VICTORIA—“Every pastor knows the tone and the look,” Pastor Mike Gresham of First Baptist Church in Port Lavaca explained. “A church member catches your attention and then says, ‘Pastor, I have a problem I need to come talk to you about.’ Sometimes they simply need a listening ear or simple answers. But when things are more serious and people need to confide the intimate details of their lives to someone they won’t have to face every Sunday morning, South Texas Children’s Home Ministries Family Counseling in Victoria is a tremendous resource to me,” Gresham said.
South Texas Children’s Home Ministries (STCHM) has provided family counseling services in Corpus Christi since 1998. The decision to expand counseling services to Victoria came as therapists in Corpus saw a continual increase in the demand for STCHM’s services. Caseloads were climbing, additional counselors were needed, and people were driving from as far away as Houston and Harlingen to meet regularly with a counselor.
“STCHM Family Counseling has a unique combination of characteristics,” said Todd Roberson, STCHM president and CEO. “Our counselors are highly trained, licensed professional therapists committed to using biblical truths to help people discover the answers to life’s challenges. And this life-changing help is provided regardless of a person or family’s ability to pay for services. What a great blessing it is to be able to offer counseling, seminars and workshops on a donation basis or free of charge because of the support STCHM receives from individuals, churches, the Baptist General Convention of Texas and community foundations.”
James Shamburger, pastor of First Baptist Church in Victoria, believes one of the greatest challenges in ministry is finding competent counseling for people. “For STCHM to provide competent counseling and to offer it free of charge is amazing and a great blessing to the churches in our area,” Shamburger said. “Our church was also pleased to have an in-house marriage enrichment weekend with the STCHM counselors. Our couples were blessed by the presentations and we hope to schedule another one soon.”
STCHM Family Counseling accepts referrals for counseling from churches of all denominations and the community at large. Since opening its doors in 2007, the Victoria office has doubled both the number of people seen and the number of counseling sessions provided. Counselors also have reached twice as many people through seminars and speaking engagements this year over last year. Together, both counseling offices served 1,518 clients from July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009 and ministered to 1,847 people through classes and seminars. Eight people made professions of faith last year as a result of receiving counseling services.
Several STCHM counselors in both Corpus Christi and Victoria specialize in play therapy, among other therapies, said Joanna Berry, STCHM vice president of family counseling and international childcare. “The Corpus office houses a state-of-the-art play therapy environment with video capabilities and a confidential one-way viewing window, which was provided in part through collaboration with Logsdon Seminary, a part of Hardin-Simmons University,” Berry said. “Therapists use this area to demonstrate positive communication skills for parents, and STCHM counselors will also teach effective play therapy techniques to students working toward counseling degrees from Logsdon Seminary (through the South Texas School of Christian Studies) and Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.”
Pastor Allen Coffey of Crescent Valley Baptist Church, south of Victoria, is grateful for what he calls the “huge strategic benefit” STCHM’s Family Counseling office brings to pastors of small churches.
“Many pastors have no real counseling or psychology background,” Coffey said. “When I come across an issue that I do not have the ability to adequately deal with, it is good to know I can refer people to STCHM and know they will receive not just top-notch counseling but top-notch counseling from a Christian and biblical perspective. That is very important to me.”
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“Our Victoria office is currently open Tuesdays through Thursdays and our phones are answered Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.,” said Lorraine Turner, MA, LPC, one of STCHM’s licensed professional counselors in Victoria. “We also conduct parenting and life enrichment seminars at area churches and are facilitating a collaborative church effort that will focus on divorce care.”
Both Turner and Judy Bolton, M.Ed., LPC, another counselor at the Victoria office, have worked with families in the Victoria area since 1993. Together, they bring a wealth of counseling experience to their positions at STCHM. STCHM’s director of education and ministry at the Corpus Christi counseling office, Darin Griffiths, MA, LPC, also travels to Victoria a couple of times each month to assist with counseling.
“One husband and wife I worked with in Victoria had suffered three years of marital tension that started with a family tragedy,” Griffiths shared. “They had turned in every direction but were unable to find the help they needed. We were able to offer them counseling from a Christian perspective, near their home, without adding to their financial burden.”
Pastor Tim Williams of Northside Baptist Church in Victoria considers STCHM Family Counseling one of his greatest resources. “I have seen lives changed and families healed in situations that seemed overwhelming. God is really using this ministry, and I highly recommend it to others,” Williams said.
“Seeing what comes about in people’s lives as they begin to apply God’s truths is really exciting,” Turner said. “I gave a TouchPoint Bible to a young woman one day as we discussed STCHM’s use of scriptural principles as the foundation of our counseling. She was so moved and asked in amazement, ‘Is this really mine to keep?’”
“Sometimes you just need to talk to someone who is neutral"
“Before I found out about this organization, I did not know what I was going to do,” one client shared. “Sometimes you just need to talk to someone who is neutral that can see things from a different perspective and help shed light on your situation. I knew I could not afford a therapist, so I am truly grateful that there is an organization like STCHM that is willing to help people regardless of their income level.”
Recently, a mother of five with financial difficulties left her counseling session filled with excitement and hope. A few moments later, she returned with five crumpled $1 bills in her hand.
“I thought of the story in the Bible of the widow who gave two, small coins and of the great sacrifice I knew this woman was making, too,” Bolton reflected. “God always miraculously multiplies what we give and there is no telling what He is going to do in her life because of her willing heart.”
South Texas Children’s Home Ministries offers residential childcare campuses in Beeville and Goliad, counseling offices in Corpus Christi and Victoria, Christian Women’s Job Corps classes in Corpus Christi, and international ministry opportunities in the Dominican Republic.
To learn more about STCHM’s counseling services, email [email protected] or call 361-575-5151 (Victoria) or 361-991-8680 (Corpus Christi).
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