Elizabeth (Betsy) was trained at Kansas State University (M.S.) and McCormick Theological Seminary (M.Div.) in counseling and psychotherapy. She is licensed to practice in the state of Illinois and is a member of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors.

She practices the art and science of psychotherapy which is a form of listening and reflecting that engages our capacity to heal and transform the conditions and problems that undermine our mental health and wellness. It is useful for individuals, families and couples. It creates a safe space where the story of one’s life can unfold and become open for change.

As a health care justice advocate she articulates the moral imperative for faith communities to respond with integrity to the multitude of stigmatized diagnoses and health care gaps facing our poor and disenfranchised neighbors globally and across the Chicago metro area. Her experience has included building services addressing compromised mental health, the HIV epidemic and those facing AIDS, breast cancer, diabetes, asthma, infant mortality and teen pregnancy. She designs and implements model programs integrating spiritual care, mental health, education and community outreach into comprehensive, community based treatment programs.

She is a leader and ally for faith communities seeking to build health ministries and healthy congregations, especially as a response to disparities in resources and outcomes for chronic diseases, mental health and addiction issues and the crisis in access to health care..

A native of rural Kansas, she is an ordained minister in the American Baptist Churches of the USA, a pastoral counselor and a licensed clinical professional counselor in Illinois. Previously Betsy directed Midwest Resources, a church-based counseling practice with nine locations in metro Chicago and the AIDS Pastoral Care Network at Access Community Health Network.

Go ahead. Try it. It really only takes 100 breaths to change your mental state. Believe me, I am not the best role model for meditation, relaxation or contemplation. Being busy doing what I love is as satisfying as it is stressful for me. I can go for weeks without really stopping – which is probably not a good thing.

Eventually, we do need to stop – and finding ways to do that can be very challenging – and consequently many of us fail to find the time, focus or energy to integrate those healthful ways of being into our daily lives.

But what if I told you it takes less than 2 minutes to stop completely and relax your mind, body and spirit? Through the Discipline of 100 Breaths you can disengage from:

Stress                  Fear           Tension         Grief          Anger         Worry

Obsession          Demands of others                 Perfections         Cravings

Anxiety         Hostility         Frustration                  Agitation            Overexcitement

-and whatever else is charging up your inner state.

If you can do three things and ONLY three things you can change your internal state:

1  Find a quiet place to stand, sit or lie down and close your eyes.

2  Take 100 breaths – in and out, in and out. Not fancy deep breaths, -in one second, out the next. They don’t need to be fast, or slow, deep or shallow. Just 100 normal breaths.

3  (Now here’s the hard part) ONLY Breathe. Pay attention to your breathing alone for 100 breaths. No planning, worrying, fretting about one thing or another. Literally for a moment.

That final step is difficult and some of us will fail it – usually because our anxiety is so extreme or our ability to focus is impaired or undisciplined. But if you fail the first time, you can train your brain to cooperate with some practice.

Give it a try – and enjoy your refreshed, calmed state of mind.

How would your life be different if-

        When your parents fought, the tone was passionate, maybe fiery, but always respectful?

        When your parents fought, you always knew they would make up soon?

        Your parents sought counseling when they couldn’t resolve a major conflict?

With the collapse of world markets, war raging in so many parts of the world and unspeakable things happening in so many places near and far it seems that the world as we knew it is coming apart. Calamity and chaos reign.

For many of us, the uncertainty, struggle and suffering is intolerable, and the thought of all this suffering having an instructive or redemptive purpose seems ridiculous. Yet, the long view of history shows us that great things often emerge from such muck. Think about the Dark Ages. Then think Renaissance. After years of pestilence, death and the suppression of the human spirit a resurgence of human enlightenment overtook the world in such a way that we enjoy it even today.

The U.S.’s dominant salvation narrative – the birth of the Christ Child- teaches a similar lesson. In the short view, Jesus’ birth was not much more than a calamity. An illegitimate child was born to a poor teenage mother and her aging husband-to-be, and had the misfortune to alienate the ruling monarch by virtue of the alignment of the stars at his birth, thereby making his family refugees almost as soon as he was born and causing a bloodbath of male babies in his homeland as the king hunted him down.

Simply put, Jesus did not have much of a chance within the existing order of the world when he was born. I think the existing order was simply too “small” for that influx of love.

Perhaps there are times when only calamity and chaos create sufficient room to hold the larger doses of hope and love necessary for the continuing evolution of our creation. I am a witness to the fact that in our own individual lives, there is every hope and possibility that some unimaginable transformation can emerge from destruction and chaos. This is the bittersweet nature of hope.

HIPAA: Rules about the use and protection of your private health information:

At your first visit you will be required to sign a statement that you have received information about your rights under HIPAA. This is now a routine practice for all health care visits, including counseling and mental health care. It sets national standards for the use and protection of your confidential health information. (more…)