Speaker 1 (00:04):
Great. Well good afternoon. This is Rhonda Veder with Illuminated Pathways Family Therapy and we are going to come to you today to talk a little bit about who we are and what we do as a group practice. I’ll be introducing to you one of our client, our counselors that is in our other location and we’ll talk about that in shortly. I just wanted to give a little background about who I am and who we are. My name again is Rhonda k ves. I’m a licensed professional counselor supervisor and I am the owner of Illuminated Pathways Family Therapy and this has been open since January 2nd, 2015, and so we’ve been in business for 11 years and my team has offered comprehensive mental health services to individuals from all walks of life in the Clear Lake area of Houston. Our group practice uses evidence-based treatments such as talk therapy, play therapy for children, and other proven methods. While these remain central to our care, our recent personal experiences have led me to reevaluate traditional approaches to mental health. I have come to value a holistic whole body and spirit approach that helps better address our unique needs. The perspective gives clients access to a wider variety of therapeutic options before considering medication, empowering them to make informed choices and informed care actually about their own bodies and their own treatment.
(01:38):
At your initial consultation, we’ll take the time to learn about you. We spend about an hour asking several questions. We have about 11 pages we go through to just make sure we grab all the information we possibly need to help build the best treatment plan for you and then discuss those holistic pieces. We do collaborate with other areas of the industry with chiropractic care and with psychiatric care, but this is who we are and we’re excited about what we get to do in our community and abroad. And so I know that God has given us the vision to expand our territory. And so here we are in this journey. Today I have with me Lisa Zaida and she is in the Conroe area and she’s the best Christian counseling Conroe Texas has to offer and I look forward to you being able to meet her, but I just thought I’d let her introduce herself, give her a little bit of information about who she is and then we’re going to just kind of chit chat about what we do here together. Lisa,
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Thank you Rhonda. I appreciate that. My name is Lisa Zaida and I am a licensed professional counselor associate. Rhonda is my supervisor and yes, definitely the best counseling that in Conroe, Texas there is to offer. We focus and we meet the people where they’re at. So we talk about God sometimes I pray with them. Just yesterday I wrote down the scripture for someone that really meant the world to them is what she said. So to have that ability to be able to do that and share the faith I really truly believe is what makes Illuminated Pathways family therapy, the best counseling in Conroe, Texas has to offer.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Very good. So let’s talk about some events. So we do Montgomery County Market Days, I believe that’s in New Kaney
Speaker 2 (03:37):
And
Speaker 1 (03:37):
We’ve done three of those and I just got an email from Cindy to get registered again, so we’ll try to get that going for June. But we’ve been able to go to those events and meet some really amazing people and different vendors. What are some things that you have learned by attending those events?
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Well, I love meeting the people, especially the community that you are serving and that you’re living in. You get to meet the people that are in that area and help them. And so people, I like that we do that because we’re putting ourselves out there and people, this is something that people don’t like to speak up about and with us being right there, they’ll come and they’ll talk to us and they’ll say, Hey, either I need some help or I’m grieving someone just passed away or my mother needs help. And so it’s just very informal. We show up who we are, very genuine and they come to us and approachable and I just really love meeting the new people and we make a connection. I still have clients from our very first vendor workshop that we went to and still see ’em till this day. And so some of my favorite clients
Speaker 1 (04:47):
Very good. I know that our first time that we were out there was the strawberry festival and we had special t-shirts made and we gave out strawberry candies and just really met some really amazing people. But it was really, I think the thing that helped boost our business in that area so that we could let them know that they were there. I know also you and I have been pretty instrumental at trying to plan some things, whether that be with the school district there kind of trying to brainstorm about some ideas that we can do there. And so a couple of things I just want to talk about. One of them was like an afterschool idea when school starts back up in the fall being available, something we can do where the school can help disseminate some information about who we are and let them know that we’re just down the road from them actually and let them know that we can provide some mental health support, whether that be with their peer pressure or whatever that they’re dealing with. What was that that made you think about doing that? What was that that kind of sparked that interest in you that said, Hey, this is what I want to do?
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Well, I love people in general and I am open to seeing anybody, but my heart are the kids and just you hear about the social media, you hear about them not having social skills, being able to interact when you go to the restaurant, you see everybody on their iPad and iPhones and it just breaks my heart. And also with my background in human resources, you have to have the soft skills to be successful, you have to be able to communicate, you have to be able to interact, even as simple as eye contact and shaking the hand. And so when I passed the schools, I’m literally one mile from the junior high and maybe two from the high school. Another thing too is suicide is so high. I remember when my kids were growing up, they had kids in the teenage years that were suicidal and that just kind of stuck with me and here I am, I have an opportunity to help.
