Meet LSS-SW’s Tom Rollis

A New Addition to the Agency and a New Program for Prescott Valley Making Good on a Promise

Early last year, Tom Rollis joined the LSS-SW staff as a part-time counselor providing services through the Life Counseling Network at the Trinity Lutheran Church http://www.tlcpv.org/ in Prescott Valley. Tom is available to conduct individual, couples, and family counseling, support groups and workshops to the Prescott community.

Tom describes himself as a “life-long Lutheran, born and raised in Michigan, where some people still put carrots and green peas in their Jell-O and Cool Whip casseroles.” One freezing day in November, about 12 years ago, he sojourned on a motorcycle to Arizona.

Upon arriving in Phoenix, Tom made good on his promise to his mother that he would stay connected with a church, a promise he more than fulfilled. As he explained, "My church in Phoenix created the first ever paid, part-time position for a youth and family minister. The only problem was we couldn't find a candidate.” As a member of the church council he made an impassioned speech on the importance of filling this position. “That was when God told me then—YOU go do it!”

Tom became an Associate in Ministry, a lay ministry position in the ELCA. He served in five different parishes, urban and suburban, large and small. But most parishes could not afford to fund a full-time position and he found he needed more skills to serve the families he encountered. In 2003, he earned a Masters in Community Counseling from The University of Phoenix.

The degree required he complete an internship—an experience that would give him more depth and breadth in professional skills and social ministry. Tom said, “My counseling internship was with Catholic Charities in Phoenix, where I provided individual, couples, child, and family counseling. I also served in the Refugee Foster Care Department and worked with foster parents and refugee children. In addition to individual counseling, I conducted support groups. It was here that I learned more about grief and loss, and post-traumatic stress recovery from refugee children from war torn Sudan. These children were traumatized, and they carried the grief of not ever knowing if their families survived.” Because it could not be determined if their parents were alive or dead, these children could not be adopted in the U.S., they would have to stay in foster care.

Two years ago Tom accepted a transfer with Catholic Charities and moved to Prescott. He served as a team lead therapist for In-Home Family Support, working with foster parents and their children. His work later grew to encompass parenting classes for parents in recovery from alcohol/drug abuse, with open Child Protective Services cases. Then Tom received another call from above.

“When Hurricane Katrina arrived,” Tom said, “the American Counseling Association issued an all hands call. I requested a two-week leave and was refused. So I prayed about it. I quit my job and went with the Red Cross to Baytown, Texas. When I returned, I went to Costa Rica for a few months to a language immersion school, to improve my Spanish language skills.”

Tom then decided to acquire another set of counseling skills and served for about a year with Treatment Assessment Screening Center (TASC). He conducted intake assessments and support groups for court-ordered clients with DUI, domestic violence, misdemeanor Marijuana paraphernalia-type offenses. He also provided individual counseling services to Department of Corrections parolees working on substance abuse recovery, as well as general adjustment issues.

Tom is also a National Certified Counselor and a therapy specialist for EMDR [Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing--a therapy approach used to deal with trauma.]. He is nationally recognized trainer of the Nurturing Parenting curriculum. Tom is a treasure in LSS-SW social ministry. Tom explained, “My new position with LSS-SW provides me with so many opportunities to partner with other community service providers. I find it so meaningful to be able pull together my knowledge, my contacts, and my deep faith—enabling me to minister to the building blocks of our communities—its families and its youth.”

The Life Counseling Network Prescott Valley office is housed on the campus of Trinity Lutheran Church, 3950 N. Valorie Dr., Prescott Valley. Telephone: 928-775-8996. For other counseling services offered by Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest, please contact Holly Brown-Sisson at 520-748-2300 or toll free at 877-258-2059.

See related story on “Teen Grief”.