10/10/2025
In honor of World Mental Health Day, here’s a message from Bruce Pickett, our Director of Counseling Services:
“Pay attention!” Spouses, children, teachers, parents, and bosses remind us daily that we owe them the best of ourselves. Screens, those we carry in our pockets, that glare at us at the gas pump, loom over us on the freeway, and entertain our infants, demand our eyes, ears, minds, and sometimes our hearts.
Attention costs us. We only have so much of it. It’s a scarce commodity.
World Mental Health Day draws our attention to a worthy cause: the need to nurture the well-being of our children, elderly, and disabled; to ensure access to mental health services for all who need them; and to avoid stigmatizing those who seek care.
In my role at Advent, I see both concern and hope. Families are overwhelmed by the demands of work, school, and activities. Couples lack time to enjoy each other’s company. Children are hungry for their parents’ undivided attention.
Yet every day, I’m encouraged. I see parents devoting their full attention to their children in playful therapy sessions. I see couples doing the hard work of healing, setting aside their own point of view to understand their spouse’s. And I see individuals, alone with a caring therapist, emptying their souls of pain to find strength and develop the skills to thrive.
So here’s a friendly reminder:
Remember to lift your eyes from that screen to pay attention to the spouse, child, or friend next to you. Remember to get outside, move your amazing body, take in God’s amazing creation, and best of all, gaze at the face of your Creator.
We are grateful for your prayers and financial gifts that make this work possible.
Shalom,
Bruce Pickett
Director of Counseling Services
