U.S. Immigrant – Faith Based Therapist

 

 

“I used to get very stressed out about trying to understand what my calling or my purpose was —

something concrete that I could name and say, ‘Wow! That’s my purpose.”

Now, I feel like it doesn’t necessarily have to be that specific, 

and it helps me to enjoy the day-by-day thinking that this day already has something in it that I can call a purpose.”

 

 

Immigrating

 

 

Carla is a therapist in Kensington, Philadelphia who was born and raised in Chile.

 

After completing her Bachelor’s in Psychology in Chile, Carla “started to work for a government agency that works with teenagers or adolescents at risk of getting involved in more criminal activity. This agency will intervene to prevent that kind of behavior and provide some extra support to them and to the families.”

 

Carla grew up in a Christian home. While working with the government, she was stirred to continue studying psychology but from a new perspective. She began to “think about pursuing Christian training.”

 

“In trying to work with these teenagers, I felt like they were eager to know more about God. They would have that interest. They were open about God and what the Bible says. I felt like my training wasn’t enough to answer and help these teenagers. I started to think about pursuing more education, but we don’t have Christian universities in Chile.”

 

Then, a missionary couple from the United States connected her with Cairn University in Bucks County.

 

“I was supposed to come for two years because of the master’s program in Christian counseling. I didn’t really know what to expect. That was 2010.” 

 

For Carla, it was a “real intense experience. It was financially challenging, emotionally challenging, intellectually challenging.”

 

After two years, her experience was prolonged. Carla had the opportunity to stay for another year of training and two internships. Afterwards, she was offered a job at The Place of Refuge in Kensington, Philadelphia.

  

“I came with a student visa. Then you can apply for a work permit as a student, which I did. When you’re done that, someone here in the United States has to offer a work visa. It’s not, ‘Oh! I want to work.’ It’s almost like they have to offer a position. They are the ones that request you and you have to fill out paperwork. But there’s always some changes, something new. It’s been a learning process. It’s been sometimes very frustrating, especially waiting to know their response to see if you can stay or not.”

 

“In 2016, it took almost a year to respond just to say ‘no’. I had to leave and apply in Chile again with the sponsorship of my job here. In Chile, it took five minutes for them to say, ‘O.K. You’re approved.’ This year was super easy, they didn’t even need me to go to an interview. The only thing I can say that is always the same is the uncertainty. There’s always uncertainty. But again, that has been a learning experience. Now, it’s eight years.”

 

 

Counseling

 

 

Place of Refuge is a “faith based counseling center in west Kensington. The purpose is to provide quality mental health services and offer faith or spiritual support. This population is really underserved. Though there are a lot of mental health services, there is a lack of compassion and professionalism sometimes.”

 

“We aim to offer that kind of professional and Christian help to people.”

 

They offer this help, “especially to people with trauma because that’s a very usual situation in this neighborhood. Almost 90 percent of the people there have been touched by traumatic effects in their lives. It’s really high.”

 

As for where Carla’s passion for counseling came from, she says, “When I was in my early teenage years, I was really curious about why people behave in certain ways. What is the motivation behind this person’s behavior, this person’s thinking? I wanted to understand what is behind what you see on the surface.”

 

She went on, “Now, I realize that I also felt like there were many people in the church, suffering, probably many with mental health challenges or pain. I wanted to be available to the suffering that don’t say anything, that are sitting next to us in church.”

 

“That’s one of my big passions,” Carla continued, “to bring more mental health topics or to open up about those things. The church should be a place of help and refuge for people struggling with pain. Sometimes life itself can be challenging and you need the support.”

 

 

Living Purposefully

 

 

When asked about living purposefully, Carla tied it in with her life path.

 

“What comes to my mind first is learning because, at least for me, it’s not something that is totally clear, like, ‘What is my purpose?’ I am learning about it in different ways.”

 

Carla elaborated, “I guess what I’m trying to say is I had a season in my life where I was trying to figure out my purpose. I used to get very stressed out about trying to understand what my calling or my purpose was — something concrete that I could name and say, ‘Wow! That’s my purpose.” Now, I feel like it doesn’t necessarily have to be that specific, and it helps me to enjoy the day-by-day thinking that this day already has something in it that I can call a purpose.”

 

“I never thought about coming here to Philadelphia and working in a place I work and hearing the stories of people suffering. You wonder, ‘What can I do? What is the purpose of me coming from so far away to hear this person in this place that seems difficult sometimes?’ But, then, in the day-by-day I can think that God knows why He chose for me to come at this time and be helping.”

 

“If I have the opportunity today to know the story of a specific person who is in great sorrow or suffering, what can I do today for that person? I’m not going to fix her life or his life, but, maybe, by being there and knowing about the stories I can continue to pray for this person. Maybe that’s the purpose: to know and pray for this person.”

 

Carla elaborated on figuring out her own “purpose.”

 

“It’s understanding that every single day might have a purpose, even if you can’t see it in the big picture. Even to sit here with you, this is something that I’d like to think was ordained by God and that it will have some purpose.”

 

She continued, “It’s good to have plans or dreams, but, at the same time, it’s good to be in the present. I think that helps to take away some of the anxiety related to, “Oh, what should I do?” in my life. If you’re a Christian, it helps you to trust God that He will show you the way. If you’re not a Christian, I think it’s still helpful to say ‘don’t worry about tomorrow. You only have this present moment.’”

 

For this reason, “don’t get your mind fixated in one idea like ‘this is how my life should look like’ and ‘these are the specific steps I have to take to achieve that’ because I think that God is so creative and He will take you in different paths, He will put you in situations you would never expect. Allow flexibility.”

 

“Again, at some point in my life I felt like I had to find this big purpose, big calling, but I’m realizing that it’s not. You can do things and serve Him in simple ways.

 

To illustrate Carla remembered, “One day we were walking out of our office and this guy in the street was asking for money. It was super cold. We didn’t have anything really to give him except a bottle of water and gloves. Sometimes when you do something that simple because you want to bless, you want to be the hands of Jesus — I feel like that picture became super important for me — it DOES make a difference.”

  

About her own purpose: “This is something that never crossed my mind, or that, in my own, I would never have chosen. But the beauty of it, is that through this field I come into contact with people who are willing to tell me, a complete stranger, their life stories. This is humbling and an honor. Sometimes these life stories, especially the broken and painful parts, have never been spoken before.”

 

“I have come to the conclusion that therapy, meaning to be able to tell your story, in a safe, quiet, trustworthy place, is quite a gift. I believe that the Lord gives therapy as a gift and as a path of healing. There is a psychiatrist that I really like, Irwin Yallom, that states that therapy is a scenario where love is executed. As a Christian, I understand this as an opportunity to incarnate the Love of Christ through the process of counseling.” 

 

“All that to say, living purposely for me, at this season of my life, is to ask the Lord to be able to use what He has giving me — education, resources, the little office in our facility in Kensington, even my limitations — to help others bring their stories to the light of Christ and find healing through Him.

 

“These resources may change, and the scenario also may change, but (my purpose is) to use wisely what He puts in my hands.”