Inside Emerge

June 13, 2024

“May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us—yes, establish the work of our hands.”
– Psalm 90:17

Service Anniversaries & Birthdays

BirthdaysMeghan Flint – Tue, June 4
Dr. Don Lichi – Mon, June 17
Dr. Robert Crosby – Sat, June 22
Kara Green – Sat, June 22

Service AnniversariesJames Rockhold – Sat, June 1 (3 years)
Dr. Pat Barrett – Mon, June 3 (28 years)
Katarina Kern – Mon, June 3 (5 years)
Shanon Miller – Thu, June 6 (2 years)
Erica Rhoads – Thu, June 6 (2 years)
Connie Williams – Sat, June 15 (3 years)
Tim Bracker – Sun, June 30 (1 year)

Prayer Requests

We send our prayerful support and love to Jonathan Bower, his wife Amy, and their family, during this time of the loss of Jonathan’s step-dad.

Celebration of Life on Saturday, June 15 at 10:00am
at Firestone Park Baptist Church, Akron, OH

Welcome, Karen!

Make sure to give a warm Emerge welcome to Karen Wright, Executive Administrative Assistant to the President. Whether or not you’ve had the privilege of meeting Karen, make sure you read on to get better acquainted with her.

The town of Stow is home to Karen and her family of four adult “kids”. Over the years, Karen has enjoyed growing up in the greater Akron area and has various favorites found here. Though Starbucks isn’t on the list, her #1 favorite is Dante Boccuzzi Akron (Check it out here). Karen’s grandparents on each side were immigrants; her Mom’s parents were from Macedonia and her Dad’s parents were from Lebanon. She enjoyed trying to speak their languages to the older family members, so if you speak Lebanese, you know who to practice with!

Karen is a graduate from the University of Akron in Business Management and has worked for various businesses, including the role of EA for the Akron AT&T CEO. Karen’s greatest inspiration in life comes from her her Grandmother, “She instilled in us a sense of confidence that everything will be alright. Just do good and pray!”

Please make sure to stop by Karen’s office or catch her in the hallway to introduce yourself. The Emerge team is blessed to have her onboard!

Cybersecurity Report

Great work, team, on the recent improvement in our cyber security Employee Secure Score (ESS). I urge each of you to continue to enhance your individual scores, as they significantly impact our team’s overall score. It’s crucial, as non-compliance with training could result in insurance rejection in the event of a cyber attack that Emerge would incur losses.

Purpose of this Report
The collective organization is analyzed to determine averages, trends, and overall company risk to evaluate if you’re on track with your ongoing cybersecurity training program and if not, how your organization can improve.This report will help you understand where your employees are excelling and where they are struggling to apply proper education in the weak areas.

What is an ESS?
The Employee Secure Score (ESS) metric is designed to determine cybersecurity risks on an individual employee level to quickly identify high-risk threats and track program improvement at a glance. The ESS calculation will factor in the employee’s training scores and participation, phishing fail rate and external data breaches associated with their email address. The higher an ESS, the lower security risk that employee is, while a low ESS indicates an employee who is a high security risk to the organization.

How to Improve Your Company Overall ESS
To increase the Overall Company Employee Secure Score, a collective effort must be made by all employees to raise their individual scores. Annual training should be completed, Micro-Trainings should be attempted by all employees, and Phishing simulations should continue.

Soul Care Experience Weekend

Grand Rapids, Michigan

Friday, January 26 – Sunday, January 28

Response From Attendee
“Thank you, Emerge Team, for being a blessing to me, my family, and our church family. The first night and session impacted us so greatly. Learning what forgiveness is, is not, and the steps needed to live in freedom were life changing for me and my sons. Thank you! Thank you for impacting others in a positive way, bringing us closer to one another, and most importantly to Jesus!”

Response From Pastor
“The greatest leadership you can do is the ability to lead yourself. We’re going to look back on this day and see the transformational work that was done in the life of our church because of the Spirit-empowerment on everything they taught us. We’ll look back on this day as the time many of us realized that we really can be whole. We’re going to do this again with Emerge.

