Welcome to Fierce Calling! In this episode, Finding Hope: Navigating Dysfunction and Difficulties in Life with Dr. Mel Tavares, Dr. Mel opens up about her personal journey, filled with difficult choices, challenging relationships, and health issues.
Despite these hardships, Dr. Tavares has dedicated her life to supporting and empowering women facing similar struggles. Growing up in a dysfunctional environment, Dr. Tavares understands the weight of making tough choices. She shares her experience of navigating an arduous 25-year marriage that eventually ended in divorce.
As a single mom herself, Dr. Tavares has a sincere heart for women in difficult situations, providing guidance and encouragement along their own journeys. Drawing from her personal battles with health issues, Dr. Tavares finds passion in bringing hope to those battling chronic illnesses and difficult diagnoses.
Her ministry extends to helping prodigal children and those seeking to rediscover their faith, where her own experiences provide invaluable insight. Dr. Tavares firmly believes that God has a purpose for everyone, even in the midst of challenging circumstances. As someone who works in the counseling and coaching fields, she actively encourages mental health awareness, seeking to erase the stigma that surrounds it, particularly within the church. In collaboration with the American Association of Christian Counselors, Dr. Tavares is actively engaged in educating churches about mental health.
I know what Dr. Mel shares will encourage, inspire, and challenge you, so listen in while Doris has a chat with Dr. Mel Tavares.
Key Themes Covered in Finding Hope: Navigating Dysfunction and Difficulties in Life with Dr. Mel Tavares
1. Overcoming challenges and finding purpose
2. Stigma around mental health in churches
3. Balancing technology and mental well-being
4. Importance of a firm foundation in faith
5. Preventative measures for mental health crisis
6. Disconnect and disconnection in families
7. Impact of technology on children's mental health
8. 21 Days to Improved Mental Well-Being
Grab The Book ...
21 Days to Mental Well-Being
More About Dr. Mel ...
Mel Tavares is an accomplished award winning author, speaker/teacher, and coach and counselor both in ministry and in her career. She has invested decades in equipping women from all walks of life to thrive in the midst of their circumstances.
Mel holds a Doctorate of Ministry, is a Board Certified Mental Health Coach, a Certified QPR Suicide Prevention Instructor, a member of the AACC (American Association of Christian Counselors), AWSA (Advanced Writers and Speakers Association). She will soon add ‘Professional Life Coach’ to her certifications.
She authors books, is a contributing author to several books, writes for multiple ministries, including the Word of Life Global Youth Ministries and Arise Daily Online Devotions. She teaches digitally and in person, conducts Facebook Live series, and is a frequent media guest. Mel is a wife, mom to seven, and grandma to ten. You can find her materials and learn more about her ministry at her website: drmeltavares.com
Grab My Book ...
Surrender the Joy Stealers!
Book Doris to Speak at Your Next Woman's Event! Now Booking for 2024!
Doris can help your ladies find their joy and walk in their Fierce CallingTM
2023 Event: The Joy Jesus Gave Us
https://www.womenspeakers.com/florida/edgewater/speaker/doris-swift
Transcript for Finding Hope: Navigating Dysfunction and Difficulties in Life with Dr. Mel Tavares
Doris [00:01:56]:
Welcome back. Today I'm excited to welcome my friend Dr. Mel Tavares. She is an accomplished award winning author. She's a speaker and a teacher and coach, and she's a counselor both in ministry and in her career, which I love. She has invested decades in equipping women from all walks of life to thrive in the midst of their circumstances. And that is just so what Fear Is Calling is all about. And you can read more about Dr. Mel. I'll have all of her information in the show notes. But for now, I want to welcome you to the show. Thank you for being here, Dr. Mel.
Dr. Mel Tavares [00:02:34]:
Thank you for having me, Doris. I'm excited to see what God is going to direct today yes, I'm excited.
