Sept. 13, 2007
Hello and welcome to you all as well as to myself!

Thank you Mark and Jason for setting up my page and inviting me to join the bloggings of the group.   
By the way,  Jason, you picked a great background for me with a butterfly included.   
Following is a quote that I pray and believe describes my process into life…

 "We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has
gone through to achieve that beauty."
Maya Angelou

Yep.   I am happy to say that I have been undergoing significant changes over the years. I am so very grateful that I am not in the wounded mess of a shape that I was in years past !   If you had known me even 15 years ago you would be more easily amazed at how I am a trophy of God’s grace and mercy as He has been involved in giving me what I need to be growing up into the fullness of His original blueprint.

I am also going to insert here a ‘bio’ that I hand out to my clients so they can begin to get to know me.

 

 

 

MARIBETH POOLE, MA.

PASTORAL COUNSELOR

 

 

I
am discovering the significance of my Father’s declaration:

“I
am His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has
before ordained, that I should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)

 

I am ordained by Vineyard Christian Fellowship in
Wichita, KS and commissioned to work at Shepherd’s House as a pastoral
counselor. I am gifted and trained to
provide care for people who are struggling with past or current wounds,
relationships, emotions and other disorders and are seeking healing and
maturity.

 

WHAT
IS PASTORAL CARE?

§ A holistic relationship where all aspects of your life are attended to.
Where you discover that all of you matters (past and current soul wounds,
relationships, emotions, spirituality, and all aspects of the maturity
processes.)

§ A caring for people who have experienced neglect, rejection, criticism,
and hatefulness from family and/or Christians.

WHAT PASTORAL CARE IS NOT –

§ Hateful, critical, or rigid.

§ Part of managed care, HMO or services generally covered by medical
insurance.

 

IF YOU’VE BEEN “TREATED,” THEN IT’S TIME YOU WERE CARED FOR.

 

TRAINING BS
in Bible and Missions at Columbia Bible College, SC. 1980.

MA in Biblical Counseling at Grace Theological Seminary, 1984, under
Drs. Larry Crabb and Dan Allender.

Continued Education through seminars on the development of the brain
and the effects of trauma, sexual abuse, dissociation and ritual abuse and
church relationships.

_______________

EXPERIENCE Short-term
missionary, Nigeria. 1981-1982

Program
Director of Adolescent Girls Group Home 1987-1989

Private
Practice 1984-1998

  depression, anxiety, eating disorders,
marital struggles, other relational issues

special focus on dissociation due to
severe trauma.

Prayer Minister with
Shepherd’s House, Inc. 1998- present

National and International
Speaker on topics such as

· How to Grow a Joyfully Secure Child

· Reclaiming Our Identities

· Living a Life Worth Living- 5 Ingredients to Thrive in Life

· Maturity in Churches and Missions

· Maturity in Missions

· Single and Satisfied

Co- author of The
Life Model- Living From the Heart that Jesus Gave You

Author of Joyful
Beginnings- an 18 month calendar tracking the emotional development of a
child’s emotional brain.

_____________

 

SPECIAL INTERESTS  I like people.

                                My heart is easily captured by the wounded, overlooked and those
misperceived as                                     unimportant or misfits.

I
enjoy watching our God tenderly and powerfully help all people through
recovery.

I
enjoy God’s handiwork in nature, animals and crafts.

 

 

TREATMENT THEORY- As beings created in the image of God, we are
designed for meaningful and fulfilling
relationships with God and
people. Due to the condition of our
world we are subject to varying degrees of trauma
which result in inaccurate
self-identities, woundednes , incorrect perceptions and struggles in many
areas of our lives. We strive
ineffectively to get our needs met and grow in maturity. As God has stated, the way that seems right
ends in destruction.

My desire is to help individuals and families
experience the healing power of God,
Jehovah Rapha, discovering their true identities as delightful children of
our Heavenly Father and grow in maturity
within a spiritual community.

We embark on a process with God towards healing and maturity when we are born
into the family of God and have His Spirit come live within us. He actively provides situations that, along
with the relationships He orchestrates, that will hopefully help us grow
towards maturity in all areas of our lives. As we grow, he desires for us
to learn how to richly receive life
from Him, the Giver of Life, and from others. As we are rightly having our needs met and receiving “true life” we are
then able to interact in such a way as to pass life on to others.

God is our gracious Redeemer who extends Himself to bring good out of the evil that has
resulted in great personal damage.

God as our Deliverer has committed Himself to aide us
in living life free of the control of
evil. In the context of His power and our personal choice, we may
increasingly experience the combination of the amazing love and grace of God
with the authority granted us by the Heavenly Father.

Our Father’s main concern is that we experience joy as we love one another. Personal
maturity will only truly occur within the context of relationships where
each one is growing in their ability to receive
from and give to others within differing types of relationships. Although each individual’s path is different, I endorse a life model, keeping in mind the typical process of human
development where one matures through the stages of being an infant, a child, a
single adult, into marriage, raising a family, being freed up to offer life to
others, while living within a community.

Increasingly I am aware of the significance in the
amazing plan and privilege of prayer
in which our Almighty King has allowed us to be involved with Him and each
other with eternal issues. It is His
desire for us to come to Him, enlisting the help He has promised to give, as we
relate with others. We are bonded
together as we weep with those who weep, prayerfully support and cheer each
other on and then rejoice in the wonders our Father God performs. Thus, it is important for me as a care giver,
as well as for my flock to have a group of people committed to supportive
prayer.

 

PERSONAL SUMMARY I was born in Nigeria to missionary parents
and attended the mission boarding school through ninth grade. I completed my high school education, college
and masters degrees and further training in the United States. I believe that God has specifically and
wisely guided my continuing education and experiences to mature me and prepare
me for the work He has called me to do.

 

Maribeth Poole, MA

Shepherd’s House, Inc.

P.O. Box 40096

Pasadena, CA 91114

(626) 296-6743

(626) 794-3670

Fax: (626) 356-0682

E-mail: sheepfold@juno.com