Season 2 (Episode 4) Faith & Mental Wellness: 2023 Theme Unashamed

Welcome to Pain, Passion, and Purpose. I am your host, Shakeeta Torres, where I share mental health education, biblical teachings, and tips to help you to heal on purpose so you can walk boldly in your God-given purpose. This podcast is sponsored by Empowered Purpose Academy, a certified online Christian academy where where we provide services such as certification for Christian life coaches, mentorship for master's level aspiring and existing Christian therapists, mentorship for Christians, and continued education courses for the body of Christ. You can visit www.empoweredpurposeacademy.com to learn more and to download your free guide. If you like today's episode, please subscribe and leave us a raving review so that others can tap into the knowledge and wisdom that will be shared on this podcast. Thank you so much for being here. Hey, so before I get started on today's episode, if you have not subscribed to the paid membership of my podcast community, please do. It is going to bless your life. Listen, my episodes are already like therapy slash coaching sessions where I give you strategy and insight and all that good stuff. But the community, you're going to get a lot more. You're going to get more resources, more tools, and be able to ask more questions where I can create episodes around your questions. And you will be able to get discounts on some of my, my products and my events. So what are you waiting for? The price is very affordable. This is for those who are not quite ready to invest in one-on-one coaching with me or into the Pain, Passion, and Purpose mentorship program, which is also low, by the way, but that one is a lot more in-depth. You get access to courses, you get access to the Facebook community, and all that good stuff. But this is for those who just need to just listen and just gain some tools along the way. So what are you waiting for? Go ahead, subscribe. You won't regret it. It'll bless your life. We'll have topics around mental health and faith, biblical teachings, prayer, um, boundaries, communication, anxiety, depression, purpose, and so much more. I have had experience in mental health since actually about 2008 when I first finished my bachelor's program, and then from that point all the way up today and moving forward, I have gained so much so much experience, so much wisdom, and I am anointed for it. So go ahead, hit that button, and I hope to see you in the community. Hello everyone, welcome back. Thank you so much for tuning in to this bonus episode about my Faith and Mental Wellness Summit that will happen in March of 2023. Let me tell you something, I am so excited because I really wanted to do this episode to really share with you all the vision in my heart about this, but also to really encourage those who may struggle with getting clarity or even struggle with executing what God has given you to do. And I want to go over the process and more so what it looks like for me. The Faith and Mental Wellness Summit started off with a seed, okay? My mentor, um, is Dr. Veronica Hardy. She has been for a few years now. She was also my professor Whenever I was getting my master's degree in social work. And so over the years, she really has sown a lot of seeds in my life. But here's the thing, when someone gives you a seed and sows a seed in your life, it is your responsibility to execute it, okay? And so she has definitely given me direction over the years, but I am the one that have to execute the seed. I have to water it. I have to, you know, receive clarity and revelation from God. And so even whenever I started doing the human trafficking and the nonprofit and all that good stuff, it started off with a seed with her telling me, Shakeeta, I think you'll be a great fit for this population because of your experiences personally, because of your certifications and your training and ability to be able to reach people when it comes to faith and mental health. So that's a whole other topic all by itself. You can visit www.doingitforthekingdom.org to learn more about that. Um, right now we are in transition, and so we are looking for new board members. My former board members, their term has ended, and I thank God for them. They were very helpful in helping me to lay down a foundation. So back to the Faith and Mental Health Summit. So earlier this year in 2022, um, Dr. Hardy and I was having our mentorship session, and we was going over the different aspects of my business— what's going on, what's working, what's not working— that kind of helped me to really you know, gain clarity and refocus on some of the things that I was doing. I was doing a lot, okay? So she had mentioned to me, Shakeeta, I think that you would do a really great job with hosting a summit for, you know, therapists, for your community, and for leaders who really want to understand how to combine faith and mental health. And I'm like, you know, that's a good idea, but you know what, I'm going to put that to the side right now and focus on XYZ. So here we are, fast forward, it's July, and you know, season 2 of my podcast just launched, and I've interviewed 2 Christian therapists so far, and both of them really had my spirit stirred up because I'm like, God, like, this is so amazing to