In my estimation, I can confidently say that Emerge is the leading Christian counseling ministry in the world because they are spirit-empowered, with a dynamic prophetic edge. The outcome of this weekend has been above and beyond!”

Sam Rijfkogel
Host Pastor

Get Out Of Your Head: God’s Treatment Plan for the Troubled Mind
“God used my history with Him and clinical skills to administer healing to the Grand Rapids First Family. Serving at the Soul Care Conference was both life-giving and life-changing.”
Presenter: Natasha Biddings, MA, LPC

The Grace to Face Anxiety & Depression
“There is a great need to integrate a robust expression of faith in Jesus, along with psychologically-informed care. The Soul Care Experience brings the best of what Emerge has to offer to serve churches across the United States. As both a clinician and a session speaker, it is a joy to multiply our impact.”
Presenter: Rev. Jason Tourville, PA

Stronger & Deeper Relationships: Overcoming Resentfulness, Bitterness, & Unforgiveness
What an amazing Soul Care Experience we had this past weekend. I was blown away with the whole experience because of the hospitality shown to us from the church, the hunger to learn from the participants, and the testimonies of transformation of how the Lord touched so many lives. Our entire team was able to serve so many people. I am especially grateful to have such a ministry-minded President who represented Emerge so well from the pulpit of such a Spirit-filled, thriving church.
Presenter: Dave Blankenship, PhD, LPCC-S

Sunday Message
Watch the Sunday morning sermon here.

Clinical Trainings

The front desk will block out the training dates and times in your schedule. If you don’t want to attend the training, please reach out to the front desk to open your schedule up.

Recoding Implicit Emotional Learnings Through Memory Reconsolidation

Led by David Blankenship, PhD, LPCC-S
6 Continuing Education credits offered
Register by Thursday, March 21

Future Trainings

Prepare & Enrich with Jason Tourville, MA
Fri, Apr 26 • 9:00am–3:00pm • 5 CEs

Trauma-Themed Sand Tray with Dr. Pat Barrett
Fri, Jun 28 • 9:00am–4:00pm • 6 CEs

Ethics Training
Fri, Aug 30 • 9:00am–12:00pm • 3 CEs

Substance Abuse with Steve Kerestes, LICDC-CS, LPCC-S
Fri, Oct 25 • 9:00am–12:00pm • 3 CEs

Relational Counseling Training
Fri, Dec 6 • 9:00am–12:00pm • 3 CEs

Welcome to the Team

Getting Acquainted with Dan Hazlett

My wife and I along with our 2 children (2- and 4-year-old) call Akron, OH our recent home. My wife plans to homeschool and is a PRN. I have been working towards my MFT degree remotely at Montreat College located in NC.

I heard about Emerge through several churches, church staff, and friends who have gone to Emerge for counseling. Desiring a Christian setting and valuing authenticity, Emerge fits with my desire for restoration and Kingdom work.

My biggest inspiration in life, especially when it comes to counseling, is Jesus Christ. I want to model well his love for others, his acceptance of broken people, and his approach to asking good questions that get to the heart of the issue. Others that have influenced me include Francis Chan, Ben Stuart, John Eldredge, and Virginia Satir.

My most listened to podcasts are Wild at Heart, Family Teams, Dad Tired, The Leading Edge in Emotionally Focused Therapy, and of course The ExEm Podcast. Ben Stuart’s message titled “Honest with God” was revolutionary in my walk with God. Two books that have impacted my relationship with Christ the most have been Crazy Love by Francis Chan and Drawing Near by John Bevere. In Bevere’s book, what stood out to me most was the idea that we are the ones who determine our hunger for the Lord. We choose what to fill our souls with. To Hell With the Hustle by Jefferson Bethke was also a game changer for our family in creating rhythms and family pillars.

Three key experiences that culminated my passion for others include a summer project in Northbay Ontario Canada in 2010, being an RA at Kent State University from 2011–2013, and more recently as a job coach and then case manager for Youth Opportunities Unlimited in Cleveland, OH. These experiences revealed to me my strengths and passion to witness others’ stories, come alongside to nurture and empower, and to share the Good News of Christ’s love and redemptive power.

