Affordable mental health option offered by new pastoral service – Henry County Enterprise

Guiding Light Pastoral Care, a new counseling service run out of First Baptist Church by Bonnylee Witt, for individual and group sessions. The sessions are inexpensive and allow all members of the community to access Witt’s pastoral services. Guiding Light focuses on grief, life events, transitions and stress management.

The cost of individual and group sessions with Guide Light is $10 per session. Services for members of First Baptist Church are provided free of charge.

Group sessions take place regularly on Tuesdays and Thursdays and have the theme of understanding and managing grief in a group. Not only do participants talk about their trauma, but they also perform activities such as filling a bucket with their feelings to help them visualize what emotions are troubling them. Stress management classes with a similar program take place on Tuesdays.

Private lessons can be scheduled throughout the week and healthcare workers can participate in burnout classes on the second and fourth Monday of the month.

“I’m a little different. I’m not a certified counselor, but I am trained in counseling techniques,” said Witt, a professionally trained chaplain.

The counseling service doesn’t focus on traditional therapy techniques, like cognitive behavioral therapy, but Witt is familiar with them. She discovered the DSM-5 and worked in a psychiatric hospital as part of her pastoral training. Witt is trained in the Clinical Pastoral Education Association style

“I can assess what happens when someone comes to me and I can recommend that client. What I offer is a complement to therapy services,” Witt said of his business.

Witt said learning pastoral care is an introspective journey.

“We have to look at our own wounds, our physical wounds, our spiritual wounds, our emotional wounds,” she said. “We need to get acquainted with them and take the healing course with them. » The theory revolves around the practice of familiarizing oneself with one’s injuries to better understand those of one’s clients. This style is a blend of clinical, spiritual, and behavioral science healing.

“It seems like my whole life journey has been people coming up to me,” said Witt, who added that she is an introvert who started in pastoral care after visiting her brother. Subsequently, she received her bachelor’s degree in religion from Averett University and began her first internship at Moses Cone Hospital in Greensboro, North Carolina. She then worked at several hospitals, including Memorial Hospital in Martinsville, for 12 years before joining SOVAH Health. She later worked with area churches to provide community services before founding Guiding Light.

Witt said all are welcome, regardless of religious beliefs.

“You find that a lot of the world’s religions are very similar,” Witt said, adding that she currently has slots available for new clients.

For more information, visit the Guiding Light Pastoral Care section of the First Baptist Church website or to reach Witt directly, call (276) 806-1514.