Courtney
Over the summer, a long-time dream of the organization officially took flight…and it’s called LIFT! If you followed along, you know it stands for Leaders in Faith Together, which BHITC believes is the best way to continue to develop the bold faith leaders in our city and accelerate their work, effectiveness and overall growth through teams of believers and advisors.
Recently, BHITC sat down with one of LIFT’s first participants, Courtney Hauser, and here’s what she had to say –
Q: Why did you start Healing Care Counseling Center?
A: While I was still in grade school, God started to draw me into life problem solving which started with myself. I was exposed to domestic violence and abuse and wanted to understand it and stop it. I wanted my life to be better. I wanted to be healthier spiritually, emotionally and mentally.
I have been a therapist for seven years and started my own practice two years ago because I wanted freedom to bring Christ into counseling. I wanted to have freedom to use Christian principles and bring faith into the sessions because my journey to healing started with Jesus.
Q: Why do you serve the dominantly Black Community?
A: Therapy is still very taboo in the Black Community. It is common to have a “what goes on in this house stays in this house” mentality. I saw how problematic that was and how it affected Black people drastically - emotionally and mentally. I knew that the Black community would feel safer with me to share their deep struggles because I looked like them, understood them and could relate to them. I want to combine the spiritual and racial aspects.
Q: What impact do you want Healing Care Counseling Center to make?
A: Christian or not. I want people to experience Jesus; through Him true healing and lasting transformation happens. I want to teach people Christian thinking and find out how they think about God, their life, trauma and pain. I want to walk with them through a thought process of undoing, redoing, undoing and so on.
Roman 12:2: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
I want my clients to know how to practically renew their minds in the pain of craziness, suffering and pain. I want them to have the skills to take their thoughts captive and break free from bondages. I want to teach practically on how to apply the word of God.
This is not evangelism but an understanding of who God really is and who they are. Many times our life experiences are seen as a reflection of how we think God feels about us. I want to rattle the lies to know the truth about God and how it relates to their lives.
Q: What is your hope for the future?
A: The Lord gave me a vision for a trauma center. Hospitals have trauma centers when something intense happens to the human body and I want to provide the same for the human mind. We want a space where we can provide healing, help and services to people who have experienced abuse or trauma; one-on-one, counseling, programs, groups for children and trauma education classes.
Q: Why did you want to join LIFT?
A: As you can imagine, my counseling practice expanded astronomically in 2020 because of the pandemic. My practice had at least 1500 appointments in 2020 and income tripled. This is great news for a business but we were lacking the knowledge on how to grow and expand. What does structure and systems look like?
This is where LIFT stepped in. They are walking with me and my practice to create the structure that is needed. To help me turn my practice into a “mom-and-pop” shop to a highly functioning business.