My ultimate happy place is found in my hammock with ferns, pine, and moss surrounding me with some form of water close by. The CVNP has been good to us. My bucket list includes hiking the Appalachian Trail and I enjoy making things with my own hands. The two largest projects that I have made include our kitchen countertops and nightstands.

If someone were to show me appreciation, this is what that might look like…

  • Catching up over some freshly ground coffee in my French press
  • An occasional check-in
  • Sharing advice and wisdom!
  • Dark chocolate and special coffee
MAY
20

Chapel

11:00am–12:00pm
CPD

Chapel Speaker: Gary Underwood
Director of Development & Ministry Partnerships

MAY
16

Clinicians Video Profile Filming

1:00–4:00pm

Since video profiles are a proven and effective tool in building a clientele base, the Communication Office is partnering with Dr. Dave on this project to provide the opportunity for all Emerge clinicians.

Please contact Pamela Crosby if you would like to schedule for this week’s filming in your office or for future appointments (the third Thursday of most months).

Front Desk Updates

Scheduling Clients Out
Please make sure to update the front desk if you are allowing clients to schedule more than 2 appointments at a time. An email was sent last week with a form attached but you can always send us a quick email, as well. We appreciate it!

Summer Schedules
Summer is coming! Clinicians, please let the front desk know of any upcoming vacations or time off that you may need. It’s always preferred to block out schedules early than to reschedule clients. 😊

Counseling Groups

Screenings for the current groups are now closed. Anyone who screens now will be put on a list for the next group which will be coming in September. Thank you for all your referrals.

Emerge.org/groups

Calming the Chaos

Started Tuesday, April 9
12-week group • Tuesdays, 6:00–7:30pm

An educational support group for adults struggling with “out of control” thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.

From Conflict to Peace

Started Thursday, April 11
8-week group • Thursdays, 6:00–7:30pm

An educational support group for adults looking to create positive change in relationships.

Team Portal

Whether you’re new or have been on the Emerge team a while, you may not be aware of the non-public pertinent information located on the website just for the Emerge team. The Team Portal can be accessed at Emerge.org/portal and features the following:

  • The Marketing Request Form can be used to order business cards, printing projects, or special communication requests.

  • A great way to keep up with your colleagues’ birthdays, prayer requests, and upcoming events is to click on the Inside Emerge tab. Do you have a prayer request, an important announcement, or event to post in the weekly I.E.? Fill out the form located in the same portal, Inside Emerge Request Form.

  • The Clinical Teams page is an excellent way for all the clinicians to stay up to date with teams you can participate in for collaboration, training, new initiatives, and more!

Latest ExEm Podcast Episode

Support the Experience Emerge Podcast and sign up for Instacart!

SEASON 5  •  EPISODE 7

Journey From Musician to Psychotherapist & A Broken Heart

In an interview led by Gary Underwood (Director of Development & Ministry Partnerships at Emerge), we hear a deeply personal and touching story from the host of ExEm, Matt Knabe (Director of Operations at Emerge). From Matt’s experiences as a recording artist and touring musician to his current role as a psychotherapist, he will share how each season of his life has shaped his journey. Additionally, he will bravely open up about the health scare he has been battling over the past year.

IE Requests

IE requests to be submitted on or before each Thursday. You can include prayer requests, suggested social media posts (scriptures, phrases, and quotes), fun facts, team leaders announcements, calendar events, etc.

You’ll find the Inside Emerge Request form on the Team Portal, and for a variety of promo materials, please submit through the Marketing Request form.

IE Archive

As an ongoing reference, you can now view previous posts of Inside Emerge with the IE Archive.

Office Supplies

Most of the office supply orders are now through Amazon. If you need something ordered, please check Amazon and send your order selection to Jenn Joseph.

Due to a local winter storm warning, Emerge Counseling Ministries will be closed Friday, January 19th and will reopen pending improved weather conditions. We are offering telehealth appointments only pending the clinician’s availability to do so.