PORT TOWNSEND — Dave Eekhoff has two wood-block prints by Robert Hodgell on his office walls. One, a gift when he graduated from seminary, is of a person with his hands clasped in prayer and head bowed in resignation. The other is of two hands, one reaching down and grasping the other.
“It’s like God reaching down and a person reaching up,” he said.
But when Eekhoff decided to come out of retirement, he chose the labyrinth, an ancient spiritual symbol, as the logo for his business. It’s a symbol he hopes people interpret correctly.
“It’s not a maze,” Eekhoff said, “It’s a journey that takes you inward. And when you reach the center, you’re only halfway done.”
Eekhoff is a licensed marriage and family counselor who has opened an office in the basement of First Presbyterian Church.
He is also an ordained Presbyterian minister, but Eekhoff’s practice, Presbyterian Counseling Center, is not limited to people of faith.
Not only for faithful
“It’s an outreach service to the community,” Eekhoff said.
People who find their way to his office are referred by people who come into contact with the public in times of crisis.
Others are referred by doctors or ministers who might not have the time or skills to help a person deal with deeper problems, Eekhoff said.
“I see what we offer here as a complement to any church’s ministry,” Eekhoff said.
“But it’s nothing that I impose on people. Whatever spiritual questions or issues that people might have, I work with from their point of view,” said Eekhoff.
Preserving his clients’ privacy is also a priority. Eekhoff’s office is located on the lower level of the church building, with a separate entrance from a side parking lot.
Keeping his practice confidential is paramount to building a trust agreement with clients, Eekhoff said.
“Nobody is going to know what service they receive or that they received services,” Eekhoff said.
Since opening the practice, Eekhoff has worked with veterans dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder and couples seeking marriage counseling. Others who find their way to his door have anxiety or depression that presents as worry, insomnia or inability to concentrate at work.
“I work from a symptom point of view,” Eekhoff said. “I help people realize that symptoms are good because they help you find what to work on.
“Without that awareness, you don’t know you need to get better.”
The son and grandson of ministers, Eekhoff originally planned to complete a degree in counseling along with a divinity degree, but couldn’t afford it.
A parish minister for 20 years, he served churches in Montana, New Zealand and California, including a church near the Naval Air Station Lemoore, where he counseled Vietnam veterans.
Returning to school in 1986, he earned a master’s degree in marriage and family therapy, and founded the Lemoore Family Practice Clinic with five colleagues.
Hired by Navy
In 1995, he was hired by Naval Air Station Whidbey Island as a family advocacy specialist, commuting from a home at Kala Point near Port Townsend.
The job involved working with domestic violence and child abuse cases among military families, he said.
In 2003, he became chief of clinical services and family advocate representative for the fleet and family support program.
“I worked with commands to keep their service members functioning,” Eekhoff said.
He retired in 2006, but earlier this year, decided to go back into private practice on a part-time basis.
A member of First Presbyterian Church, he drew up an agreement to offer the counseling service in the building.
“In this community, I see a lot of people continuing to do what they enjoy,” Eekhoff said. “This is something I enjoy doing. I’ve got the experience, the background and the training.”
The first question he asks at the beginning of the counseling process is ‘What brings you here?’ Eekhoff said, noting that sometimes people have no idea why they are in counseling.
Others have reached a crisis point, which is also a good thing — a breakdown precedes a breakthrough, he said.
But unlike psychoanalysis, counseling doesn’t involve a long-term commitment.
“On a general basis, if people are motivated, a lot can be accomplished in 15 to 20 sessions,” Eekhoff said.
Having a counseling center in a church is a trend that developed in the past 30 years, Eekhoff said.
In the Seattle area, Samaritan Institutes offers counseling to people of all beliefs or none.
Eekhoff, a member of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors, said the setting may suggest drawing on spiritual resources, and he will help people strengthen their faith and suggest spiritual practices if they are open to that.
That he can introduce a spiritual aspect to counseling is what makes pastoral counseling centers unique.
Spiritual practices
“Spiritual practices are becoming more prevalent,” he said.
“People are recognizing that there is a spiritual realm that exists and is available to us. It is part of the discovery.”
His main goal: to help people find the strength they have with themselves, he said, and how to draw on it to deal with whatever life brings.
Walking a labyrinth to the center and back out again is an analogous experience.
“It’s a journey in and a journey out,” Eekhoff said. “When people come, I feel like they invite me to become part of their journey.”
For more information about the Presbyterian Counseling Center, go to www.securetherapy.com/pccpt.
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Port Townsend/Jefferson County reporter-columnist Jennifer Jackson can be reached at jjackson@olypen.com.
