are loved, accepted, and that they belong. These experiences and many others planted a desire to go back to school to get my masters in mental health counseling. The recovery program doesn’t have a counselor or therapist that the men can meet with regularly, so I want to fill that need eventually as I get my license as a Licensed Professional Counselor for people who have struggled with addiction and traumatic life events. Great excitement fills my heart as I think of the opportunity I have ahead of me to pour into men, women, and families helping them recover from traumatic situations.

Great joy is present in helping people receive healing from trauma in their past. The segment of society that burdens me the most are the children and families that have experienced horrendous atrocities by the hands of others. Living in Europe the past 7 years among refugees who escaped torture in prisons, and daily bombings by evil terrorist groups, has stirred my heart to action. The counseling program I'm enrolled in will grant me more opportunities to reach these people and equip me better in my approach to bring healing. My selected program combines disciplines and gives a broader scope of treatment compared to just the medical model which is limited in its ability to help. The field of Counseling needs a broad, multidisciplinary approach that integrates the mind, body, and spirit, otherwise we can only treat one aspect of who we are, and this limits us and doesn't carry the same effectiveness that's needed. We are complex beings, and the human soul is a soft science so we must utilize various approaches to obtain the appropriate result. I will use the newly acquired knowledge to serve people who struggle with mental health and who have wounded hearts stemming from trauma. When our hearts get wounded by life’s circumstances it begins to alter our beliefs and identity. These can, and should, be corrected as our heart’s heal from the damage that was done. False identities, that form from false beliefs, create separateness and disconnection among us and society. As the false identity is transformed into our true identity, which is our gift to the world, we are able to love people fully and stay connected instead of isolating. The world needs us to live out our true identity in order for progression to occur. Working while going to school has been a challenge. Months ago, before enrolling in the master’s program, I was held back by fear that I would not be able to afford the tuition and fear that I would be too busy to complete the program. But as I stepped into the fear and asked God what he wants me to know, I realized that He is with me in the process, and he will provide for what I need. I have a history with God providing financially so I stepped out in faith believing that he will always provide for the things he invites me into. The other challenge I encounter as I balance work, family, and school, is marriage. My wife is supportive of me studying but we have had to find a new rhythm and flow to our family life. We are taking on new roles and letting go of others. This tension creates conflict that we have to overcome. Thankfully there’s grace available for us to talk it out and create a new schedule that fosters a healthy marriage, but we will constantly need to assess where we’re at so that we maintain a healthy balance with work, school, and family.

We are living in a time where almost no one can say that mental health has not affected them to some extent. From walking downtown passing by people begging for money to the classmate that always seem withdrawn and disheveled with bruises or to the neighbor who tends to flip out in rage after drinking one too many, we are all exposed one way or another to people with mental health needs. I was first introduced to the field of mental health when I began to meet people who told me they could hear voices in their head telling them to do crazy things and seeing friends of mine with scars on their forearms. I had no grid for these at that time of my life but as I aged and matured, I began to figure out that mental health is fast becoming a major problem in our society. God helped me multiple times say the exact right words to encourage the person in front of me but I felt unequipped each time I met someone else with a deep need related to mental health. To help combat this problem I decided to move to Italy in 2016 with my wife and 5-month-old child to work with refugees and migrants on the street. I quickly found out that I was in over my head without the proper training to tackle such a large societal issue. I worked alongside nonprofits and governmental aid agencies to help people recover from childhood trauma and the grief they experienced on their journey to Europe. A passion was growing inside of me to learn how to best assist people who had flashbacks, hopelessness, anger, and many other symptoms of a mental health disorder. I had already lived in India for a few years as a missionary trying to serve people spiritually, now I was face to face with deep emotional hurts that I had to grapple with using different skills that I hadn’t yet learned. My biology background from undergrad was helpful to a small extent but I knew I needed more. I moved to East Tennessee after 7 years in Italy as I felt my time was finished working in Europe. However, my passion to help people heal from trauma was only intensifying. I began working in foster care and volunteering with a men’s recovery program. I sat with these men and heard their stories of neglect, abuse, and addiction. My heart yearned to listen and walk with them through the pain into a place of healing. On top of that, I began meeting weekly with teenagers who were diagnosed with personality disorders, mood disorders and many more. This opened my eyes to the need to come alongside people who suffer in their souls and minds as so many misunderstand the symptoms, not knowing how to process through the seemingly endless pain. My passion propelled me further still to go back to school so I could learn new techniques and skills to better serve a growing population of people who only know to “suck it up” and ignore the emotions that are screaming at them. My goal is to become a LPC and continue working with people affected by trauma. I want to advocate for them by destigmatizing mental health and giving them space to safely process their experiences.

