While mental health challenges are troubling, they have the power to transform if the treatment includes a focus on the transforming grace of God.

Kris’s mental health became a concern in 2008 when a major life change from rural to city life brought on a wave of anxiety and depression so intense that she could no longer drive the car or speak to her doctor without help. She was spiraling into a dark place.

“I was so broken… I wanted to die. I couldn’t function,” she says.

Kris went to a nearby mental health provider, was prescribed medication, and began seeing a counselor. For the next decade she still struggled in silence trying to manage her emotions. Her faith was not a part of the treatment she received. Looking back on those years, she realized her counselor wasn’t able to offer her the real hope and healing that comes from God.

All of that changed in 2023.

“I had been aware of an agency called Christian Family Solutions. Something online caught my eye and I was excited to find out what they offered. I scheduled my first appointment in February of 2023. It was the best thing I have ever done!”

During treatment, Kris and her therapist at CFS explored the transformative power of the Gospel that had been missing in Kris’s prior treatment. The world and our sinful flesh twist emotions and create barriers to true healing. Kris’s therapist showed her how to work through the barriers with the certainty of God’s powerful grace. Kris was able to acknowledge some painful memories of her childhood that had distorted her view of herself. Together they worked through role-playing and setting boundaries with evidence-based therapeutic techniques.

“When I avoided my emotions and kept them pushed down, it caused me physical pain. My constant negative self-talk was damaging, because anger turned inward can turn into depression. My therapist helped me realize that by doing this I was making God to be a liar. God loves and delights in me! I repented and asked God for His forgiveness.”

“I always believed I was close to God and knew Him. I was baptized as an infant and raised faithfully going to church. I knew Bible stories and hymns… but I have never had a stronger relationship with God than I have right now.”