(06:52):
I’m sorry, I’m getting emotional. It’s okay. Here I am, have the opportunity to help and I want to be able to help the kids. I want to be able to be there for ’em. And I was a single parent. And so having that extra help but the right kind of help, the best Christian counseling, the Conroe, Texas has to offer is the right kind of help because we center our whole business on God’s word and that’s why it takes a village to raise children. And I want illuminated Pathway family therapy to be part of the village to help the parents with the children.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Absolutely. I love that. So I think the goal is for us to do something before school lets out in May. So I kind of have a flyer together so that they can present that at least that they can know that we’re going to be available and around. But for the fall for sure. But over the summer we want to do a couple extra things. So we have a beautiful opportunity to have some property to kind of do some stuff out there at the Conroe location. So if I’m not mistaken, the place where we do counseling is on what three acres right there
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Where
Speaker 1 (08:02):
We get to kind of, and so we’re thinking about doing family night, movie night, some game night, just do stuff to kind get people to get onto the property, learn who we are and kind of introduce some things. And so I believe that that’ll be some great things for the area to learn a little bit more about who we are in more non formal setting I guess kind allows everybody to learn a little bit more about who we are and what we want to do. And so I know also in June, you and I have been working really hard at getting together and final details, which will be happening pretty soon for a family conference, which will be on a Friday and a Saturday in June, I believe it was the 12th and 13th is what we picked, if I’m not mistaken. Let me look real quick just so that I don’t kind of speak too far off in my head here.
(08:58):
The 12th and 13th of June, and so it will be a Friday night and a Saturday most of the day. But it will be a great way for families, preteens and up to be able to participate in learning about technology and learning how to better support themselves and how to better communicate within their families and then maybe do some personality testing to see how they all learn and how they jive with each other. What’s the thing that’s going on. So it’s another way for us to introduce to them who we are and then see what comes from that. I’m hoping to invite several people from within that community and have them come and be actual special speakers. So it won’t just be you and me, it would be other people from within the community. So I’m hoping to get law enforcement involved and other people who have helped me really fight in Austin really lead the way and trailblaze to get laws passed to help protect the children.
(09:59):
And so I’m really thankful for those relationships. So I’m still lining those up, but I’m pretty close, so I’m pretty excited. Then in July, the end of July, we haven’t really secured the dates yet, but we’re going to do a marriage intensive. And so the beautiful part about the property is that it’s in a house and so we use every room for a therapy room, but we’re going to be able to transition that into a place for people to stay at. So talk a little bit about these visions of these things that I just introduced and allow for people to get an idea of what we’re going to be doing.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Yes. So first that property is prayed for you and I have prayed over it, other people have prayed over it. I keep Christian music in the house going 24 7. I pray through it. And it’s so amazing because when people come, they don’t know this. When people come, they’re like, I just feel so much peace here. And I say, well, that’s God, he’s here. And I get that time and time again. It’s out in the country. It’s really in the middle, 15 minutes from 45 and 15 minutes from 49. We’re centered right there in the middle, which there’s a big need. And if you look on the Google Maps, there’s nobody around us. So we know there’s a need here, but it’s just nice to kind of, the kids love it. They see the cows that are next door sometimes during our sessions we’re walking up and down, which they love and it gets them to talk more versus the very formal in the office, which still works too.
(11:36):
We color and we do crafts as well, but the parents love it. The kids love it. So just the whole place out there is great for events. I really think it’s a good place for the seminars that we’re having that we’re talking about having for marriages. I do wholehearted believe it’s a place of restoration and you get away from the social media, you get away from the everyday fires of life and you’re focusing on what matters the most is God and your marriage, your family. So I’m super excited about what we’re doing, but mainly how, and I love when you say this all the time, you say putting the family back together is God’s original design as he designed it as how he wanted it. And recently we just had a technology online webinar where Rhonda facilitated and I sat in and observed, and it was really, really good information because it’s the silent killer of families, if you will, from so many aspects, from relationships, from kids to adults, us too. There’s gaming, there’s the addiction for that. And it rewires the brain as you mentioned in the seminar, especially when you’re before 25 as a male and what’s the age for the females for?
