A reminder that Journey To Hope is closed this entire week for Thanksgiving. We will be back in the office on Monday, November 27 and will plan to see you at your next appointment. If you need to reach out, please remember that we check messages first thing in the morning, and 7 at night, and I will reach back out within 24 hours.
Praying for you, Susie
Hello there.
I have waited a bit before reaching out in this way but I need to communicate my heart with you. As you know, life has been pretty big in my corner of the world over the last four months and it is time for me to communicate and express some of the challenges we faced and the feelings that have been a part of that.
First, know that I really care about you, your family, your situation. Some of you have been waiting or waited longer than usual this year for your first appointment with me. For some of you, we are just getting started together. For others, we have been on a very positive therapeutic journey together, and this year, 2023, life has hit me with some very big moments. The sudden, unexpected death of my Dad on February 27 followed by my oldest son having brain surgery on March 27 has caused quite a bit of disruption to my schedule, and rightly so. I feel like things that would’ve normally been easier such as scheduling have become very difficult to navigate since Covid. I have always had a very busy counseling schedule and have had a wait list to get started with me, but once people get started, I can usually get them in a rhythm that works for both of us.
I tried to come back right after my dad‘s memorial service, and it was too soon and I ended up taking an additional week down and then we found out about my son’s surgery, which required a trip to Florida to be there for him through his surgery until he was home. Then we returned back to Virginia. My relationship with my dad was excellent and so there’s not unresolved issues that I’m trying to deal with in light of his passing. The issue is that I love him very much and he loved me well, and so the sorrow of saying goodbye to him has been almost too big for words. My son is recovering well and returns to work this week.
Since my return, I have tried really hard to get myself back into the regular routine of my schedule, and for the most part, it is working, but at a slower pace, and less hours each day just until I feel that I can take on the weight of my normal weekly schedule. For right now I just wanted to let you know that my hours moving forward are
Mondays 11-5 or 6 in person
Tuesdays 1130 to 430 in person
Wednesdays 10 to 2 in person, then I travel home and do two sessions virtually
Thursday I’m completely virtual from 11 to 4 or 5
Fridays I am in the office every other Friday in person from 10 to 2 or 3. The other Friday is my day off and I’m trying not to schedule anyone there.
Knowing that, please be aware that I am doing my best to reach out so that we can keep our continuity. I have appreciated your flexibility when I have needed to be out or virtual in the middle of all of this. I still need to ask for your grace during this season of grieving as I try my best to maintain self-care while I’m caring for others.
On top of all that vacation season is coming up, which always wreaks havoc with our schedule. I will do my best to keep you informed as to dates that I will be on vacation or that my support staff will be on vacation and will require me to go virtual. As you know, I do not counsel in the office by myself. For me to be in person, I require a support staff present.
Another wrinkle is that if you wake up on your in person appointment day, and you are having some sort of symptoms or you have a schedule conflict and you want to go virtual, it will most likely not be on the same day and time of your original appointment. As I mentioned, I have a support person who comes in and I pay her to be in the office while I’m there. Virtual counseling does not require me to have a support person on site and so I try to move anybody that needs to be virtual to the day where I’m already working from home. In our current paradigm, that means that I can’t always guarantee I can move you to virtual in the same week that you’re currently scheduled in. Sometimes it works and I have a cancellation and I can pop you right in a virtual spot on Thursdays, but not always. Again, I just ask for your grace as we navigate this hard and complicated season at Journey To Hope.
You matter to me, as do the things you are facing. You are in my prayers and I would appreciate yours as well. God is greater than anything we face in this world, and I am living that truth right now.
Blessings, Susie💙
Please be aware that the Journey to Hope offices are closed this week for bereavement. It is our hope to resume normal business/counseling hours Monday March 6. My Dad passed away unexpectedly on Monday February 27th. in the meantime, we would so appreciate your prayers during this hard season. My Dad was one of Journey to Hope’s first and biggest supporters; he helped set up and put together the furniture when we opened. He is so loved and missed by all who got the chance to know him. Blessings, Susie💙
https://www.covenantfuneralservice.com/tributes/William-Blocker
A few photos from just before we began. God was already showing us He was bigger than our dreams…..he took this empty space and we began the Journey to Hope.
Good morning. Today marks the official 12 year anniversary of Journey to Hope. The day we opened our doors. But the details of Journey to Hope started way before thst date. With Andy, Sharla and I sitting around the kitchen table prayerfully discussing what our name would be and why, all the details of our name, our location, our furniture, our logo were part of those moments leading up to January 31, 2011. God is In This Story by Katy Nichole and Big Daddy Weave is a song that speaks to all the things that make up the stories of our lives, and holds out that hope is never gone. He has truly been in our story, and in all the details. This song speaks to us and we hope to you, as well, today. We are so thankful.