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Counselor Works To Instill Hope

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By DEREK MAUL

Tribune correspondent

Published: May 3, 2008

BRANDON - Mental health counselor Tina Yeager is an eternal optimist.

"Life is about having hope. There's always hope. No matter where I am, if God is with me, that is my hope," she said.

Yeager helps others adopt her idealism by offering counseling at the First United Methodist Church in Brandon. She has been practicing there since 2006.

For some clients, the counseling is faith-based, but Yeager doesn't require faith to be a part of healing.

"It's up to you if you want to use faith," she said.

"I felt called to do counseling as a ministry," she said. "But it's hard to do that in private practice, so a partnership with the church works. Being here has broadened my opportunity to bring the Christian perspective."

Yeager has worked in a variety of settings but has looked forward to the time she could incorporate faith-based principles without compromise. She said she encourages clients to take proactive steps to fix whatever needs fixing in their lives.

"If you feel like your life could be better or enriched, if you'd like to make your life more functional, this is the place to come," Yeager said. "There's no judgment."

From childhood, Yeager dreamed of a career in international corporate law.

"It was from the way I argued with my parents," she said.

She spent her youth in Illinois, where her father, Craig Paul, worked in the insurance business.

After a severe ice storm when she was in second grade, Yeager's family moved to St. Petersburg. The following year they settled in south Lakeland.

After high school, she attended Florida State University and met her future husband, Tyler. She graduated in 1993 with a degree in creative writing before the couple moved to Athens, Ga., where her husband was a manager at a pizza restaurant.

"We moved from Tallahassee to Athens, to Illinois, then back to Lakeland in 1994," Yeager said. "My psychology master's from the University of Central Florida turned out to be good for counseling and writing."

Yeager worked with Winter Haven Hospital's youth day treatment program and a school-based counseling program in Auburndale.

"I learned that caring breaks down fear," Yeager said, "and that unconditional love is healing. It's not what we do. It's what God does through us. God reaches through me and touches people."

Five years ago, Yeager and her husband moved to Brandon with their children Christian, 16, and Tadd, 10.

"I love it here," she said. "I really like the mix of people. It's a nice change. With different cultures and backgrounds, the kids can grow up with knowledge of a variety of people without fears and prejudices."

Yeager worked with Catholic Social Services supervising the Parents as Partners program and counseling before forming a partnership with First United Methodist.

She helps people with a variety of issues.

"I treat lots of anxiety and depression," Yeager said, "childhood sexual abuse, bi-polar, eating disorders and occasional substance abuse issues."

Counseling, she said, involves commitment. "I always ask, 'Do you want to live comfortably, or do you want to have hope?' They're not always the same thing."

Yeager's other passion is writing. She published a novel in 2005, "Seeing Things," a psychological thriller, and is working on others.

In the process, she's loving life.

"I enjoy meting people," Yeager said. "I like to read, I love spending time with my kids, and I enjoy public speaking."

Yeager said she believes emotional health is linked to spiritual wholeness.

"As human beings, it's built into our nature to be givers," she said. "If people are not reaching out to others, they turn their eyes inward, and it's tough to find meaning in life. One of the greatest antidotes to depression is reaching out to other people."

MEET TINA PAUL YEAGER

OCCUPATION: Licensed mental health counselor
BORN: Illinois, 1971

EDUCATION: Mulberry High School, 1989; Florida State University, 1993; University of Central Florida, 1999

MARRIED: Tyler Yeager, 1991

CHILDREN: Christian, 16; Tadd, 10

MOVED TO BRANDON: 2002

CALL: (813) 689-4161

Derek Maul can be reached at derekmaul@gmail.com.

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