ENCOUNTER Spring 2025
”MENTAL HEALTH and the CHURCH”
Sundays, 11:45am, Upper Room

April 27th
Karis Sykes, LMFT
Sexuality and Mental Health

Karis Sykes is a Marriage and Family Therapist at Hope Counseling Center in Santa Barbara. Her special interests include working with those in the LGBTQ+ community, individuals grappling with emerging adulthood, identity formation, and spirituality. Karis will be leading our session on mental health and sexuality, focusing on the unique challenges that people in the LGBTQ+ community face in regards to their mental health and how the church can best support them.

MORE INFO ABOUT ENCOUNTER

For Encounter this Spring we will be diving into topics related to mental health and the Church. YALL (Young Adult Leadership Lab) is co-sponsoring this series as the team has seen the impact the church can have on the way people of all ages experience the highs and lows of their mental health. How are we to live in a world when our minds betray or trick us, when what we perceive is not reality, when we struggle with depression, anxiety, OCD, or bi-polar disorder or those close to us do? How does God meet us in the midst of our darkness? How are we to care for those we love when they struggle with things we can’t always see or understand? How can the church help? Come join us as we seek to learn from practitioners, theologians, and scholars, and grow together as we seek God’s flourishing for our hearts, minds, bodies, and souls.  

See the schedule at fmcsb.org/adults