War Room Counseling will hold a ribbon-cutting on July 31 at 4 p.m.
BY HANNAH GOLDFINGER
HGOLDFINGER@OPELIKAOBSERVER.COM
OPELIKA —
War Room Christian Counseling opened in May.
But what is a War Room? It may seem opposed to the purpose of counseling, but a War Room is often associated with a place to pray and fight with the Lord’s help.
Elizabeth Ivie, owner and counselor at War Room Christian Counseling, has been a counselor for more than 10 years.
“I am a Christian counselor, so I believe that God can use me, because I don’t know everybody’s need, even if they come in and sit in my chair, but God does,” Ivie said. “So God can use me.”
Before starting War Room Christian Counseling, Ivie started her own war room in her home.
“A place I can pray and talk to God at my house,” she said. “And it was last year, and He just said, ‘Hey, you need to start a war room.’”
Ivie said she was confused because she’d started one in her home. But eventually, she understood that it was time to open a counseling center.
“I need to go with the clients into their place where God can use me to help fight their battles,” she said.
Ivie services children, teens and adults — all of which have different needs. She even is starting her first group session.
“So, the group that I am starting is for teens [whose] parents are going through divorce or have been through divorce,” she said. “And what happens is, I have up to 15 teens in this curriculum, they come in and they have instructions but they also hear each other.
“As long as it’s led correctly, I think the group session helps them understand they’re not alone and that other people feel the way that they feel.”
One of the first challenges Ivie said she faced was finding a building. But following that, one of the challenges has been helping people understand that they do not need to be a Christian to seek out her services.
“They think I will shove my faith down their throat and that’s not at all what I want,” she said. “I’ve had clients who have been atheists. I had one memorable session with my client, he was in the church of Satan. And he asked me my beliefs and I didn’t know what to say at first, but I was honest. And he said, ‘Well, you’re not like any Christian I’ve ever seen, you’re not throwing it down my throat.’ And I said, ‘Well are you here for religion or are you here for mental health?’”
Another challenge is clients who don’t believe they can change or that it’s possible to change. Or, she said, that they don’t see themselves as worthy of change.
Ivie said her goals are to “work myself out of a job”.
The most rewarding part of her work, she said, is watching clients no longer need her and “graduate”.
“I have a saying that if I can help one person, they can go and help others,” Ivie said. “Because I’m not able to reach the whole world.”
Ivie said that in order to take care of her own mental health, she must see her own counselor to avoid taking home her clients’ trauma each day.
She said that working with children can be difficult because often they desire her to be available in other areas of their lives, which isn’t possible.
“I have to let them know, I’m here for a period of time,” she said.
The owner said she hopes to eventually grow her business — potentially put up walls and hire other counselors.
“But, the thing about that is, I have to ensure that they follow my standards, so not judging others, the comfort of seeing a variety of people,” she said.
War Room Christian Counseling is located at 201 S. Railroad Ave.