Rev. Barbara T. Huffman watches the news and reads
the papers. She sees the jobless numbers continue to climb. And she
knows she can help.
So the pastoral counselor decided to put her skills
to use, offering free counseling for job seekers for the months of
June, July and August. Huffman doesn't update resumes or provide employment
leads, but she does work on building up folks who need it.
"I don't give (career) advice per se," she
said. "I work on how you deal with your feelings. People get
down on themselves, and they get that feeling of 'I'm not worth anything.'
"This is a time in life when you need basic encouragement."
To qualify for a maximum of three free counseling
sessions, a person must have held a job in the past year, be actively
seeking employment and agree to abide by Huffman's counselor/counselee
agreement. Huffman, who has an office in her Lawrenceville home, is
eager to help as many people who fit that bill as possible.
"I wanted to help people who are suffering in
our current economic situation, and free counseling is what I have
to offer," Huffman said. "I have never found job-seeking
to be a pleasant, uplifting experience. Just the opposite.
Huffman, seminary trained and an ordained pastoral
care minister, said that the loss of self-esteem is the major obstacle
to overcome after losing a job. People put a lot of themselves into
their jobs, and when they lose them there is a sense that they are
no longer whole.
"I had one lady who said: 'I don't need the money.
I need to have a sense of purpose, to feel valuable,'" Huffman
said. "Across the board there's a poor sense of self-esteem,
of feeling (no) empowerment.
"People are hurting in ways that I have never
seen in the past."
In tough times like these, people need all the support
they can get, which fits Huffman's training perfectly. She has pastored
a church before, but said she feels called to her current job as counselor.
"I was a senior pastor down in Florida, but that's
not what I wanted to be doing," said Huffman, a sixth generation
Atlanta resident who attended Avondale High and Georgia State University.
"I'm much happier doing what I'm doing now."
Huffman has the job she wants, and hopes to help others
do the same.
"People really need work, and it's a hard, hard
process," she said. "People need encouragement and validation
through what can be an extremely difficult process."
E-mail Todd Cline at todd.cline@gwinnettdailypost.com.
His column appears on Wednesdays.
