trauma

Hello there, and thanks for stopping by!

I’m so excited to offer individual and couples counseling in Southwest Missouri! If you’re interested in setting up a session, please visit Stone and Sky Counseling or see my listing on Psychology Today. Three-day individual and couples counseling intensives are also available.

Background
Since 2014, I have had the privilege of walking alongside hundreds of couples and individuals in dozens of countries. As a pastoral counselor, empathetic coach, Nationally Certified Counselor (NCC), and Provisionally Licensed Professional Counselor (PLPC), I have experience journeying with people through issues such as grief and loss, life transitions, anxiety, ADHD, depression, trauma, OCD, abuse (spiritual, sexual, physical, emotional), debriefing, Autism, ministry burnout, addictions, and more. With all clients, I take a person-centered, trauma-informed, experiential approach.

Before moving to Cambodia in 2012, I worked bi-vocationally as an ER/trauma nurse and youth and worship pastor. I am also a licensed attorney in California and hold a master’s in clinical mental health counseling from Colorado Christian University. As a PLPC, I am supervised by Dr. Karl Wendt, LPC #001808.

For Pastors and Ministry Folks
My wife and I have been involved in local church ministry, in one form or another, since 2000. Before moving abroad, I was a youth and worship minister for about ten years. From 2012 to 2020, my family and I lived as cross-cultural missionaries in Phnom Penh Cambodia and I served the community as a pastor at an international church and as a pastoral counselor at a local counseling center, working with folks from over thirty nations.

I’ve led trainings, seminars, or coaching sessions in China, Thailand, the Czech Republic, Italy, Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia, Laos, the US, England, and Myanmar.

For Marriages
With couples, I utilize an attachment-based, emotionally-focused approach. I also greatly appreciate the evidence-based tools and resources from Dr. John Gottman. Since 2014, I’ve had the privilege of meeting with several hundred couples who were trying to overcome unhealthy patterns in their relationship, boost communication, improve their sex life, prepare for married life, and more. I am trained to administer the Prepare/Enrich relationship assessment. See the “Roadmap” I often use with couples here.

For Medical Professionals and First Responders:
It is my privilege to offer specialized care for for medical professionals and first responders. If that’s you, keep reading.

If you’re looking for a counselor who understands what a Level 1 Trauma Center feels like during a full moon; if you’re looking for a therapist who’s assisted Kansas City police officers in subduing violent patients; if you want to visit with someone who knows the unique stressors and pressures of dealing with life and death situations during a normal Tuesday, keep reading!

With a background in ER/trauma nursing, law, ministry, and counseling, I now provide individual and couples counseling at Mount Hope Christian Counseling Center in Webb City.

Visit www.stoneandskycounseling.com for more information or to book an initial session.

Stone and Sky Counseling, LLC

with Jonathan Trotter, RN, MA, JD, NCC, PLPC

at Mount Hope Christian Counseling Center

2830 Mt. Hope Road, Webb City, MO 64870

(417) 624-9659 · jonathan@stoneandskycounseling.com

When I signed up for the Velvet Ashes’ “Bloopers” theme, I expected to write a light-hearted story poking fun at myself. After I wrote it, I realized the story was much heavier than I had initially thought. You’ll find the original anecdote in the first half of the article, with my further reflections in the second half of the article. ~Elizabeth

Trigger Warning: this post discusses violence and includes a story featuring a gun.

“Hit the floor.”

I learned that particular phrase in pre-field training. We had just gone through the first of two simulated hostage situations. As it concluded and we began debriefing the experience, one of our trainers instructed us to “hit the floor the moment you hear gunfire.” The two simulations impacted me deeply, and although I never had need of her words during my life abroad, I never forgot them.

Fast forward ten years to 2020, the year a tiny strip of RNA brought the world to its knees – and our lives to a screeching halt. Covid-19 may not be all-powerful, but it was still powerful enough to bring us “home” prematurely. My family is now living stateside for the foreseeable future.

A year of bicontinental transition meant living in four houses in the span of ten months. My pre-field training came flooding back to me just days after we moved into our third house of the year. We had just settled in for a family movie night, when all of a sudden a man walked around the back corner of the house.

Finish reading the article at Velvet Ashes.