Lisa Saruga
Author, Speaker, Counselor
Lisa is a licensed professional counselor, EMDR trauma therapist, legislative advocate, and trauma survivor. She is the author of The Trauma Tree: Going Beyond Survival, Growing Toward Wholeness. She speaks nationwide with the conviction that healing is possible, even when there seems to be no happy ending.
Get To Know Lisa
Lisa is a licensed professional counselor, EMDR trauma therapist, and legislative advocate who specializes in sexual trauma. She is a national speaker who has keynoted for college campuses, Christian retreats, community organizations, and Christian women’s groups. She is the author of two books. Her book on healing from trauma will launch later this year. As a trauma survivor, she has learned that hope and healing are available even when this world offers no happy endings.
Although Lisa knows God does not purpose for us to experience trauma, she has discovered that God can use every aspect of our lives for a greater purpose. In addition to counseling, Lisa has proposed legislation in Lansing, Michigan, and Washington DC, and is working with several members of Congress in Washington DC to improve safety for survivors of sexual violence. In this way, God has been using her story for his purposes.
Lisa will be taking 15-minute appointments to talk with you about how to use your tough story for God’s purposes, and how to tell your story—using spoken or written word—from a trauma-informed, healing-focused perspective.
Breakout Session
Brave Boundaries:
This session will focus on the importance of setting and maintaining healthy boundaries in ministry. Some fear that setting boundaries will limit ministry opportunity, but healthy limits create space for your most effective, impactful work. Yes, this takes courage, but simple tools will help to remove the fear of setting limits.
If we find ourselves thinking these thoughts, we may not be setting healthy boundaries:
“I can’t disappoint them.”
“No one else will do it.”
“If I say no, they’ll stop inviting me.”
“Good Christians always serve.”
“My ministry will disappear if I slow down.”
Jesus Himself set healthy boundaries in His ministry. He withdrew to pray, didn’t heal everyone, didn’t explain Himself to everyone, entrusted ministry to others, and even slept through a storm or two. No one has lived out a more perfect ministry than Jesus.
Attendees will learn how to view boundaries as property lines in order to determine what is ours to address, and what is not on our property. This technique is highly effective in teaching us to identify appropriate and helpful limits in guarding our time and energy. By the end of this session, attendees will identify a few areas where they can, and should, firm up boundaries, as well as techniques on how to set these boundaries in a loving, respectful tone. They will also have tools to determine which boundaries are not theirs to set. Because, let’s face it, sometimes the boundaries we set are to keep us on our own property.
Boundaries are necessary for us in our personal lives, and within our ministries. We can lighten the load and increase effectiveness with the basic tools taught in this session.
15-Minute Appointments
As a licensed professional counselor who specializes in EMDR trauma therapy, Lisa is also a trauma survivor. She speaks, writes, and advocates for legislative change. Do you have a difficult story to tell? Lisa would love to help you understand how to:
- Tell your story without being re-traumatized…
- … or traumatizing others
- Become a true survivor after experiencing trauma
- Find purpose in your pain and put it to use for your own healing and the benefit of others
Ready To Register?
Don’t miss out on this amazing opportunity. Sign up now & join us at Speak Up!
