The Harding University Counseling Center will host two local therapists on campus as part of the Relational Health Initiative (RHI) on Thursday, March 17. Alumni Ryan Butterfield and Jim Galyan, with masters’ in marriage and family therapy (MSMFT), will be participating in both 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. chapel services, as well as conducting a forum discussion and Q&A at 6:30 p.m. in Cone Chapel.
According to Counseling Center Director Dr. Lew Moore, Butterfield and Galyan will be presenting and discussing Christian experiences with and responses to sexual considerations such as pornography and unwanted same-sex attraction.
“(Butterfield) and (Galyan) are experienced therapists and they have great credentials for this subject area,” Moore said.
In addition to their MSMFT degrees, Butterfield and Galyan are both certified sexual addiction therapists (CSAT) and Arkansas Licensed Counselors. The two men graduated from Harding’s marriage and family therapy program in 2008. In 2013, Butterfield and Galyan became business partners and opened ReGroup, a counseling center located at 103 N. Main St. in Searcy.
At the forum discussion and Q&A, the two men will give an overview of the problem, but spend more time discussing the solution, according to Galyan.
“This is so much more than sex or pornography or gay or lesbian … We are losing the nuance of relationship,” Galyan said. “The culture has got to change. This is not about pornography, but about our hearts and our minds and how we see love and relationship and everything sexual.”
According to Butterfield, healthy relationships with other people provide the greatest benefit for those in addiction, but pornography is what corrupts relationships. He also said that the pornography industry has infiltrated our culture.
“I don’t think that the majority of people understand or realize the impact pornography is making on their relationships,” Butterfield said.
According to Butterfield, the problem is bigger than sexual issues; however, sexuality is one of the places that shows up first because it is more identifiable.
“We want people to come because we want people to experience how to love and how to be loved,” Butterfield said.
