Meet the Director of LSS-SW Program: Life Counseling Network

For nearly 10 years, Holly Brown-Sisson has worked in fields related to non-profits and counseling services. She has been with our agency since 2003. In the past year, she has used her varied skills to build the infrastructure for Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest's Life Counseling Network.

Early on in her career she was drawn to non-profits: the challenges of fundraising and the business of managing a service organization. In 2002, she completed a Masters of Counseling from Chapman University and a dual internship in counseling and fund development. She thought her "fix it now", type-A personality would not be a perfect fit for the patience required to do personal counseling. However, she was savvy about financial resource development for non-profits and liked special events planning. She also liked the other work associated with building a supportive constituency. All these interests could be a perfect marriage for a career in planned giving, and she ended up landing a job working for an estate planner. Holly was ecstatic!

"As a result of 9/11," explained Holly, "the estate planning firm I was working for was not doing well, and I ended up being let-go." Holly experienced a personal crisis from this, which drove her into a deep depression. The experience of not being able to secure employment quickly was not only eye opening to her, but was an anxiety ridden process. She turned to her faith for solace.

"For the first time in my life I could clearly understand and appreciate where my counseling clients were coming from and how depression felt," Holly explained. When she asked her pastor at Tanque Verde Lutheran Church for guidance, the pastor said, "Let God show you the way."

In learning to deal with her depression, she became more empathic to the struggle of clients seeking counseling, she said. "This was God's signal to my calling." During this same time period, her pastor encouraged her to contact Lutheran Social Services. She was engaged in phone conversations with LSS-SW for more than a month, as each week passed without her interviews at other agencies and non-profits resulting in a job. Week-six into the LSS dialogs, Jan Wall-the director of Community and Family Services for LSS-SW (now retired from LSS) told Holly a Marriage Ministry grant had been awarded and a position was now open. Jan thought Holly had the varied background in both development and counseling the agency was searching for.

Since being hired in 2003, Holly has served as case manager and part-time counselor in the Community and Family Services, and worked with the LSS-SW team that did disaster response for the Aspen fire on Mount Lemmon in July of 2003. In 2006-2007, she served as the Division Director for Community and Family Services for Southern Arizona and became more involved with after-school programs, job assistance, and programming for residents of Tucson public housing.

In January of 2008, she became the Director of Counseling Services (the Life Counseling Network) for LSS-SW. "What is exciting about this new venture is I am able to use the skills I have acquired, my connections with the congregations, my interest in program development, and experience as a counselor to build the infrastructure needed to develop a quality faith-based outpatient clinic for LSS.

Today Holly is a Licensed Professional Counselor. She appreciates how counseling can make a difference in people's lives. "It is an honor and privilege to receive my clients' trust and to see the change process unfold. Change is hard work and every person works through their challenges at a different pace and in a different way."

For more information on the Life Counseling Network, contact Holly Brown-Sisson at hbsisson@lss-sw.org.