Behavioral therapist Brenda Harris poses for a photo in her home office at her house in Columbus on July 26. Harris will be leading a Journey to Restoration event Aug. 17.
Mike Wolanin | The Republic
The way licensed behavioral therapist Brenda Harris sees it, a person sometimes can be unwittingly “storing” emotional pain in what seems like a strained or stiff back. As a Christian, she believes that God wants such an individual to instead store something such as joy within in exchange for the pain.
She cites that as one small, quick example of being restored. As in re-stored.
Yet she knows that is hardly a simple task.
“It’s so easy to be distracted, and most of us have the ability to do so many things at once,” Harris said. “People will understandably say, ‘Well, I have to be attentive to my spouse or to the kids or to something else.’ And then they may suddenly wonder why they feel depressed or exhausted or disconnected.
“And we need to remember that our feelings don’t just happen. And they don’t surface just from the neck up. You can feel these things in your body.”
As one who has walked through pain, grief, and trauma herself, she passionately believes that people can feel release and relief, too.
Harris is leading a gathering called “Journey to Restoration” from 1 to 3 p.m. Aug. 17 at The Forge on Fourth, 418 Fourth St. in downtown Columbus. The event cost is $20 per person (but with financial help available) with the theme from Psalm 23:3: “He refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.”
She understands as well as anyone that it can be challenging to make time for restoration, given the demands of work, families and the like. But she believes that many people still could use some basic psychological and spiritual assistance even amid COVID’s post-traumatic stress.
“There is no real normal after COVID,” Harris said. “For those who didn’t lose family or friends, they lost at least a solid sense of normalcy. Consequently, I believe that a lot of people have been limping along since then without really addressing the issue.”
In Harris’ counseling ministry, she especially sees one element frequently linked with personal restoration: forgiving oneself.
“You have to learn to look at yourself as a valuable entity,” she said.
She regularly shares with clients and audiences one element about pain or woundedness — and God’s desire to heal it by bringing a person front and center to face an issue.
“Generally, you will continue taking a test (related to hurt) until you pass it,” she said.
She preaches the importance of mental, emotional and spiritual balance. And she tells people that they are spiritual beings whether they practice any structured spirituality at all.
“We need to learn to accept all of who we are,” she said.
Kenee McNeal leads The Sisterhood, which is the Calvary Community Church women’s ministry that has organized the event for women and men alike. She has heard Harris teach more than once and has benefited so much from Harris’ perspective that she currently is pursuing a career as a therapist herself. The women’s ministry has had Harris lead two similar workshop sessions in the past year or more.
“We don’t yet feel that she’s had quite enough time (in the past) just yet to lead us through (restoration) and to be able to (fully) work through general health issues,” McNeal said. “Brenda is really our go-to person.”
McNeal especially likes the idea that this event is being held in a public space, because some people may not be fully comfortable in a church setting. And she loves the idea that, in a world where people sometimes are regularly encouraged to work on their physical selves, there can be ample time set aside for the emotional, psychological and spiritual.
“I think it’s so important,” McNeal said, “to take the opportunity to work on it all.”
About the event
What: Journey to Restoration, an outreach the Calvary Community Church women’s ministry featuring licensed behavioral therapist Brenda Harris.
When: 1 to 3 p.m. Aug. 17.
Where: The Forge on Fourth, 418 Fourth St. in downtown Columbus.
For more information or to register: calvarychurchcolumbus.org/journey.
