Supporting Parents of Kids with Disabilities with Mental Health Counselor and Author Kristin Faith Evans - Love Does That | Christian Spiritual Director Kari Bartkus

Hey, my friends. Welcome back to Let’s Encourage One Another.

This week, I am excited to introduce you to Kristin Faith Evans, a mental health counselor who also has two children with rare genetic diseases. Kristin and her husband Todd are the founders of Disability Parenting, and they use both their knowledge and their experience to support other parents of children with disabilities.

Kristin has a multitude of resources available for these families, and I definitely want to point you toward those. But in our conversation today, I’ve asked her to speak to those of us who are not in this situation. Because I’ve found that when we are unfamiliar with something, we tend to be afraid of it. We don’t know what to do. We’re not sure how to start the conversation.

So it is our hope and prayer that this conversation can start one of your own if you have a family in your church or community who could use some extra care and support from you.

We begin by talking about Kristin’s experience discovering her children’s disabilities and how that impacted her life and marriage. And then we dive into some practical questions, such as how can we—as a church, as friends—help, what we can do if we think our friend needs to talk with a counselor, and so much more.

If you have any questions or feedback at all, I know Kristin would love to hear from you. Links to her websites are in the show notes below.

As always, this is a sacred conversation with a friend who is sharing rather openly and vulnerably about her experience. I know you, and I know you will honor that, and I also hope you’ll let her know how much we appreciate her by sending her a note or message.

Here is my conversation with Kristin Faith Evans…

[Interview]

MEET KRISTIN:

Kristin Faith Evans is a Christian author, a speaker, a mental health therapist, and a mother of two children with rare genetic disorders and complex needs. She loves walking with others on their journeys to deeper faith and mental health wholeness. She has a special place in her heart for empowering other parents of children with special needs or disabilities. As a Licensed Masters Social Worker and with her MA in Christian Education, Kristin has served in church, camping, and retreat ministries and is experienced in Christian counseling, couples and family therapy, substance abuse treatment, and crisis counseling.