“There are so many people who struggle with their mental health and feel like they are alone,” said Jim Guentherman, LSI Director of Clinical Services. “I am here to tell them they are not alone, and it’s okay not to be okay.”
Jim has been with LSI since 2003 and serves a diverse client base, but he has a specialty in working with veterans, as he is a veteran himself. This connection to his clients helps build trust in therapy sessions. He finds clients can open up to him, knowing he has had similar experiences.
“Being a veteran helps me while working with other veterans because I’m able to understand where they are coming from and what they have been through,” said Jim. “I know why some things may be hard to process and move forward from, and I can use my past experiences in sessions.”
Jim wishes he could help more to erase the stigma around mental health. Many of the veterans he works with reached out to him, knowing his military background.
“There is a stigma surrounding mental health – for veterans, for men, for different cultures, for society in general.”
“Unfortunately, I haven’t worked with as many veterans as I’d like, because they don’t reach out,” said Jim. “Most of the veterans I see come to therapy because someone has pushed them to go. It might be a loved one saying, ‘You are struggling. You should go to therapy.’ It’s not the first thing that comes to our minds.”
Jim sees a high percentage of veterans who have some type of trauma or anxiety, including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), among other challenges experienced when going back into civilian life.
“Many veterans I work with struggle with finding their identity outside of the military,” said Jim. “When we leave the military, we are changed people. Some people that you have known your whole life expect you to be like you were before. But it doesn’t work like that.”
Jim hopes his personal understanding of veterans will encourage more of them to try therapy as a tool to work through mental health struggles.
During the pandemic, you kept Iowa kids safe by supporting LSI. When families were at heightened risk of child abuse or neglect, LSI social workers were able to continue walking alongside them, safely visiting parents in their homes and providing any resources to keep children happy and healthy. But this critical work won’t stop once we move into a “new normal.” Your support will ensure LSI social workers can continue toward our goal of preventing child abuse.
As we look ahead to life after COVID-19, LSI will also be growing and expanding our services to former refugee and immigrant community members. Over the past year, COVID-19 created even more barriers for new Iowans; whether they were facing isolation in their home, trying to build a career while the world shut down, or navigating health and vaccine information in an unfamiliar language. But they rose to the challenge and LSI stood alongside them, providing virtual classes and programming and offering a COVID-19 hotline that provided important information in 15 languages. Thank you for standing with us and empowering our communities across Iowa.