Charles Ray Hopkins, LMHC – Biographical statement

As a counselor for 37 years, what have I learned about working with people?  Working as a youth minister in Houston Texas, the pastor of the church relegated me to the responsibility of supporting those coming to the church seeking help. Many of the people seeking support faced severe crisis. What kind of support did these people really need?  Realizing listening was important, I felt lost in how to guide those who were hurting. To gain a better grasp of helping others, I sought out the path of education and earned a master’s in counseling degree program from Gonzaga University in 1987.

A full year of classes including counseling theory and counseling processes laid a foundation of understanding people from a theoretical perspective. During graduate school, a practicum at Spokane Mental Health opened up the door a vast variety of problems people faced . After the practicum I was hired to work as a crisis counselor for Spokane Mental Health Center. I met people who struggled with mental health issues that I’d never seen before. Five years of work at Spokane Mental Health Center laid a foundation of understanding mental health issues such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders and suicidal threats. Crisis intervention work with people who faced mental health issues created within me the desire to help people through individual counseling. After leaving Spokane Mental Health, I worked as a counselor for Spokane Youth For Christ, Alive Counseling Services, and Genesis Institute. Starting a private practice in 2013 is a continuing adventure.

Working with men, women, couples, families, teenagers and children reveal each person’s uniqueness and concerns shaped by their experiences. People long to experience love, compassion, just/mercy, empathy and understanding. We seek out meaningful relationships in ways that more often than not fail us.

Still learning, my perceptions, beliefs and understanding of emotions reflect that I am no different than those I see. I struggle with life. Facing struggles takes courage, courage involves what can be difficult, yet good, very good.

I do have a faith in God, this faith is about relationship of developing trust, loving others, showing compassion for others concerns, and learning from others what is important to them in the counseling relationship.

What is shared during the time of counsel reflects what I have learned from others and my own failures in life.  So much of what I have known has come later in life experiences, not what I was brought up to know.