Speaker 1 (12:56):
So it’s 19 for females and
Speaker 2 (12:57):
26
Speaker 1 (12:58):
For men.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
I need the boys because the boys, I have boys. So that is just the tip of the iceberg. We know that God has so much planned for these three acres to bring lives back to their original design as he planned them to be saved perhaps to have peace, just the holistic, the whole, I am just a loss for words because I just know that this is a place that he is bringing to Conroe, Texas to reach the people who are hurting.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Yes,
Speaker 2 (13:38):
Need restoration.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
So transitioning into that, so faith. So this is something that I really believe that God owns us a business and we have the pleasure of just facilitating whatever he tells us to do, and he brings us the people and he brings us those that need to have that restoration. So faith is such a huge part of that, but not everybody that comes is a faith believing person, but I think they choose our place. I believe you would agree, they choose our place because we’re truthful, right? We’re not shying away. We’re not going to try to validate wherever somebody’s at when it might not be true. I mean just because it might be something you’re feeling, the feeling might be a good feel that you’re having, but it might not be the perception of that feeling might not be a perception. So we got to remember that our job is to help kind of nudge people in a direction and help get them to think for themselves and differently and maybe provide them with tools and things so that when we are offering the best Christian counseling, Conroe, Texas has to offer, they know that when they walk through that door that they’re able to just do the very things that we encourage them to do, coping tools and some of the activities that you talked about.
(14:58):
And sometimes it’s those worksheets and sometimes it’s not easy. Sometimes it gets hard before it gets better. And I think that’s where the grind is when we get into that place where, and then all of a sudden we flourish and we become this beautiful, amazing, it could be a beautiful oak tree, it could be a beautiful flower garden, whatever that is that you can kind of put your vision into, that’s what God wants for your life. And he doesn’t want it to be stagnant. He doesn’t want it to be lost and stuck. And so I think that one of the things you mentioned, sometimes people get saved in our office, and it’s very true. And so I know for me, I give a Bible to everyone who that happens to, so they walk away with the Bible. And so that’s just something I really feel is very important.
(15:45):
If we’re going to walk them on that journey, we got to give them the tool that that’s the best tool ever is to have that. So I know that you mentioned on the property, it’s just been so preyed over and it’s so true. And I remember when I first met you, there was just too good to be true, but it’s just, it’s God, God just like he did it. It is just a, you can’t help but kind of get emotional a little bit about it, right? Because it’s just definitely his timing, his place, his property, he’s marked all over it. And that’s how I really want our business to be. And so I hope that when people walk in the door that they recognize that no matter where we are, I know faith was very important to you. And so I’m really thankful that we were able to partner up. And so thank you very much for saying yes to Illuminated Pathways and being part of, such as something bigger than us, right? It’s bigger than us. It’s a beautiful thing. So do you have anything you’d like to add about Faith?
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Yes, I would like to add, but the biggest reason I’m here at Illuminated Pathways Family Therapy is because of Rhonda’s faith. There’s plenty of places I could work at, you can go anywhere, but her faith is so strong and stands out so much, and it was divine intervention, the fact that we even met. And so I’m so blessed and honored and she’s a great mentor and I always come back to her faith. Her faith is genuine, her faith is real, as is mine too. I pray over every client and I pray to make sure, okay, God, remove me and use me and help to see what you want me to see, help me say what they need to hear and bring healing to this individual and this family. So it’s all about faith.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
Beautiful. Okay, so we talked a little bit about the conference. So I want to kind of dive in a little bit more about the one that I really want to do for the family, and this is also, we could talk about group therapies that we’re launching also. And so let me kind of touch that first and I’ll go back to the conference. So we have every Friday night at 5:00 PM online, across, wherever you are. You can just get connected through the website and then kind of learn a little bit more about what we’re doing with that. But the group therapy right now is Grief Group and our next one that we’re going to launch a parent support group. And then I want to do a youth support for peer pressure and kind of allow them to have a place to discuss things. So those are the three.
(18:39):
And then starting back, we did, she had mentioned we did the dangers of technology 90 minute webinar. I’m going to start doing that in June again, but really try to do as much once a month probably to do that because I really think that parents need to have a place to learn and get what they need, have a place to voice their concerns and kind of learn some of the things and get some tools and resources to help them protect their families. So there’s that. That’s exciting. So you can call 7 6 8 0 7 5 4 if you’re interested in the grief group that we have up and running already. And it’s every Friday at five, and that’s online only. It’s not in person, it’s online. So you can do it from the comfort of your home. But the conference reason why the conference was so important to me was because kind of like you mentioned as a single mom, the things that you saw as just a single mom, the pressure your boys, I only raised boys too, so that’s kind of neat that we had that in common.
