Author Archives: Valerie Burrell, Coach & Counselor

Marriage Requires Forgiveness

As a Pre-Marital and Marriage Counselor, it’s been revealed that most challenges happen in marriage because the individuals came into the marriage broken, selfish and harboring unforgiveness from the past. One of the greatest keys to Wholeness in marriage lies in our ability to understand forgiveness. We have high expectations of our Heavenly Father toContinue reading “Marriage Requires Forgiveness”

Counseling and People of Color

Life challenges are not color blind! Emotional, mental and spiritual problems hit everybody, but there is a definite stigma in our people of color from seeking help from counselors. Most share that the issus iis fear, pride, denial or finances, and each of those could certainly play a role but is there something deeper? ToContinue reading “Counseling and People of Color”

Don’t Be So Quick to Judge

If you met me on the street looking like this, what would be your first thought? She’s crazy, she needs help? Something’s wrong? We generally come up with an opinion that’s negative when we engage with someone who “appears” differently, okay, maybe not you – but most do. As an African-American woman who is educated,Continue reading “Don’t Be So Quick to Judge”

I Can Cope

What do you consider being the first step to coping? In my opinion, it’s mindfulness. Mindfulness is defined as, “the quality or state of being conscious or aware of something; a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feeling, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used asContinue reading “I Can Cope”

I’m Ready To Push

When was the last time you pushed yourself beyond your comfort zone? We do it physically some times, emotionally some times but spiritually, we seem to take it as it comes without exerting that extra push to excel. Today, the Holy Spirit is saying PUSH into the next level of greatness that’s awaiting you.  https://www.blogtalkradio.com/empowermentplace/2020/07/22/im-ready-to-push

I Talked Too Much

“But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart, and they defile the man.” – Matthew 15:18 KJV A tainted heart does a lot of damage! Do you ever give thought to what has been coming out of your mouth as a child of God or as a person, savedContinue reading “I Talked Too Much”

Grief is more than about Death

Could I be grieveing and unaware? That’s a question I hear often as a counselor and my general response before a weighty conversation is generally, yes. For many years before becoming a counselor, I only associated grief with death, and am now so thankful to have learned that I was wrong. Grief can be experiencedContinue reading “Grief is more than about Death”

Christians Have Issues Too!

As a Christian, early on, I was never encouraged to seek counseling for any challenges I was facing, just to make an appointment and talk to the Pastor. Well, what I learned painfully is that the conversation with the Pastor, became the conversation from the pulpit on Sunday morning. The feeling of guilt, embarrasement, andContinue reading “Christians Have Issues Too!”