The truth is that we have been increasingly isolated long before the pandemic.  This has certainly been the case for individualistic societies like the United States, but also for traditionally collectivistic societies in the global East and South.

This isolation causes us all to wonder: “Am I the only one who feels this way?  How would others react if they were in my shoes?  How do I come across to other people?  What would I say to people if I was assured that they would respond appropriately?  What are some of the possibilities that I am missing from my vantage point?  Is there anything that I can do that is meaningful for someone else?  What do I care about?  Where do I belong?  Does anyone care?”

Pandemic Presence: ICHTHYSroe specializes in crisis & trauma experienced in the biological/church family context. Services are tailored to those in the process of not only grieving deaths, but also mourning loss (of human interaction, age-related experiences, or employment/income); e.g., counseling to guide through bereavement (viz., combating disenfranchised grief), or advanced therapy to unwind more complex nuances of “complicated grief.”

Will you connect us with your loved ones who are suffering in physical and spiritual isolation? Will you let us help you in caring for them (and you as you care for them)?

Email connect@ Biblicalcounselingservices.org for a complimentary Q&A session. Your family/friends can join 3-day intensive workshops on disenfranchised grief, weekly caretaker/survivor-support groups, or individual/family interventions today!

Everyone who calls upon God as Father is able to do that by virtue of recognizing that Jesus claimed us as His brothers—which is also how we all become brothers/sisters to one another.  And what did Jesus do on the cross relationally, but to entrust his earthly family to another brother (John).  Therefore, we must see and watch over our brothers and sisters-in-Christ.

We are united as one body of many members by one Holy Spirit.  If we all stay connected to Jesus, who is our head, then we all stay connected to one another.  As different body parts, we all have different purposes—and corresponding abilities to fulfill our respective purposes—for the benefit of the common good.

Therefore we do not give up meeting one another, but we come together with all our different God-given gifts, as often as we can/need to encourage one another to love and do good deeds.  This is because we do not yet see God face-to-face, but when we love, He lives in us and His love is made perfect in us!

Anyone can book a space, quote Yalom’s “11 Therapeutic Factors” (what people get out of a group session), and fill it with people yearning for connection.  But the art of groupwork is the honed by facilitators who are specially trained to lovingly listen to each participant, compassionately understand every heart that is being simultaneously expressed in real-time, and effectively guide the discussion with as little prompting as possible (typically through others in the group so that everyone interacts to build camaraderie and group cohesion).

This is all done while he/she (and his/her co-facilitator) structures safety guardrails, establishes acceptable and reliable norms with the unique set of personalities in each group, and maintains a secure connection to each participant in such a way that they can, in turn, learn/practice that same approach with one another.  In fact, the overarching goal is not simply to progress as an individual, but as a collective unit that can then influence other groups in every day life (e.g., family, friends, churches, workplaces).

Groupwork has comparable results to individual counseling but is exponentially more complex (and fulfilling!) than individually counseling because of the volume of cross-currents from each person and myriad themes that surface overall.  ICHTHYSroe facilitators have been anointed by God and trained by years and decades of workshop facilitation experience to foster the kind of group dynamics that build cohesion amongst those who may (or may not) appear similar while leveraging their unique contributions.

“[The Biblical counseling facilitator] is very nurturing.  You could hear in the way that she speaks: that she’s loving and caring and very engaging and can identify with [people].  You can tell: even if she may not have experienced the pain herself–just by her speaking with her tone and her loving–it’s just compassionate, and that’s definitely needed to facilitate the trauma healing groups.”

“And also with her sharing a little about how she’s been the caregiver to you who suffers from trauma, it really resonates with the participants in the group. Because she’s speaking on something she knows.  Maybe not personally, but because she is a caregiver to someone who is dealing with trauma. She may not have experienced personally the trauma but she’s taken it on by assisting you and partnering with you as your wife and friend in your trauma.  And so that’s very important because people need to identify with someone who has gone through it.  And so you can tell how she was very transparent… and sharing that she’s trying to assist you with healing which helps tremendously with her helping others.”

“Transparency is very important and they were able to open up and trust us; because you two were so very transparent. As husband and wife, it’s good.  It’s a wonderful thing to see married couples and that everything is not perfect–and that you’re able to work with each other and also as you are healing, help someone else. It’s wonderful.”

As an organization that strives to live by Biblical principles in order to seek healing and pursue growth for (ourselves and) others in community, ICHTHYSroe provides groups to reconnect members and clients to the body of Christ.

Work Week Professional Groups

• “Merciful-monday-mornings” (Silent Gratitude Whiteboarding)
• “Truth-telling-tuesdays” (Interactive Q&A Apologetics)
• “Way-worked-wednesdays” (Didactic Personal Integrity & Professional Ethics)
• “Theologically-therapeutic-thursdays” (Experiential Biblical Counseling Consultations)
• “Faith-filled-fridays” (Corporate Intercessory Prayers)

Weekly Counseling Groups

• “Reformational – Dialectical Behavior Therapy” (Skills Development)
• “Parenting Skills Group” (Peer Support and Skills Development)
• “Women’s Process Group” (Peer Support)
• “Men’s Process Group” (Peer Support)

Weekly/Monthly Clinician Groups

• “Christian EMDR Consultations” (Peer Support and Skills Development)
• “Protective Psalms” (Counselor Resiliency-Building to Counter Compassion Fatigue, Burnout, and Secondary Traumatic Stress)

Quarterly Expressive Arts Mastery Groups

• “God’s Heart” (Acapella Hymnals for Improving Heart Rate Variability)
• “Soulful Strength” (Pandicular Prayers and Martial Arts Movements as Sensorimotor Psychotherapy)
• “His Words” (Writing Workshops for Narrative Therapy)
• “Rhythm & Rhyme; Reason & Reciprocity” (Creative Expressions for Synchronicity through Poetry Therapy)
• “The Reel of Redemption” (Secular Film Discussions for Reality Therapy according to Choice Theory)

Ever wanted an older brother to bounce ideas off of?  A younger brother to be honestly imperfect with?  Any brother to not fight with but actually fight alongside?  Sign up and get your “second-chance family!”

Do you have any bad habits? As one prophet says: “But it’s hard to do the right thing…” Sign up to join us on the first step to leaving your addictions behind and returning to the Almighty!

Are you looking for emotional healing from loss or suffering? Chronic heartache can take its toll… Sign up to join us as we share in God’s counsel, care, and comfort!