Understanding trauma and trauma-informed care are a growing part of ministry and ministry training today. No matter what type of ministry you are in, you are likely to encounter trauma at some point, either in those you minister to, your own life, or both. How can we minister well to those who have experienced trauma and how do we keep ministering when we are processing trauma of our own?

The Center for Women in Ministry at Beeson invites you to this panel discussion with four local female ministers who will share about what ministering to and through trauma looks like in each of their unique ministries.

Dessert and coffee/tea refreshments will be provided!

Panelists:

Raquel Patterson serves as the Executive Director of Oak Tree Ministries, a gospel centered, trauma informed community development nonprofit in the Gate City neighborhood of Birmingham. She has been part of the community there since 2015 learning alongside her neighbors how to do trauma based work in a healthy, sustainable way.

Rebecca Henderson is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker working in private practice in Birmingham, AL. She earned a Masters of Social Work and Master of Arts in Theological Studies from Samford University. She is committed to meeting clients where they are and working with them to achieve the healing they deserve.

She spent three years working with survivors of sexual violence and those in their support system as the Rape Response Coordinator at the Crisis Center in Birmingham, AL. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, she also answered the Crisis and Suicide Hotline to respond to those experiencing emotional distress and crisis. She has experience working with trauma, abuse, grief, depression, anxiety, relationship issues, perinatal issues, spirituality, spiritual abuse and life transitions.

She is trained in Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) and utilizes an attachment, trauma-informed, person-centered approach with clients. She believes the therapeutic relationship can be a foundation for healing and growth.

Amy Hirsch serves as the Associate Minister for Membership and Pastoral Care at Mountain Brook Baptist Church. She is She is married to Matthew and they have two children. She is a 2013 graduate of Beeson Divinity School.

Suzanne Goddard Simmons, MDiv '11, is originally from Lakeland, Florida and came to Birmingham in 2004 to attend Samford University. She received her BA in Communication Studies and entered Beeson Divinity School in 2008. Suzanne has ministered both in parish setting and as a board certified hospital chaplain. Currently, Suzanne is one of the CPE educators in the Spiritual Health Department at UAB Medicine. She teaches Sunday school at Hope Community Church where her husband Jacob is senior pastor. In God’s kindness, he has allowed Suzanne to be both minister and mother. Suzanne and Jacob are parents to two delightful children, John (8) and Anne Bea (5).