Understanding your past for a flourishing future
He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him. ~ Daniel 2:22
Healing begins when we stop rehearsing our own version of the story and start listening for what we've missed. ~ Dr. Curt Thompson
What is Story Care?
Not everyone needs clinical counseling, but everyone needs their stories to be held with curiosity and kindness by another person. Shalom Story Care ministers in the gap between caring friends and clinical therapists, offering skilled engagement of sensitive life stories.
Story Care, sometimes called story work or story engagement, is the skilled exploration of sensitive life stories that offers individuals the opportunity to go deeper into the joyful and harmful stories that have particularly shaped them. Many, though not all, of these defining experiences occurred during childhood.
Everyone does story work a little differently, but at Shalom Story Care, the process is simple: responding to a writing prompt, the client shares a 2-3 page narrative of a particular scene or memory. Then, the client and guide process the story together, usually over several sessions. Each story is an opportunity to explore significant themes in a person’s narrative, their style of relating which was formed and cultivated throughout their childhood, and the impact of their past story on their current relationships.
Making sense of our stories is foundational to healing and, ultimately, flourishing: living into God’s good design for each of us. We begin with the knowledge that God is the author of all of our stories and we are guided by the belief that each story can reveal something of the unique goodness and glory of God’s design for each person.
Is Story Care the same as therapy?
Story Care is not therapy, though the two may look and feel very similar to the client. The important distinction of therapy is that licensed therapists are qualified to diagnose and address issues of mental health. Individuals currently in crisis or experiencing acute mental health symptoms will be better served by a clinical therapist.
Clients choose Shalom Story Care to seek understanding of themselves and how s/he relates to others and to God. At times, they come seeking healing from harm or unprocessed trauma.
Some potential reasons to pursue story care are a desire for:
greater clarity around a memory that feels confusing or fragmented
better understanding of one’s current relational patterns
more compassion for one’s younger self
deeper awareness of God’s presence in a specific story
exploration of a particular place of shame
Offerings
Available virtually and in-person in Richmond’s West End.
Recommended for those new to story work.
Includes a 30-minute orientation call and seven 50-minute sessions engaging a minimum of two stories.
Available to those who have completed a round of Story Exploration or NFTC Level 1 with The Allender Center.
Includes five 50-minute sessions, engaging up to two stories with the option to continue.
“In the Bible, shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight--a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed…”
~ Cornelius Plantinga Jr.
Erin Holler
“Erin is very gifted at creating a safe and warm space and so skilled at asking good questions. She is a wise and gentle guide. I loved being cared for by her.”
About Me
I seek to be an honoring witness to the stories of others, especially those that are harder to share. As someone who is well-acquainted with grief, suffering, and shame in my own story, my courage and my kindness are handy in the hard-to-share places of others’ stories. I seek to be a lantern-bearer, inviting the light of the Holy Spirit into those shadowy places, where I believe there are clues to be found about how our past inhibits our present flourishing - our fully living into God’s good design for each of us.
I have over 20 years of experience in ministry and social-service settings and am certified in Narrative Focused Trauma Care® from The Allender Center, where I am currently a facilitator. My extensive training and supervision have trained me to engage categories of attachment, betrayal, powerlessness, repentance, styles of relating, shame, and sexual harm. My 15 years of direct care ministry have further given me an added lens of curiosity around God’s presence and care in the midst of life’s hardships.
Personally, I first discovered I had a story in 2013 through The Barnabas Center in Richmond, VA, where I still reside. Since then, I have facilitated a variety of opportunities for people to grow deeper in their connections to themselves, others, and Christ.
“Erin held my stories with such gentleness and respect, and helped guide me toward naming what is true in my life, processing both the beauty and the brokenness I have experienced. It meant so much to be seen, heard, and accompanied in this way.”