#worldmentalhealthday

When I was a teenager, in the throes of high school life (and secretly struggling with an addiction), my dad was struggling with depression. Past trauma and abuse, a skewed understanding of God, and lack of connection surfaced and collided, wreaking havoc and pain in my dad’s life. He was suicidal. 

My parents didn’t share with me until a few years later, after he experienced deep holistic healing through a combination of medicine and counseling. I remember where I was standing in the kitchen, I started weeping, and threw my arms around him, just like in this photo. Counseling changed the trajectory of our family, forever. Jesus changed the trajectory of our family, forever.

Mental health isn’t just for the struggling – the depressed or addicted – it’s for all of us. Our brains are designed for connection, for flourishing, and we aren’t created to live or navigate this life alone in isolation.

Now to come back around full-redemption-circle, the ministry where my dad experienced care and healing, he’s now the director. We’re both counselors (he’s my boss), and we have the privilege to hold others’ hands in their darkest seasons, just as ours were held. And it’s literally because someone else held my dad’s hands that I’m able to still hold his today.

On this #worldmentalhealthday, know that I’m here. There is nothing too deep, too dark, too secretive that you don’t deserve to experience healing and freedom. You’re loved, you’re not alone, your life is worthy, and it would be a sacred honor to listen to your story. 🌼