(19:47):
But there’s a lot that happens with technology and the different things that they’re facing that we don’t even really get an understanding. They’re always faced with acronyms, things that mean stuff that like, Ooh, makes our heart go, oh no. And so just even the ideas of what’s happening on YouTube, what’s happening, and the thing is, technology’s here to stay. It’s not going anywhere. And now we got ai. We got AI helping people do things that, oh my gosh, terrible. But then AI also has a benefit. So what do you do when you got technology that’s both good and bad and AI is good and bad, everything and everything has a good consequence, bad consequence. So how do we protect our families? And so I started seeing this problem probably around 2015. And so this will be my fourth time doing this kind of conference, and it is pretty phenomenal.
(20:41):
And so I know focus on the family participated with us. Last time I had, I can’t say that for sure, I haven’t lined everything up, but I had one of the DJs from KSBJ come and do stuff. I had law enforcement, I had other people come just because I think that every layer of what’s going on in our local community, it’s not just what happens inside your house, it’s what happens even outside your house. And those are the danger areas. And so this is why it’s really important that we help give families and the tools they need to help keep ’em as secure as possible because there are things going on that want your children and they’re going to get their attention. And so we have to be aware of what those things are. And so I think that that’s probably the biggest piece that God has laid on my heart as a ordained minister, the idea of what is this that we got to protect these families and kind of do the things that we need to do.
(21:43):
So again, that allows us to be the best Christian counseling, Conroe, Texas has to offer and allow for people in the community to kind of see those things. And so I feel very, very tugged in the heart to do the right thing. And if God calls me to it, he’s going to prepare the things that need to happen. So that’s coming in June 12th. And so we’ll have signups for that end by about middle May, and then we’ll see what happens there. But we’ll go out and visit and kind of hand out flyers and we’ll go to your community for sure out there and make sure everybody, as many people as we can talk to get that out. So let’s see here. The marriage intensive, we talked about that. We want that to be a little bit more intimate and so kind of share your heart’s design in your mind that you feel like God’s kind of laying out what we’re going to transform the place into, what we did, what we got it to be and what we’re going to do to make it happen. So share a little bit about that.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
Okay, so right now, like you said, it’s set up to be a therapist’s office, but there’s nothing wrong with having bedroom sets and storage and convert ’em over for homes. Everything else is there. We have a refrigerator, there’s washer dryer, there’s everything else you would need in the house is already set up. The only thing are the bedrooms. So we would convert it over for the conference, put it in the bedroom set, make it feel very welcoming, very peaceful and elegant for them. So it’s all about having a safe and comfortable place first you can thrive in. And so we would of course do that thoughts of prayer and just have it set up where the couples, and it’d be limited sessions because we want to make sure that we’re pouring into a few is not a whole lot, it’s more about, I said it a couple of times already, but it’s more about restoring the marriage of God’s original design. And I know that’s your phrase, so thank you for letting me borrow it.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
You’re very welcome.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
And so just seeing them come in, be in a safe place, be in a very peaceful serenity place that they can come and not only learn and do their homework and have lunch or dinner together, but have a place there on site where they can go walking, we can have a bonfire. They can go look at the cows. A lot of people like to look at the cows, the stars, you can actually see the stars, you can hear crickets. And so it’s just nice to be able to pour into it and just be everything right there on site. If you want to go out for dinner, you can, but everything’s available right there. So I just feel like it’s going to be a very good place. It’s kind of taking a reset for the marriage and focusing there for the two to three days.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
And I know that you and I were talking about you and I were entrepreneurs, not high functioning, the idea of intellect, but we’re on the go all the time. And I know that there’s a lot of parents out there that are kind of very similar. And so being able to take time for themselves and build that marriage stronger, everyone needs a little bit of help with that. And I know that there are so many different things that can get in our way of being able to take care of ourselves because once you have a family, there’s so many different things that get our attention. And so I loved the idea of being able to not only transition the therapy room with the bedrooms that our therapy rooms just kind like here in NASA Bay and then move them into bedrooms and put locks on the door so there’s privacy for every room.
