Fall Update 2024
The Life of Redeemer Counseling Services
This fall, we invite you to connect with Redeemer Counseling’s upcoming events and opportunities:
Group Counseling called “Renewal Groups” begin again this fall — check out our current offering. Learn more.
Leaders’ Training Series on Site at your church or ministry — the curriculum is contextualized to equip leaders and volunteers to better care for congregants’ emotional and spiritual needs. Get started.
No benefit dinner — This fall, we will not be hosting an annual benefit dinner. We will let you know about future Redeemer Counseling events.
“Covenantal Relationships: Biblical Perspectives and Healthy Relationships” — in partnership with Queens Connexus and Reformed Theological Seminary, Redeemer Counseling is hosting a 1 credit training series this fall.
Fellows Program — our Training Team is guiding two cohorts of our Fellows Program, one in NYC and one online, through a nine-month curriculum in pastoral care and counseling skills. We are also piloting a Fellows 2.0 for program alumni.
Suicide Prevention Resources
Angela Adour, M.A., Counselor
September is Suicide Prevention Month. In our nation, sadly, someone dies by suicide every 11 minutes. Suicide is now the 2nd leading cause of death for people aged 10 to 34 and the 5th leading cause for those 35 to 54. In 2022, according to the CDC, there were 49,500 deaths by suicide. Additionally, an estimated 13.2 million adults seriously thought about suicide, 3.8 million planned a suicide attempt, and 1.6 million attempted suicide. If you have considered suicide, know you are not alone. Help is available.
“I am considering suicide and need help.”
If you are in immediate danger of harming yourself, get emergency help right away. Call 988 or visit your local ER.
If you are unsure about your risk for suicide, consider using a free self-assessment tool such as an evidence-supported scale called the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS), which is available in over 150 languages. After completing the scale, follow the instructions in the box under the final question.
If you are not in immediate danger but recognize that suicide has been on your mind, approach yourself with compassion and consider the following: Resist shaming or guilting yourself for having suicidal thoughts but rather, treat yourself kindly as you would treat a friend in this position. Try to view yourself as someone who needs immense patience and care during this time. Call or text 988, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. This is a free, national network of local crisis centers that provides 24/7 confidential support to those experiencing a suicidal crisis or emotional distress. Arrange a safety plan for yourself: be prepared for a potential mental health crisis or for suicidal ideation by creating your own personalized safety plan ahead of time. You can do this on your own (if you are able), with a trusted friend or family member, or with your pastor or counselor.
Additional arrangements to ensure your safety are important as well. Consider:
Meet with a professional counselor or trusted pastor where you will have a safe, judgment-free space
Remove any firearms, weapons, or other instruments that could be used for self-harm from your environment
Connect with others, even if they are not professionals. Talk to a friend about your thoughts and feelings. If you are a believer and this feels difficult or you feel you are "a burden" on others, be reminded of the Christian's call to intimate and proximate community as we see in Galatians 6:2, "Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ." You are not an inconvenience to others and your brothers and sisters in Christ are called to bear your burdens with you.
“Someone I know may be considering suicide.”
Watch for changes in moods, words, or behavior. If you suspect, someone is considering suicide, be prepared to ask them directly. This month’s Counseling Toolkit provides guidance on having a conversation about suicide and what to do if someone states that they have a plan, have thought about a time to commit suicide, and have the means to carry out the plan.
Be prepared. Have a safety plan app downloaded on your phone, find out where your nearest Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program (CPEP) is, and have a referral list for professional counselors.
As you seek support for them, consider their family, friends, church community, spiritual authority, and pastoral care. Bringing in others who are trustworthy and competent can be a support to the person and a support to you.
“Where is God in all of this?”
Throughout Scripture, people asked—or told—God to end their lives. In Numbers 11, Moses in a state of overwhelm said to God, "I am not able to carry all this...alone; the burden is too heavy for me. If you will treat me like this, kill me at once." In despair, Elijah prayed, “I have had enough, Lord, take my life." (1 Kings 19) Job wondered aloud to God why his life didn't end in the womb while Jeremiah cursed the day he was born.
If you are thinking about death for yourself, know you are not alone. Human beings—and in this specific context, believers—have long pondered death as a potential way out of suffering, difficult circumstances, and feelings of darkness, depression, despair, and overwhelm.
Just as Scripture shows us how fellow believers told God they were feeling so low that death would be better than life, we can tell God the same. Talk to God. Tell God how you feel and what you think. God is not surprised by your feelings and can handle your words even if they are dark, bitter, or angry. If you are struggling to find the words, let the Psalms help you. For example, in Psalm 88, the psalmist writes verses like "I am overwhelmed with troubles and my life draws near to death" and "darkness is my closest friend." In Psalm 6, David writes, "I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping." Do those experiences resonate with your own?
If you still have no words, that's okay, too. Remember to be self-compassionate. If you cannot "speak" to the Lord right now, just "be" with the Lord in stillness. Trust that God's presence is with you. Try to see yourself in the imagery Isaiah 40 paints for us:
He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his hear
Your good Shepherd-Father is carrying you close to his heart. This is where God is, in your experience–he carries you in his arms, close to his heart right now. Hold tightly to this image. You are not alone.
Resources
List of Books on Suicide
https://www.choosingtherapy.com/suicide-books/
Additional Resources
Chat online: www.988lifeline.org/chat (available in English or Spanish)
Additional option for veterans: call 988 and press 1 or text 838-255
Additional option for deaf/hard of hearing: text 988
The Trevor Project: A 24-hour hotline that provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services LGBTQI ages 13-24 | Call 1-866-488-7386 or text 678-678 | Chat online: www.thetrevorproject.org
Find a Help Line: https://findahelpline.com/countries/us
A few web resources
https://www.nyc.gov/site/doh/health/health-topics/suicide-prevention.page
Client Spotlight: Ivan
Ivan shares: I am so grateful for Redeemer Counseling's sliding scale. I would not have been able to afford counseling without it.
Therapy allowed me to learn greater awareness of myself, which in turn has led to deeper relationships with people. It gave me tools to process much of my current and past life, which has allowed me to step into so much healthy growth. The moments working with my counselor felt like incremental changes that have added up to such a profound shift in my life — I continue to look back on it with gratitude.
Your gifts help clients every day.
When you make a gift, you are a partner with us – you are the hidden hands behind our work. You make the difference between us serving people effectively and immediately and us having to postpone or limit care. Our affordable and accessible session fees are only possible because of your generosity.
I invite you to consider a gift this fall. Large or small, it makes a meaningful difference in the work that Redeemer Counseling is doing for our neighbors. — Dr. Judy Cha, Director