My sister's paintings start out so dark and dreary as she started seeing a therapist regarding past events. I had no clue as a young adult what my sister had gone through many years ago as the family didn't talk about it. Over time I saw how the paintings began to morph into brighter colors with more depth and hope. Finally I had the chance to talk with my sister about her mental health challenges and how they began way back when she was a teenager. I was horrified listening to what had transpired to someone I loved so dearly. I tried my best to help but I wasn't quite sure how to. I was already on a journey at that point of discovering my true identity as someone who was created to help people overcome tragedy and trauma, but I was still so naive in the formation process. After hitting a wall in conversation with my sister who was still suffering from flashbacks from PTSD, I set off for Italy where I worked as a social worker on the streets assisting refugees from Afghanistan and West Africa. I poured myself into them, trying to untangle the web of pain, confusion, and disillusionment that they lived in. I began to learn practically how to be a good listener and how to address some of their basic needs of housing and work. My heart still yearned to go deeper, however, and help them overcome the trauma they faced from torture they experienced while in prisons and from brutal governmental programs. After 7 years of living in Italy, I moved to East TN where I found a job working in foster care and now sitting face to face with teenagers who have been brutally abused and neglected by caregivers they were supposed to trust--my heart still pushing me forward to learn how to help them navigate the pain. As I leaned into who I knew I was created to be, I began to realize that these are the exact scenarios I was created to be in. In 2024 I decided it was time to go back to school for my masters in counseling so I could jump even deeper into the mental health world. I desire to learn skills and treatments that will propel people out of the dungeon of pain that they have grown familiar with and into a life of hope and healing. Seeing my sister slowly come out of depression and pain, gives me hope that others can do the same when compassion is shown to the hurting coupled with right techniques and wisdom. I am more confident now about the task at hand and my desire grows to equip myself through further education so I can help people heal from trauma. So much of my past and current experiences have prepared me for this journey.

There are two worldviews that we can live in: separation or connectedness. The Separation worldview tells us that success is obtained and earned through achievements, production, accolades, and effort. Whereas the Connectedness worldview teaches us that success comes through self-emptying and self-sacrificing lifestyles. For me to live is to give myself away to the right causes and actions. Success is loving my neighbor and serving people in need. This success doesn't make us doormats but teaches us that our strength and value come from something way higher and greater than us. Fear is no longer in the equation. Fear is the fuel that moves the Separation worldview forward whereas love drives the Connected worldview further. Because of this, I often am blocked from success because of fear. Fear is fueled by lies that I believe. The lies create a false identity, and henceforth, the false identity creates separation and competition. Now, I am reduced to competing with others for success and wealth. Once I get "mine" then I can help others obtain "theirs." Often in my life I am overcome with fear so I can't move forward the way my heart dreams. I know I am created for something spectacular but I am incapable of obtaining the success I long for because it is being defined incorrectly. I have learned to overcome the fear, and, in so doing, I can replace the lies with truth that then moves me forward in my true identity. My true identity allows me to spend my energy and life on things that matter and create actual change in people's lives. Truth is what sets us free. Without truth we will be stuck in the lies. Success is defined by walking in the truth of who I am created to be. Before I was born I was given an identity that is rooted and sourced in love. This identity is a gift to the world and will bring about amazing change for good. Our greatest challenge in life is to live in this identity and we do this by processing the fear and replacing the lies with truth. This is a process that leads to great levels of freedom and joy. The opportunity I have before me is to go back to school and obtain a Masters in Clinical Counseling. If I did not understand my true identity then I would have passed this opportunity up. For most of my adult life I pursued success as defined by the Separation worldview and I discovered that I constantly felt like I wasn't good enough. I was a failure in my own eyes. However, my true identity is someone who was created to help cut darkness out of people's lives and fight for the powerless and vulnerable. Now I understand how to live each day and I have purpose with each decision I make. Going to school is no longer a 50-foot unscalable wall but an opportunity to equip myself and gain the necessary tools to be able to help others walk in freedom by discovering the truth of who they are. Becoming a Masters level therapist will position me to fulfill my calling in life and live out my true identity. Each of us has a gift that we are meant to give away but it starts with identifying our fears, realizing that the fears are rooted in a false belief, and then replacing those with truth. This process will ultimately lead to success in each person's life. What would the world look like if each of us were taught our true identity and lived for the benefit of the person next to us? What would change in the world if we were driven by love and not competition for resources?