truly, you know, interview and meet Christian therapists who are truly after God's own heart and not from a judgmental way, but from a point of truth and love. And I find that to be very rare because so many people, you know, want to please everyone and no one can please everyone. And everyone is not called to the same population, to the same— it's just, it's so many different layers there. That's a whole other podcast. You can go back and listen to me and Camille's, um, podcast episode, in episode 2, where we talk a little bit about our journey as Christian therapists. And so from there, it just really stirred me up. And I was like, God, I was like, this is so amazing. I really do look forward to doing this summit because I had those two ladies in mind for sure. Some time went by. It just stuck in my spirit. I'm like, God, this thing is still hanging on to me in my heart. And I remember I had attended a couple of webinars that same day. Um, God was speaking to me about making some, you know, different faith moves, and it's just like, I was just, whoo, that day was just— the Holy Spirit literally gave me the whole blueprint in like an hour. And when I say blueprint, the blueprint is what it should look like, um, he gave me the name and all of the above. And so today I want to share with you a little bit more about the vision of that and share with you the process of how how I do it. One of the biggest things is that whenever you have something on your heart, it's so important to sit down with Holy Spirit first and ask him questions. And here are the questions I ask, I ask God: when should this happen? Where should this happen? How should this happen? Who should be there? Who is my audience, right? Then what are some of the topics that I should really focus on? And so the when is, okay, when should I have it? So I decided to have it in March 2023. He really didn't give me a definite date and time, but wisdom tells me, and from my past experiences, is to not rush to do something. I could have easily had this summit in October, and I could have probably pulled it off in a few months, but I really did not want to be one stressed out. Um, two, it takes time to market. It takes time for certain events to reach people, and I really want this to reach a lot of people, and I really want to take out time to get really quality— speak— good quality speakers. Where should this happen? Is it going to be a physical location? Is it going to be virtual? By being my first summit, it's going to be virtually because I'm the one having to pay for this stuff, pay for this, for these things to be done, okay? How, how many speakers should I have? What are some of the topics? Um, who is this for, right? It's for, you know, other therapists, whether they're Christian or not. They can attend if they want to or not. It's for the general public, for those who may be struggling in their mental health and need tips and education. Also, it's for the body of Christ and leaders. I want to be able to target the leaders to help them to have language and tools too for themselves and to be able to help their congregations. Okay, what, what are some of the topics? God even gave me the topics, you guys. He gave me at least about 7 or 8. I'm going to have 12 speakers, and he told me, as you continue to look for speakers, some of the speakers you have are going to come to you with ideas. So be open for that. So I'm like, yes, perfect. All right, what are the requirements from the speakers? So you guys, I had this whole Trello board of information that's in here. How am I going to market this? Okay, uh, you know, what is my to-do list? You know, website hosting. Told me, okay, ask for volunteers. He said, ask for sponsorships. Do your t-shirts. I have other t-shirts already. And so it's— you, you got— it's a process. So just be open to hearing God and continue to ask God questions. And so I think, uh, maybe 3, 4 days after that, the only question I didn't ask God was What is the theme for the Faith and Mental Wellness Virtual Summit? And that was that morning. And so I was out with my family. We had went to Cold Stone and I was in line. All of a sudden, my mind began to think about trauma and think about shame. So I was like, wow, God, why does it come into my mind all of a sudden? And so I get in the truck and I'm sitting there with my husband eating ice cream. My kids are in the back. And then all of a sudden, unashamed came to me. And I was like, wait a minute. I said, God, are you like giving me the theme for this, this summit? And I was like, oh my God, unashamed. And when I said it, like the spirit of God just feels so heavy on me. I can feel his presence confirming that this is, you know, this is it. I was sharing with my husband and my spirit just got so excited and started to just leap. Okay. And so you guys, like that's how I received, you know, revelation and insight and instructions about this summit. And for the most part, that's how it works for me in general. I might have a dream or vision. God may use someone like my mentor to sow a seed. Even the name Faith and Mental Wellness, I was like, okay, God, what's the name? And so I pitched some ideas to her, and she said, Shakeeta Torres, what about Faith and Mental Wellness? Because Faith and Mental Health was already