This article about Mike Helwig, Therapist-IT at Christian Family Solutions, was orginally written for the Spring/Summer edition of our Healing & Helping publication.
"For such a time as this…"
As a religion teacher at Lakeside Lutheran High School, Mike Helwig realized his role during a pandemic would require a specialized skill set. The young people he was called to teach, upended by social isolation and disrupted routines, would need more counseling and mentoring than actual instruction. This compelled Mike to explore a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling.
The needs are not isolated to students, Mike says. He had been a parish pastor in Nebraska and Wisconsin for 20 years, during which time he saw needs in his congregations, and even struggled with some of his own personal and family issues.
Today Mike is a therapist in-training at CFS and among the first seven master’s graduates from the Bethany Lutheran College Clinical Mental Health Counseling program.
During his internship with CFS, Mike worked in the ARMOR Day Treatment Program for Teens. He witnessed people flooding in the doors, many who were not familiar with God’s love or had been through bad situations that turned them away from it.
Mike realized he was called for such a time as this. These young clients needed someone to live in their space with them and address the difficult issues in the light of grace. CFS was the place where pastoral counseling and therapy would come together.
“CFS is poised now to meet people who are hurting in spaces where pastors and teachers may not be able to go,” Mike says, “The time is coming when the church around the globe will need to address mental health issues as never before.”
God has placed Mike in the right place at the right time for impactful ministry.
ARMOR Day Treatment for Teens is a community-based program that provides a step up in care for a teen who has regressed or plateaued in the traditional outpatient counseling setting – an important step up before symptoms escalate and inpatient, hospital-based treatment is required. It is also appropriate for teens stepping down from inpatient programs.
We have multiple ARMOR treatment options in Minnesota and Wisconsin, both in-person and online via telehealth. Our online ARMOR program is appropriate for teens who do not live near a clinic, or for those with transportation or scheduling concerns. You can read more about the ARMOR online treatment experience here.