After moving my wife and 5-month-old son to Italy to begin a 7-year journey of serving refugees and immigrants on the street, I received the crushing news that my dad was diagnosed once again with cancer. Having already defeated three other types of cancer that eventually went into remission or had been taken out, this time it felt different. We prayed he would at least be able to see all his grandchildren born before he would leave us. My wife and I made several trips back to the States to visit with him and take family photos. Our second child was then born and my dad had just enough strength to fly out to Italy to see the newborn granddaughter. Four months later he passed away from cancer that had spread to his bones and many other parts of his body. What has impacted me the most through the journey was seeing how much my wife grew to respect my dad. Most in-laws do not become as close as biological parents but with my dad, he took on my wife as his own daughter from the time we dated. I was in India during the 8 months we dated. During that time she would go over to my parent's house for dinner and even went on a vacation with them while I was out of the country! Seeing the way she loved my dad and the way my dad had brought her under his wing made a huge impact on me. My wife always says that no one loved others better than my dad. He was the nameless faceless person in the world that would never be famous for anything he's done or accomplished but he knew how to make a lasting impact in someone's life through his compassion and love. There was a servant's heart inside him that drove him to stop and talk with those around us. As a young boy, I would help him cut the grass of older women in our church and fix things in their homes. Little did I know at the time that these were widows who had lost their husbands. Several times since his passing, people have approached me and given me the metaphorical torch to carry in his name as they see similar qualities in me. I recognize that there is a similar drive in me to serve the broken-hearted and the outcast. I have given my life to serve the orphans and widows in their distress and much of this is motivated by the respect and honor I have for my dad.

I moved to Italy in 2016 with the goal of working with young men and families who have entered Italy as refugees and migrants. My focus was on their spiritual and physical wellbeing as that was what I was trained in from school and had always been my passion in life. Soon after meeting these people on the street and seeing the conditions they lived in, I realized that there was something else lurking int he background of their mind. I came face to face with a large mental health crisis that was being overlooked by the support teams coming around these people. Millions of dollars were being distributed to aid agencies and organizations that had a strong passion to serve those who were fleeing war and violence in their homeland, yet a major problem among the people was not being discussed and simply was overlooked. My compassion and love for the young men and families grew by the day as I heard terrible and atrocious stories of torture and danger that left many traumatized with no way of pursuing healing. My focus began to shift as I started counseling the people and helping them look for hope in the midst of the darkness and uncertainty of their life. I did not know much, but I could see the glaring mental health crisis in front of me. I read as much as I could and sought wisdom from others who already had a handle on how to help people. My heart longed to help them. One such young man is named Muhamed and he fled the Taliban since he was a child, saw his dad assassinated and became the president of a university through the inheritance he obtained from his father's death. The Taliban soon took over his school and closed it down through threats. He eventually fled his country and in order to enter Italy from Greece he hid in a shipping container for 24 hours. He arrived Italy on his deathbed yet over time, as he's had time to talk through his life and release the pent up stress he has found the help he needs to assimilate into the culture and become successful. Muhamed still needs support along his journey but reminds me constantly how thankful he is for my support and love towards him in being a safe place for him to talk to someone.

I received a BS in Biology in 2009 with the thought that I would go straight to medical school after undergrad. My junior year of college, having a 20 year career plan already sketched out, I heard God tell me that "I care more about who you are than what you do". This thought changed my life forever. I immediately surrendered my life long plan to be a surgeon and went to seminary to pursue a life of missions among the hardest to reach peoples. I lived in India and Italy for a total of 10 years, operating a small non profit focused on serving refugees and impoverished people. The desire of my heart during those years was to bring healing to those affected by evil. I became an avid reader and took courses online to learn more about how to help people work through emotional wounds and traumas. I quickly found a deeply rooted passion in this area. I spend years in Italy working on the street with traumatized young men trying to find a way to serve them and get them on their feet. I gained a lot of respect among the community of Afghans and West Africans but I still did not have the answer on how to help these young men overcome the fear and shame that they felt. My family and I decided to move back to the States and this helped me land a position as a case worker and counselor. I immediately sensed a feeling of relief and joy as I jumped into the new role working with teenagers in foster care. The learning curve has been steep but immensely enjoyable. After a year of this work I knew I needed to take this to the next level by getting a Masters in this field of study to become more effective and knowledgeable. The funds from this scholarship would help ease the financial pressure on my family. We decided 10 years ago when we got married that we wouldn't take out any loans other than a mortgage. So far we have lived up to this and now is no different. We have trusted God through incredible financial strains only to see him come through with financial provision. When he gives the vision he also provides the provision. This essay asks the question: "How do you plan to integrate mind, body, soul, and spirit into your work?" I love this question because I see this progression all through my life. I originally had a burning passion to help heal the body so I studied to be a doctor and that is how all my friends and family knew me, so when I told them I wasn't going to medical school after all, they were surprised yet confirmed the decision. Then I threw myself into deepening my faith in Jesus and learning how he heals the spirit. Now, I get to focus in on the soul and mind of a person. Mental health, counseling, and therapy have become a passion of mine, however, I intend to integrate it with the before mentioned personal experiences that God has given me in the areas of physical and spiritual health. "Healed people, heal people", so as God takes me on the journey of personal wholeness, I will have the opportunity and joy to heal others.

