A Little Bit from the Heart

As you may have noticed, the practice has been growing. I went into practice on my own at the beginning of 2017. The first few months were spent doing logistics - applying to be on insurance panels, building a website, purchasing office furniture, and building a case load.

One year ago, I was working by myself, with one (very part-time) support staff. Eventually, I was working full time, as was my office manager, and there was a growing wait list for services. It was time to expand, both in terms of the staff and the space! Since November of last year, the practice has grown to include myself, two LPC's, one LPA, one future LPA, one master's intern, one full-time office manager, and one part-time support staff. Two additional LPC's have office space inside the practice as well, although they are independent from Kranz Psychological Services.

That means that there have been quite a few interviews over the last several months. When a client walks into my office, the first thing they see are three pieces of artwork that say "Kindness," "Gentleness," and "Grace." Those three things have always been the driving force behind how I view others and interact with them. As the practice has grown, I have searched for individuals who I believe to be like-minded.

So, I thought I would just share from the heart about why I strive to use Kindness, Gentleness, and Grace. It has been said that the "works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy,outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar" ... BUT ... then there is another list: "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,goodness, faith gentleness, and self-control. Against these there is no law."

Take a look at each one of the "fruits of the flesh" and see how it lines up with issues we often see in the practice... sexual immorality (pornography, infidelity), impurity (of thought or of deed), hatred (racism), discord (family dysfunction), jealousy (sibling issues), fits of rage (homicidal thoughts, violence, child abuse), dissension (marital strife), drunkenness (drug or alcohol use). The list is obviously not exclusive, but you get the idea.

The fruit of the flesh is followed up by another list of fruits. Before we look at these, look at the word that goes between the two lists... the word "BUT." In English, the word "but" is used to introduce a phrase or a clause that contrasts with what goes before it.

In other words, when we see the word "BUT," it is indicating that what comes after it is INCOMPATIBLE with what comes before it. So, if we want to see less of the fruits of the flesh, we have to offer something incompatible with it...Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Gentleness, Self-Control. I have to give them KINDNESS instead of CRITICISM, GENTLENESS instead of JUDGMENT, and GRACE and MERCY when they fail.