Doris [00:02:41]:
About that too, and see what he wants us to share. And so I do love that, that you've spent decades equipping women to thrive in the midst of their circumstances. It's just such a powerful thing to help someone who is going through a difficult season to see that there's still a purpose, there's still a way that God can use all of it for good and for his glory and for also whatever their calling might be. So I would love if you would share a little bit about your story and how you are taking action where your passion, compassion and conviction intersect.
Dr. Mel Tavares [00:03:24]:
Well, I grew up in a pretty strange what I consider a strange situation and a dysfunctional home, we would say, in today's counseling world. And so I didn't really have a whole lot of guidance. Therefore I made some choices that weren't good that included not a wise choice for a mate. So I went through a marriage and 25 year marriage and then a divorce. That just seemed eminent, but I kept pushing aside. And so I have a real heart for women that have found themselves in difficult situations then, because I was a single mom, I can understand that situation as well. I have had some health issues over the years and I've had to combat those. So I have a real heart for bringing hope to people that are battling some chronic diseases or maybe a diagnosis that is not what we want to hear, and how to battle that. I think spiritually battle it spiritual warfare, but then implement health options that are going to lead to a healthier lifestyle and battle back those disease diagnoses. So there's been a lot of different things. I have a prodigal child now. I have had others who have now come back to the Lord, come back to our family. So I understand women in that situation. There's a lot of different roads I've been on that helps me when I'm ministering to people, whether that is the secular counseling that's gone on or pastoral counseling now or coaching, it kind of all intersects. And that became my passion. And I know that's my calling and whether I'm writing it or speaking it or teaching it or whatever I'm doing, there's always good that comes out of those situations. And God, his plans will not be thwarted. And he does have a plan and a purpose for every single one of us. And even if there's some forks in the road and he kind of brings us around the bend and back full circle, he doesn't waste it. And I love that. And I just love being able to encourage women with that truth.
Doris [00:06:03]:
I love that so much. And especially how you went through all the things that you've experienced and how now it's something that you can use to help others in these different roads that you've been on. And I know those forks in the road, those forks are pointy, they can really be painful. But how you shared all of that and it would just really encourage a listener right now to hear that. Because as I usually will say too, it's like no matter where they've been or what they've done or what's been done to them, what they've experienced, that everybody has a purpose and God has plans for them and they can be used by God. So that's why I love your ministry so much and how God has used that and has called you to counsel because you have a heart for helping people who are walking maybe a broken road or maybe have people in their family that are walking broken roads. And that can be really devastating too, right? You've run into that so much, as you said, with a prodigal. So how do you usually encourage those people?
Dr. Mel Tavares [00:07:14]:
Well, it depends on each situation. And the Bible is filled with passages that speak to every situation we find ourselves in. I have yet to find a situation that I've walked through or that you would walk through or anyone would walk through and not find multiple passages to encourage and uplift. And so I tell people I have a care and counseling Bible. I know a lot of people use that. So I have a care and counseling Bible that helps me topically. But the concordance and different things too, I encourage people, get those tools, learn the scriptures that are applicable to your situation, and then we talk through those. But generically speaking, there's so many passages on hope. There's so many passages on the fact that the Lord is always with us, he never leaves us, he's always faithful. And that truth alone brings hope, I think, to any situation that he's not going to leave us dangling by ourselves, even in the worst of situations. And there may be lots of other people around us when we're going through something, but we still feel alone. The truth is we're not alone. So that's, I think, a foundation.
Doris [00:08:53]:
Yes, that is amazing. And how you were talking about that, all the things we experience and all the things that we would need to work through or discover or work through our circumstances is found in the word of God. His solutions are there. And so I love that you shared that so much. And then also thinking about, okay, so people are going through a difficult situation, but maybe it's intimidating for them to read the Bible, so they might go to someone for help. But it is a way to encourage people to go directly to the Word themselves and see it. And then sometimes they need someone to help them, like you do in your ministry, to point them to the right places to go. So I think that's so important. You have written several different books and you have a new book that you've written. The title is 21 Days to improved mental well being. So tell us a little bit about what prompted you to write that and how