taken. And I was like, you know what? That's a good idea. So I prayed about it and Holy Spirit was like, yes, that's a, that's a great name. And so also understand that Holy Spirit will give you room to make decisions too, because he wants us to be able to use what we already have. He wants us to be able to, to use what we have because he's the one that inspires us. My advice to people, whenever you are trying to do something that God has given you, is number one, be patient with yourself. Number 2, always pray for discernment. Even right now, I am praying for this whole summit. I'm going to be praying. I'm going to be fasting. I'm going to be seeking God, praying about the speakers, praying about the topics, praying about people who are going to be a part, praying for my help. But God, I need volunteers as well because this is not an easy task. It's not a free task for me. Listen, I anticipate this to be an amazing summit. I don't want it to be an average summit. I want it to be able to bless people. I want it to be people to be able to get breakthrough, to be able to get clarity. This is how I get revelation. And so if you are a person who's looking to build up your audience, your clientele, this summit is going to give you the exposure you need, build up your speaking portfolio. It's going to be amazing, and it's going to be, you know, marketed on radio station, marketing on social media. Um, I'll be in different magazines in the future, universities. So if you are interested in speaking, um, please apply. I am accepting proposals until October, I think, 31st, or I can't remember the exact date, or 15th, sometime in October. If you want to become a volunteer, you can apply for that too. If you're looking to, you know, gain some experience or want to just be a blessing. I believe in serving. I have served so many different visions for other people over the years without expecting anything, but I know that I reap a harvest from it. It's not always financial. If you desire to do that, if that speaks to you, um, please apply. You can go to the website www.faithandmentalwellness.faith. I also have that in the show notes. You guys, like, I'm so excited. I'm so excited. Even just last week, I was like, okay, God, I need to work on, you know, XYZ. He was like, no, I need for you to go back and work on this summit and get the foundation laid out, meaning I need to continue to really work on the blueprint. And so what I'm working on now is the sponsorship packets. So if you want to become a sponsor, I will have at least two different packets you can choose from that you can advertise your business as well on this platform. It will be virtual. Right now it will be Zoom, but we will see how many people we get to register. If it's over the Zoom limit, I'm gonna have to go to a different platform. So please go to the website. There's so much more details for you, for you to look at, but the theme is unashamed. And what God is saying is that, you know, he doesn't want people to be ashamed of their mental health, to be ashamed of the thing they have experienced. Because I know for a fact, whenever you are silent about something, wherever you're not confronting something, the enemy will use it to condemn you. He will use it to shame you. He will use it to shut you up. And it's almost impossible to receive healing when you don't expose something, whenever you are not vocalizing your pain. And I know everyone can't come to the summit and vocalize their pain, but the speakers are going to be able to give you the language to your pain, be able to give you the language to the thing that you need to know so you can look at it and you can study it and you can meditate on it and go before the Lord. It's going to give therapists the tools they need to be able to be even more equipped to help their clients. Like, you guys, this, this is, this is so God. This is so Holy Spirit-led. And anytime God has his hand in it, I know it's going to be amazing. I know that it's going to just bless so many people. I am just a vessel, and I'm passionate about doing God's work through whatever I'm doing, whether it's therapy, whether it's coaching, but I don't care what it is. And I try my hardest to be led by God. And so, as I said before, if you have a vision, execute it, but take it to God. If you get stuck in the area, take it to God. Ask him for clarity. Ask him for wisdom continually. Okay? But that's all I have for this bonus episode. I really wanted to explain more in detail my heart about the Faith and Mental Wellness Summit. Also, you can follow the page on Facebook and Instagram. I was debating whether to have a page for that or not, but I said, yeah, I did, because I really wanted it to stand out more for people to be able to really find it and be able to see some of the content and really just cling on to it. So thank you so much for listening, and I will talk to you guys next time. Thank you so much for tuning in to today's episode. Our prayer is that this podcast episode has blessed you. Don't forget to go and subscribe and leave us a raving review. If you would like to sow into this ministry or to this podcast, Pain, Passion, and Purpose, you can do so at anchor.fm/painpassionandpurpose or Cash App $shakeetatorres. Thank you so much, and I will talk to you next time.