Highland Park

Care & Counseling

Life can be hard. Sometimes it’s confusing. Or we just get stuck. Going it alone always makes it harder. Inviting someone else in to help can sometimes be intimidating, but it’s worth it. Jesus told his followers to help heal others and that’s what we strive to do.

Celebrate Recovery

celebrate recovery

Monday Evenings, 7 pm, Room K

Celebrate Recovery

This is a Christ-centered and approachable course for anyone with hurts, habits, or hangups. None of us are perfect and we all have our troubles. Please join us as we celebrate recovery, spend time in fellowship with others who are overcoming obstacles, and leave strengthened after feeling the loving power of Jesus Christ. Dinner is provided and registration is not required. We hope to see you all there!

Spiritual Crisis

Life events happen suddenly, and you may need someone to talk with.

24/7 Pastor-On-Call
If you’re in need of pastoral care or if you are facing an unexpected spiritual crisis, a pastor is available to speak with you at any time. The pastor on call can be reached at 214-525-4360.

A recorded message will provide you with instructions and a pastor will call you back as soon as possible.

Pastoral Counseling

Your soul is the most important part of you; care for it well.

We’re ready and willing to come alongside you. Meeting with a pastor, whether once or for a series of visits, is an opportunity to discuss and pray through the most important aspects of our lives with a trusted advisor who helps you to learn from Jesus, grow spiritually, and care for your soul. Common reasons people seek Pastoral Counseling include:

• life events, transitions, & milestones
• hard decisions & discernment
• help listening to God’s voice
• need for wise counsel about relationships, choices, or upcoming opportunities
• spiritual direction & guidance
• questions about meaning & purpose in life
• need for courage, peace, or spiritual strength
• struggles with sin, fear, or anxiety
• learning to pray
• help receiving or extending forgiveness
• desire for more joy & fulfillment

Grief & Loss

Grief is a common reaction to loss and is often a necessary part of healing.

Sometimes we need someone to listen without interruptions or advice. Our grief and loss ministry team is here to provide care and comfort during times of death, estrangement, retirement, anger, and abandonment.

Care Resources

Ryan has long valued building relationships, investing in people, and walking with others through the trials of life. Ryan started in pastoral ministry, first at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City and then at Rockwall Presbyterian Church in Rockwall, Texas. During this time, Ryan realized that, for him, there are few things as rewarding as sharing life with someone and helping someone to move in a better direction. And Ryan always loved wrestling with the big and hard questions of life, which led him to earn a Doctor of Ministry while working in the church.

Ryan’s desire to work directly with people grew to the point he became licensed as a professional counselor. While he was working on his MS in counseling, Ryan worked as a chaplain at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas, where he walked hundreds of children and families through difficult and life-changing diagnoses. Here, Ryan came to understand that the opportunity to walk with someone through one’s pain is a gift.

Ryan began his career in counseling working with adults and teens wrestling with anxiety, depression, and the stress of life, and went on to focus on marriage counseling and received advanced training in Emotionally Focused Therapy. During this journey Ryan has come to focus on anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, addiction, existential/faith crises, premarital and marital counseling. Ryan has been married for twenty-five years and has raised three children, two biological and one adopted, who are now in their late teens and early twenties.

Life is often like a difficult puzzle. One knows one has all the pieces on the table, but it isn’t clear how they all fit together. Ryan considers it a privilege to put together the pieces with clients.

We welcome Licensed Professional Counselor Associate Kathryn Williams to our care team. Kathryn offers pro-bono professional counseling services to adolescents, teens, individuals, couples, and families on our church campus weekly by appointment.

Kathryn received both her undergraduate degree and Masters in Counseling from Southern Methodist University. She completed her Practicum experience at the SMU Center for Family Counseling and has worked in private practice and partial hospitalization/intensive outpatient settings with children, teens, and adults. Kathryn has completed specialized training in child-centered play therapy, adolescent therapy, and couples therapy, and she has a passion for working with young adults and parents. Her areas of specialty include:

  • Self-esteem and self-concept
  • Anxiety
  • Behavioral challenges
  • Parenting concerns
  • Relationship struggles
  • Family systems and multigenerational family trauma
  • Co-dependency

“I strive to provide a genuine, empathetic, and confidential space for clients to explore their presenting concerns, needs, and goals using a client-centered therapeutic approach. My goal is to work collaboratively with clients to foster enhanced self-insight and develop meaningful tools to foster lasting change and transformational growth.” – Kathryn Williams, LPC-A, under the supervision of Martha Williams, LPC-S

We are pleased to welcome Licensed Professional Counselor Martha Williams to our Care Team. Martha offers pro bono counseling sessions to those ages 16 and up, individuals, couples, and families who would like to participate in professional counseling. Martha is available on campus at HP Pres on Fridays by appointment.

Martha’s areas of specialty include:

  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Mood disorders
  • Recovery from emotional, verbal, physical, and sexual abuse
  • Family members of an addicted loved one
  • Crisis and trauma counseling
  • Parenting issues
  • Cross-cultural adjustment and adaptation
  • Grief and loss
  • Family counseling
  • Divorce aftercare

Martha received her undergraduate degree at Hollins University in Roanoke, VA, and her master’s degree in counseling psychology at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, MA. She has worked in hospital and clinical settings, private practice, international healthcare services, ministry, and non-profit for over 30 years in Central America, South America, and the United States.

Martha Wilson“My goal is to help individuals honestly address their sorrows, disappointments, and fears, overcome their problems, and live a transformed and restored life. I seek to provide clients with a safe space to process any personal convictions, including issues of faith.”
 – Martha Williams

This four-part series helps you understand the basics of caring for a loved one with Alzheimers.

  1. Session 1
  2. Session 2
  3. Session 3
  4. Session 4

Questions?

Email Kelli Harrison, Care Coordinator