Colleen Ryan and I worked together in the public library in the pre-pandemic days, and she graciously agreed to be featured on the EO blog back then (original interview.) Both of us have moved on to other careers in the meantime and so it's a privilege to share what she's up to currently.
Welcome back, Colleen!
Thank you for the opportunity to provide an update on my counseling and mission trips.
Last time we spoke, I was opening my own counseling practice and, although I've been told I'm a really good counselor, I soon discovered I'm not so good at marketing and publicity—I had more open time slots available than filled. So I was thankful when the opportunity came to be hired by the Biblical Counseling Center to work at their Arlington Heights location, and I've been really busy with clients ever since. By my choice I work 18–20 hours a week and absolutely love helping people find both help and hope through God's Word. For the Bible has a lot to say about anxiety, depression, communication, anger and so much more.
My "sweet spot", if you will, is working with women between 25–80, although I find great delight in working with 13–25 year olds too. Oftentimes we deal with the same issues, but they just present differently with different age groups of people. I offer both in office and online counseling. Interestingly enough about 75% of my clients choose online. Now granted, I do have some clients who are out of state as well as out of the country, but even some of the local ones tend to gravitate toward online. There's something to be said for the "commute" time.
I'm still leading annual mission trips to Honduras and find so much joy in doing that. My husband and I have been doing so since 2002, missed 2020 due to Covid, but right back at it in 2021. There's something about being stretched to go out of our comfort zone and help people in need.
Since 2022 we've added annual trips to Bolivia as well. Due to my counseling experience, I was asked to provide missionary care to a sweet group of people there who oftentimes need a listening ear, help navigating a difficult situation, or guidance with needing to improve communications to better facilitate conflict resolution. Interestingly enough, missionaries are just like us. And so my husband and I make annual trips to Bolivia to spend time with them to continue building those friendships and come alongside them with help and encouragement. Throughout the year, we also stay in contact. It's a blessing to serve them in this way.
So as you can see, life is full and rewarding in my various endeavors. I'm so thankful for the doors that God has opened and how He's equipped me to come alongside and help hurting people.
If you're interested in pursuing counseling or training to become a counselor, check out Colleen's workplace, Biblical Counseling Center. You can also contact Colleen via email: cryan (at) biblicalcounselingcenter (dot) org.
Thank you for visiting the Extraordinary Ordinary blog! If you know someone with an extraordinary story who'd like to be interviewed, please email TLC Nielsen at soulfixer13 (at) yahoo (dot) com and put EO blog in the subject line.
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