Shah entered Italy on his death bed after fleeing the Taliban, walking across multipole International borders and hiding for 48 hours in a shipping container from Greece to Italy. As he came out of the shipping container, he collapsed on the ground and needed immediate medical attention. He barely survived the journey physically but now he suffers mentally and emotionally as no one knows how to help Shah recover from the trauma. Many people in our society have great wishes and aspirations to help suffering people, yet few have the tools to help people recover from trauma. I met Shah six years ago in Italy while I worked with the refugee community that grows by the day consisting of afghanis, Pakistani, and many other ethnic groups who are fleeing war and torture led by the Taliban. I read as many books as I could get my hands on to figure out how I could assist my suffering friend but I still lacked the skills necessary to help Shah heal after a harrowing life of pain and abuse. I felt helpless and hopeless as I met countless young men on the streets who have left their families and lives to come to Europe looking for healing and help. I didn't know anything about mental health and I certainly did not know just how deeply these men were suffering inside. I decided it was time to go back to school and better equip myself so that I could return with greater vision and tools to help other like Shah heal. Little did I know that as I entered back in to America that I would begin my own journey of healing. I came across a teaching that would alter my understanding of myself, God, and people. I gave my life to Jesus many years ago but only recently have I truly began to understand how our mental health is influenced by the lies we believe about ourself, God, and others. I have been exposed to many types of ministries that help people spiritually yet I knew that deeper issues still plagued many who had been healed physically. God began to teach me how to hear his voice and help others hear his voice. As he showed me areas of my life where I was believing lies, he began to teach me what my true identity really is in him. Now I am able to help others shake off the lies that easily entangle them. As I prepare for studying clinical counseling I find opportunities opening up to serve men and women in recovery programs and go inside foster homes to counsel teenagers wrestling with identity issues. Its like God is opening many doors for to grow in this area of study just through the experiences that I am gaining but to take this career further I must do by obtaining a license and degree. As a child I wanted to be a medical missionary and serve people by healing their bodies. As God redirected me in undergrad I went to seminary and received a masters in Global Studies then became an ordained pastor so that I could focus on the spirit of people. After nine years of living in India and Italy I feel urged by God to get my masters in clinical counseling so that I can complete the cycle of helping people heal not just their bodies and spirit but also their souls. Trauma is quickly becoming a topic of attention as we learn just how devastating trauma can leave people emotionally. My friend Shah still suffers today with overbearing fears and anxieties. I long to serve him better by helping him work through the fear and process the pain that he feels in his heart. Now I see how fear, shame, and guilt are the foundation of our false identity and we must work through these three emotions to get to the core beliefs that make us who we are. The process of confession (truth telling), repentance (mind change), transformation has become a breath of fresh air as it leads my heart into greater freedom. I am learning that confession and repentance is not just saying "sorry" over and over again but its something practical we do between ourselves and God to empty ourselves of the false lies we believe in and receive his truth that transforms our mind. This simple process has shaped who I am and I want to go deeper in understanding the human soul so that I can help others obtain the joy that I have received by working through this process. The study of mental health has come alive in me as I learn to walk people into their greatest fears and introduce to the voice of Love that takes the fear away and speaks Truth into them, giving them a true identity and sense of belonging. Not only has it introduced me to so many new people, but it has allowed me to work through my own fears and anxieties and overcome them so that I can dream again and not be hindered by my own preoccupations. Fear is such a crippling emotion that is based in lies, and the goal is to confess these fears and shameful beliefs so that we can experience true freedom. From this place of freedom we can innovate and create new skills and ideas to better the world. I am so grateful to have met so many people like Shah that have inspired me to go deeper in my search for how to help those who suffer much. I moved from Italy to East Tennessee only to discover that here in my own country we have a level of poverty that can only be compared to third world. Some of my clients in foster care live in shacks and sheds without power or water. Those who walk the streets that I drive on are burdened by addictions and drug abuse that have torn open families and hearts. May God lead many of us to discover his love for these people and be the answer to their mental health needs.