Centus Counseling has been my work home since January 2004. I have been privileged to work with other caring professionals in mental health who are dedicated to working with underserved communities. Montview Blvd. Presbyterian Church has provided not only office space but friendship for 17 years.
I went back to school in midlife after my children were well started in school. I am the mother of two step-children and two biological children and knew the struggles of blended families. I wanted to work with other children and families, just as I and my family benefited from the help of great therapists. I became a Counseling Psychologist, specializing in working with children and families, after getting my doctorate from DU.
Besides therapy, I did some pro-bono work for a new school not far from my office—St. Elizabeth’s School. Over time, I had conversations with the head of school who convinced me that the school really needed an in-school counselor. Together with Walther McCoy, head of St. Elizabeth’s School, David Card, head of Escuela de Guadalupe, and Sue Geissler, Executive Director of Centus Counseling, the school counseling program was launched in 2010, with a counselor at St. Elizabeth’s and another at Escuela de Guadalupe for one-half day a week at each school.
I provided the psychological services, mainly assessment and evaluation. We quickly grew the mental health services at the schools, raising money from the community to support the program. The Counseling for Kids Lunch has been a gratifying experience both for money raised as well as the connections built. We raised $10,000 the first year to over $100,000 in 2020.
The program has grown and prospered. We now have 6 counselors, working full time at St. Elizabeth’s and Escuela de Guadalupe, and part-time at three more schools, providing much-needed supplemental help at schools which, like all schools, are in much need of more mental health coverage.
The counselors in the school program are all great people and meeting with them and working on cases has taught me so much. I have enormous confidence in the future of the program. I am grateful to Paul Bretz and the Board of Centus Counseling and pleased and proud of the progress we have made and, of course, pleased and proud that the program is being renamed “Susan’s School Counseling.”