- This event has passed.
Mental Health in the Church Conference
November 21 @ 2:30 p.m. - 5 p.m.
Why Do I Do What I Don’t Want To Do
June Hunt, MA – Founder and Chief Servant Officer, Hope for the Heart is an author, singer, and speaker. Her lifework has yielded landmark contributions in the field of Christian counseling and caregiving. After years of teaching and research, she developed Counseling through the Bible, a scripturally based counseling course, which has become the foundation for the ministry’s steady expansion, including the 2002 creation of the Biblical Counseling Institute (BCI) initiated by Criswell College, where June earned her Master of Arts degree in counseling. June is also the host of Hope in the Night, a live one-hour call-in counseling program now in its 29th year, that helps people untie their tangled problems with biblical hope and practical help. June’s best-selling mini-book series has sold over two million copies, and in 2017, the Hope For The Heart Bible Study Series was launched. As an accomplished musician, she has been a guest on the NBC Today show, has toured overseas with the USO, and been a guest soloist with the Billy Graham Crusades. June’s work has also earned accolades from numerous groups, including the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) who presented June and the ministry with numerous awards. In 1991, June received an honorary Doctor of Law degree from Criswell College and in 1993, an honorary Doctorate in Literature from Dallas Baptist University. In 2008, June was the recipient of Christian Women in Media’s “Excellence in Communications” award, and the Eli Lilly Corporation honored June with the “Lilly Reintegration Award” for her work to help those battling mental illness. In 2012, she received the Advanced Writers & Speakers Association’s “Golden Scroll Lifetime Achievement Award,” and in 2014, the American Association of Christian Counselors honored June with the “Caregiver of the Year” award.
Transformed Lives: Breaking through the Mental Health Tsunami
Eric Scalise, PhD – President and Chief Strategy Officer (CSO), Hope for the Heart is also the President of LIV Consulting, LLC. He is the former Senior Vice President for the American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC) and former Department Chair for Counseling Programs at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Dr. Scalise earned his doctorate in Organizational Leadership, is a Licensed Professional Counselor, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, and a Credentialed Master Life Coach with 44 years of clinical and professional experience in the mental health field. He served six years on the Virginia Board of Counseling under two governors. Specialty areas include professional/pastoral stress and burnout, combat trauma and PTS/PTSD, marriage and family issues, grief and loss, addictions and recovery, leadership development, and lay counselor training. As the son of a diplomat, Dr. Scalise was born in Nicosia, Cyprus, and has also lived and traveled extensively around the world. He is a published author (Addictions and Recovery Counseling and Lay Counseling: Equipping Christians for a Helping Ministry), adjunct professor at several universities, conference speaker, and frequently consults with organizations, clinicians, ministry leaders, and churches on a variety of issues.
Know Your Why, Your Model, and Your Goal in Caring for Others
Haley Scully, MA – Senior Vice President, Ministry Operations, Hope for the Heart is a speaker, author, and trainer and has been with since 2011. She began her work in our onsite counseling programs and moved into international ministry where she has delivered training in over 30 countries. She manages initiatives, develops partnerships, coordinates resources, and provides basic counseling, coaching, and care ministry training for church leaders and parachurch organizations around the world. She also co-hosts the popular podcast Hope Talks bringing a practical discussion of how to hope to people everywhere. Haley earned her degree in Communications from Oklahoma State University and Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Counseling from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. She is passionate about connecting hurting hearts to hope in Christ and application of God’s Word to their everyday lives.
Scriptural Solutions for Anxiety and Worry
Michael D. Cook, Ph. D., is the Sharon Burrows Chair of Counseling and an Associate Professor in HCU’s Department of Counseling. His undergraduate degree is a B. A. (Sociology) from Albany State University. His advanced degrees are an M. Div. (Pastoral Ministries) and a Ph. D. (Psychology and Counseling), both from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Dr. Cook is also a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (IN) and an ordained minister (Southern Baptist). He has taught full-time in Christian higher education for twenty-seven years. Additionally, he has served in several pastoral roles in Georgia, Mississippi and Indiana. He has been married to his lovely wife, Karen, for thirty-three years, and they have two daughters and a son-in-law. Dr. Cook has served at HCU since 2019.