The Fruit - One Client's Story

We’ll call her Marie. Her healing journey began when her pastor referred her to ACC because of recurring depression.

Marie grew up in a Christian home. At times, however, she could barely function and felt unable to fully enter into relationship with others. This kept Marie isolated and even God seemed very far away. In her worst times, Marie considered suicide. She kept a bottle of pills available in case one day she could no longer stand the pain.

Once in treatment at ACC, Marie gave permission for her therapist and her pastor to communicate. This allowed for a deeper understanding of her struggles from both an emotional and spiritual perspective. Marie’s pastor was also able to play an important role in accepting and encouraging her. As trust deepened, Marie revealed more of herself. It became clear that early sexual abuse involving a relative and then a school worker had left her with deep wounds and a huge burden of shame.

During extensive treatment, Marie’s health insurance proved to be insufficient. Here again, the partnership between ACC and her church came into play. The church assisted Marie with her living expenses through their benevolence fund. ACC’s Client Assistance Fund was applied to her need for services.

In time, the healing gradually came. Marie was able to feel the pain and anger of her ordeal. She was able to begin to see her worth in God’s eyes. She credits the therapeutic relationship with making God’s love real to her. She undertook a process of forgiveness toward those who had violated her. Today she is grounded in her faith, self-supporting, and able to see how far she has come. She hopes her story will encourage others.

This client’s name has been changed to protect her privacy.

If you have a story of your counseling experience at ACC you might be willing to share as an encouragement to others, please contact Dr. Joe Verga at 336-896-0065, ext. 206, or at jverga@christiancounseling.org.