Meagan Butler, LPC, LCDC:
Meagan’s first experience of a church family was in college. She fell in love with the Bible and felt a calling to work in ministry. After graduating from college, Meagan participated in the Women’s Discipleship Training Program at Denton Bible Church to deepen her knowledge of the Bible and see if ministry was for her. Her love of God, the Bible, and ministry grew and she left the program with a desire to be trained in seminary.
A year later, Meagan began her studies at Dallas Theological Seminary. She was offered an internship working with youth at a church. It was there God gave her an education on the difficult side of ministry. She experienced a church split, spiritual emptiness, and all the business activities that come with being on staff at a church. Four years later, Meagan graduated with a seminary degree, spiritual burnout, and a distaste for ministry. She questioned whether she would ever go to church again.
Meagan began to see a counselor who walked her through spiritual healing. She encountered God in a way she never had before and received freedom from her burnout, along with anxiety, depression, and obsessive thinking. In this new freedom, Meagan went back to Dallas Theological Seminary and received a Master of Arts in Biblical Counseling. She graduated with a heart for those who are experiencing or have experienced ministry burnout. She also was able to return to the church she had left and participate with a new perspective. God blessed her with the experience of both burnout and healing.
It is Meagan’s passion at Desert Road Ministries to support other ministry leaders who have dedicated their lives to a ministry calling. She has developed a Ministry Burnout Prevention and Recovery Program to meet ministry leaders where they are and provide resources to help them encounter God and enrich their spiritual health.
Her favorite spiritual practice is silence. Making space in the week to be still with God for a longer period of time recenters her and creates opportunities to listen to God. She has experienced much healing and clarity in her times of silence and solitude.
Education and Training:
Dallas Theological Seminary, Master of Arts in Christian Education, 2015Dallas Theological Seminary, Master of Arts in Biblical Counseling, 2020Licensed Professional CounselorLicensed Chemical Dependency Counselor
Charlotte Almeida, LPC:
Growing up, Charlotte attended counseling with a female, Christian counselor who held a safe space for her weekly. This continued to be a resource she utilized into adulthood. In 2015, her counseling experience not only held a safe space but created an environment that gave her the ability to take ownership of her faith. Over the next three years, God developed an awareness in Charlotte of a desire to hold the same space for others. She applied to Dallas Theological Seminary to pursue a Master of Arts in Biblical Counseling.
The first class she took at DTS was on human growth and development where God expanded her view on what family could look like. God used DTS to transform Charlotte’s understanding of who He is and the role he plays in her life. Through this process, her focus narrowed down to family systems. Charlotte’s experience in relationships gave her a heart for women’s issues and trauma.
An unexpected addition to her passion came from witnessing ministry leaders and their families navigate personal hardships and not know where to turn for support and guidance. As a counselor, this gave Charlotte a desire to extend her safe space to ministry leaders and their families.
Charlotte’s favorite spiritual practice is prayer. She enjoys being in conversation with God throughout the day and prioritizes moments of stillness in his presence.
Education and Training:
Dallas Theological Seminary, Master of Arts in Biblical Counseling, 2020
Licensed Professional Counselor #86204
Perspectives
Prepare-Enrich
RelateStrong
Alexandra Roark, LCSW, BCN:
Alexandra was raised in a family that prioritized serving God and being part of a church family. She began to serve at a young age through kids choir and church plays. When Alexandra turned 15, her parents moved to Round Rock, Texas to pastor a small church. Alexandra had to navigate the new, scary role of being a pastor’s kid and manage spoken and unspoken expectations.
During her family’s time at the church, she volunteered as a Sunday School teacher and developed a passion for working with kids. This passion followed her to college where she received her bachelors in psychology and a masters in social work. Thirteen years into serving in children’s ministry, Alexandra found herself struggling with ministry burnout. She felt confused and guilty because of this. At this point, Alexandra had completed her degrees and moved back to Houston to work as a Child and Adolescent therapist. She felt like it was a fresh start in her career and was looking for renewal in her ministry.
After her move to Houston, God used a series of events to provide spiritual healing and placed a desire in Alexandra’s heart to continue to work with kids, teens, and parents in a ministry capacity. Her own experiences growing up in a ministry home gave her a passion to use her training in child and adolescent therapy to work with ministry families. Eventually, Alexandra met Meagan and Charlotte and found a belonging in Desert Road Ministries.
Alexandra’s favorite spiritual practice is jamming out to gospel music.
Education and Training:
University of Houston, Bachelors Degree, Psychology, 2015The University of Texas Austin, Masters Degree, Social Work, 2019Licensed Clinical Social WorkerBoard Certified in Neurofeedback