This month, St. Mary Church will offer a series of talks focusing on pain and suffering. Entitled “Hearts and Minds,” these presentations will seek to help folks understand the human reality of suffering.
The presenters will also offer solace and practical means for coping with our own pain and suffering as well as the anguish of others. The members of Chelsea Ministerial Association invite everyone to join the group at 6:30 p.m. for pre-talk, refreshments and hospitality, and the lectures take place from 7-8 p.m.
We would appreciate knowing you will be joining us by emailing [email protected]. This will enable us to provide enough refreshments.
The third lecture will take place on Thursday, Nov. 19, and the topic is, “Addictive Illness Has no Boundaries” by Sister Mary Ellen Merrick, IHM.
Merrick is a member of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (Scranton, PA). She is the Executive Director of the Women’s Treatment Program at Guest House in Lake Orion, Mich., and has worked in the addiction field since 1983.
Prior to coming to Michigan, she taught at Loyola University in Maryland, directed an outpatient trauma clinic, and had a private practice with adults dealing with addictions, dysfunctional family systems, and general mental health issues.
She has experience with both residential and outpatient facilities as a therapist and clinical director. Merrick taught a course on substance abuse at Loyola College in Maryland and supervised clinical interns for 25 years.
Her talk is a brief overview that will look “underneath the rock” that is addictive illness and identify how it can take everything away from people who get sucked into its powerful grasp. It seduces and convinces the person that he or she is in control when the opposite is the reality. It hurts and it’s the kind of hurt that can last a lifetime. This conversation will look at the reality and the hope that lies in healing and recovery.
Contact Cathy Guinan at [email protected] for more information.