(25:25):
And then we have it more intimate. So we’ll set it up for four couples and have that opportunity to be able to kind help them feel restored and we’ll just cater to them, just lavish on them, just the same way that the Lord would lavish on them, let them realize that the hard things that they’re going through, but that they deserve to take care of their relationship and get therapeutic processes, get some assessments done, really kind of see where they’re at, what they’re doing, give them opportunity from serious one-on-one pieces. And so I loved that we were actually able to connect those two things. You and I love that. So I’m really excited about being able to do that. So again, don’t have dates for that yet, but that will be coming. So that’ll be on our website soon. And I’m hoping that before the end of this month, we will have that one nailed down as we put our budget and all the things together that we need to do for that.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
And I really see that one. I really see that one growing. We say three or four because that’s what we can see in our own eyes. But we have three acres. I can so see God having us bring and converting some additional little cabins or converted containers for the couples for it to grow a little bit.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
Me too. But for right now where God’s got us. So he will design those things. He’ll prick your heart, my heart. We’ll figure those things out. But for right now, and if that’s to happen, we’re going to try to do that a few times a year, maybe once a quarter. So that’ll be something that every quarter these couples can learn to do that. And again, marriage is a beautiful thing that God has designed. And so we really want to help couples really get the very thing out of their marriage that God really has for them. He designed it, he wants it. Well, he wants to be the head of that. And that just helps us really do the things that we need to do to kind of make that stuff happen.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
And Rhonda, if I can add one more thing too, and working for some major oil and gas companies and corporate, we would do glow employee surveys. And the top three were always communication that we were failing at and coming over to this side and working with the families and couples, it is still communication. It’s still the top three. And we’re so bad about putting everybody else first and putting ourselves last and last, self-care for ourselves, self-care for our marriage. And so it’s still communication. You see couples who are, I got to get the football, I got to get the soccer, I have to do this, I do that. Where’s dinner clothes, blah, blah, blah. But where’s the intimacy? Where’s the alone time? And I believe with my whole heart, this conference will help with that.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
Me too. I agree. I think that the statistics are number one reason for divorce is communication. Number two is finances. So if we stop talking and then what do you got, right? You’re going to go find your communication somewhere and that’s not okay. And that idea that grass is greener around the other side. It might be for a moment, but you got to cultivate the grass in your own side. So you got to do the things you need to do to get the growth to happen. And so this is that opportunity to make that happen. And the best place to do that, is it a place that has the best Christian counseling, Conroe, Texas has to offer? So I really
Speaker 2 (28:56):
That
Speaker 1 (28:57):
Right? And I believe that we can really help show the design and get prayer life back in order and the structure of how God designed that. So in closing, what are some things that you would like to just say in closing as we talked about the different events and faith and conferences and groups and different things that we’ve talked about, what are some closing things that you would like to say to everyone out there listening today?
Speaker 2 (29:28):
The only thing that’s coming to mind is that we are praying for you. We are praying for you. We are praying for your family. We are being obedient to Christ and serving him for you. And we’ll meet you wherever you’re at. Don’t let shame get in the way because that’s not from God. Don’t let pride and just, we’ll just start wherever you’re at and we’re here for you. This is a non-judgment place. This is a safe place. And just want you to know that it starts today by giving this a call or call the main office. Rhonda mentioned earlier, it’s 9 7 2 7 6 8 0 7 5 4. If you have a crisis, know there’s 9, 8, 8. There’s 9 1 1. But we’re here to meet you and just know that we’re praying for you already,
Speaker 1 (30:19):
Right? We might not know you now, but we don’t know you yet. And so we do pray for those who walk through our door and we don’t know who always that’s going to be, but we really want you to know that you’re welcome here. You’re welcome. So we have a Conroe location off of FM 1485. I think it’s just north of 2 42. And then we have a NASA Bay location just right near the Johnson Space Center. And then we have a location in Missouri City. And so we have three different locations ready to serve our communities and do the things we need to do. But today we’re just focused on the best Christian counseling, Conroe, Texas has to offer and really kind of let you know who’s out there, what’s going on. And she mentioned it, right? So you take 2 42 and 45 and 59 and we’re smack dab in the center.
(31:15):
And so there’s not really any other counseling out there. It’s all on 45 and to the west. And so we’re the only one on the east. And so God planted that and I believe that was a very divine plan to do that as well. So come check us out, and thank you, Lisa, for spending time with us and on this podcast and kind of sharing some of the things in your heart and what we do as a business. But hang on, don’t let go yet. I’m just going to stop the recording. Okay. Thank you so much. Call 7 6 8 0 7 5 4 Illuminated Pathways family therapy, and we have people waiting to hear from you. And so we have live people who will answer the phone. If you have to leave a message, it’s okay. A live person will call you back. Thank you so much for taking time to watch our podcast. I.