Welcome to New Mexico Association for Spiritual, Ethical and Religious Values in Counseling
NMASERVIC creates an environment to empower the expression, exploration, development and research of evolving spiritual, ethical and religious values as they relate to the person, to society, and to the profession of counseling and human development.
We honor the diversity of humanity and the diverse expressions of the human spirit. We are the New Mexico branch of ASERVIC, a national organization of counselors and human development professionals who believe spiritual, ethical, and religious values are essential to the overall development of the person and are committed to integrating these values into the counseling process.
What is NMASERVIC?
NMASERVIC is a division of the New Mexico Counseling Association (NMCA) and was chartered in 1995. Membership with NMASERVIC is obtained by first being a member of NMCA.
You can find more Information about NMCA here.
Letter from the Incoming President, Elizabeth A. Ebner
I am very excited and honored to be taking this leadership role with NMASERVIC. I thank you for your confidence and trust in me as we move forward to build upon the work of all those who have gone before us and who brought our vitally important organization to the place of distinction that it holds today.
It was my pleasure and privilege to travel to the 2010 ACA Conference in Pittsburgh this past March to receive the Outstanding Chapter Award from the national ASERVIC organization on behalf of our state chapter. I found the members of the national Board to be warm and welcoming and eager to partner with NMASERVIC for future events. (More on that at a later date.)
At the ACA conference, delegates representing 29 major counseling organizations agreed for the first time on a common definition of counseling as part of the multi-year initiative: “20/20: A Vision for the Future of Counseling.” The definition is a basic framework: “Counseling is a professional relationship that empowers diverse individuals, families and groups to accomplish mental health, wellness, education and career goals.”
This is being done in an effort to bring the diverse specialities in counseling under one umbrella. I invite you to share your thoughts on this.
In the same vein, one of the visions I have for NMASERVIC 2010-2011, is to reach out across professional lines and look for where there is energy derived from collaboration that will benefit our organization. We know there is strength in diversity. And there is no better place where that is demonstrated than in New Mexico and in the various paths of spirituality that are evident here. If this idea piques your interest, Iʼd love to hear from you.
We are in the beginning stages of planning the 2011 conference, and towards that goal we are seeing the importance of carrying on and caring for spirituality in ourselves, for our clients and for our communities, especially in these challenging times. We hope that next yearʼs conference with be as pertinent and powerful as past ones have been. So, as my term begins (July 1), I ask for your support, your energy, your valuable input and, most especially, your blessings.
Elizabeth
(505) 603-4110
eaebner@comcast.net
Speaking to God of Emptiness:
an Interspiritual Prayer
My dear God, friend and lover,
I ask of you, let your essence be known.
Let the truth that is embedded within us all,
the truth that is you, ring through our entire being,
splitting our hearts open with a realization not of the mind.
Allow a perfect clarity to awaken,
from which eternal springs of love, compassion,
joy and happiness, yearning and longing pour forth.
Overflow and drown us in your divine mystery.
We ask you for the courage to become who we are.
To release our hold on our ideas, thoughts, convictions.
For in you there are no convictions, no eternal truths to cling to.
There is only you—perfect, free, unchanging.
Unchanging by the very fact of constant change.
In you there is only movement, spontaneity, love and longing,
the substance of our being, searching for what has been forgotten.
There is only the void, emptiness, nothingness.
In this clinging to nothing, you become truth itself,
void of all contradictions and duality,
for you encompass all.
You are emptied into all things at all times.
May we learn this deep humility, Mother;
may this burning inside each of us become unbearable,
that we may no longer ignore it.
Consume us, Lord! For our ignorance knows no other way.
You must! For your longing for us consumes you!
In your wisdom, allow us a taste of your sweet essence.
Open our hard, exterior shells.
Melt them away in your precious suffering.
Transform our bodies, reveal your glory.
In the fullness of time, awaken us, oh Lord!
Allow us to become like you, a mystery unto ourselves.
For the benefit of all.
(Prayer shared by member, Allen DeSalme)