The name Joshua Tree Counseling was chosen in honor of Rachel’s brother-in-law, Joshua. In July 2019, Josh lost a long battle with mental illness, taking his life to make the pain finally stop. As is often the case with mental illness, few knew of his internal struggles; the Josh most people knew was the friendly guy who would talk to anyone and everyone and would light up a room with his presence, laugh and smile. Josh loved to always be learning something new and he was a gifted teacher of his knowledge. He never missed an opportunity to help someone. He loved cars and hunting. He found comfort and peace with horses, and collected boots. He lived for music. He loved his beautiful home and enjoyed making home improvements. He loved adventure – traveling, hiking, exploring new places and meeting new people, and could not resist a good ghost tour. Most of all, he loved his wife and daughter. 

A Haunted Mind

Rachel describes Joshua’s experience as living in a haunted house inside his mind from which he could not escape. Tragically, Joshua succumbed to the belief that suicide was his only way out. Resolved to better understand the fractured state of Josh’s mind, Rachel poured herself into trainings which led down the path towards what are now her treatment specialty areas – complex trauma, dissociation, and suicidality. Josh’s pain, which he never found healing for, has now literally saved the lives of others – this would make him happy, to know that his pain was not in vain.

Grief Flash Fiction

Soon after Joshua’s death, Rachel attended a training on grief and the instructor encouraged participants to write their grief story in six words. Still deeply grieving the loss of her brother-in-law, Rachel wrote this grief story about Josh: Didn’t figure it out in time. Months later, Rachel experienced a moment in which she connected Joshua’s legacy to her identity as a therapist.  If not for him, she may never have pressed into her learning about dissociation which is the very thing that has now brought several of her client’s back from the brink of suicide. This realization helped release the burden of guilt over Josh’s death and left a well of hope in its place because she could honor his life, his pain, and his story. Joshua Tree Counseling is part of his legacy; it is living proof that God can take the broken pieces of a tragedy and turn it into something beautiful.

The Joshua Tree

At Josh’s memorial service, a tree was planted in his name – we called it the Joshua Tree. It is growing big and strong, just like Josh was in life. In 2021, when Rachel decided to open a group counseling practice, the name just seemed to fit. She told her sister, Josh’s wife, about the name and her sister said, “he would be so proud and would be glad he’s still helping people.”