Mental Health Awareness Series

Fresh Start with a Clearer Mind

A New Year gives us a chance at a fresh start and hopefully, a time to improve ourselves both physically and emotionally. So, our church is hosting a speaker series in January and February to offer support and insight on mental, spiritual, and physical health and wellbeing.
There will be sessions for people of all ages covering topics like loss, anxiety, depression, and fallout from the pandemic. Each session will stand alone and include a light meal. Please RSVP for any or as many as you would like to attend.

Sunday nights from 5pm until 7pm (light meal served at 5)

• Jan. 22 – Faith and Mental Wellness in Pandemic Times
  • Rev. Dr. Susan Bennett, Retired Elder in the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church and one of the first women to be ordained in the UMC. Susan served as a Marriage and Family Therapist and Pastoral Psychotherapist for over 40 years.  She was the founding Minister of Sacred Traditions and Rituals at Central UMC in Spartanburg SC.
• Jan. 29 – Grief, Loss, and How to Move Forward
  • Rev. Grace Guyton, MDiv, MFT Int is an ordained Deacon in the South Georgia Annual Conference.  She currently works at Fava Counseling Associates in Sandy Springs as a mental health therapist.  Grace graduated from Candler School of Theology in 2014 with her Master of Divinity and completed coursework at Mercer University in their Marriage and Family Therapy program in 2019
• Feb. 5 – Raising Resilient Kids
  • Erin Smith, MSSW, LMSW, is Chamblee UMC’s very own Children’s Director and is a psychotherapist at Healing Psychotherapy Practices of Georgia. She graduated from the University of Tennessee – Knoxville with her Masters of Science in Social Work (MSSW) in 2022 and has served children and their families for 10 years in the ministry setting.
• Feb. 12 – Will We Make it Through? Mental wellness in the teenage years
  • Kathy Schaaf, PMHNP-BC, served with her family as a Christian missionary for over 25 years. As an RN, she served those in marginalized communities in both Jordan and Africa. After returning to the US in 2012, Kathy helped start a medical program working to provide healthcare for unsheltered homeless of Atlanta. During her time working in the street, mental health became a focus of Kathy’s work and led her to return to school for a Nurse Practitioner program in mental health where she obtained her Masters in Nursing Science. She currently works in a mental health clinic where she provides mental health care for teens and adults. This session will focus on mental health basics for navigating mental health challenges in the teenage years. Basic understanding of some of the mental health challenges for today’s youth and how to make it through to healthy adulthood.