Collins meets clients 'where they are'

Kelsey Collins, M.A., meets her clients where they are - not just where they live (yes, she makes house calls), but where they are physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.

She begins with what is happening in their lives now, what stories they tell over and over, then goes back to the source. She says most people are aware of their feelings and what they are doing, but not of how their thoughts affect their health. She helps them make the connection and begin to make choices that will lead to healthier living and greater well-being.

Collins is a frequent speaker at Partners in Care, the Spiritual Awareness Community, and at churches and groups in Bend and Redmond but, as a Sisters resident for 14 years, she thinks it's time to see more clients closer to home. Her clientele have been people dealing with anxiety, fear, grief, PTSD... symptoms of stress from loss, trauma, major illness, and end-of-life issues.

"I help people learn to work with it rather than allow it to work them," says Collins.

Her ideal client is someone who is faced with something terrifying and doesn't know where to turn or what to do next.

"You can look at fear as a threat or a handicap," Collins says, "or as a vehicle to move you in a different direction, to serve on a different level. This isn't happening to you, it is happening for you."

Collins was forced to go through her own personal tragedies decades ago to be able to meet others where they are. This also led her into education to get her master's in psychology to try to understand what motivates people, what's underneath it all - why people do what they do.

Following graduation, she took herself off to London where she got involved in the film industry as a production assistant on documentaries, which helped her develop good listening skills. She had to understand people's stories.

After some very successful years, she moved to Los Angeles where she continued to work in the industry for the multi-media production company Quantum Leap. Their Oscar-winning documentary, "Genocide," produced by Simon Wiesenthal and Rabbi Hier, was a crowning achievement for the young Collins.

Further changes in her life led her to move to Mammoth Lakes, California, where she continued to work on commercials and where she met an amazing lady named Bee Landis, who changed the course of her life once again.

Bee was an 87-year-old Science of Mind minister nearing the end of her life and the relationship between them became the inspiration for Collins' book, "Exit Strategy: Leaving this Life with Grace and Gratitude," which is a wonderful read for caregivers. Bee taught her how to release her anger toward her own mother and to be able to care for her in her last days before she died of ovarian cancer. She was also the catalyst for Collins efforts to bring hospice care to the Eastern Sierra area and to expand her own ministry in eldercare and end-of-life issues.

Following the death of her son, Chase, Collins knew it was time for her to leave Mammoth. She spent two years looking around in Colorado, New Mexico, Idaho, before coming to Sisters for a potential job. After renting for a little over a year, she found the right spot - went back to Mammoth, sold her house, and moved here in 2000.

"Most people don't die any different than they live," says Collins.

In her view, we live in our "temporary communication vehicles as long as they work in order to learn, to grow, to heal. We're here to participate in life, not to just sit around waiting for something to happen to us, to become victimized, to struggle with our problems. My job is to help people release their fears, even if we don't understand, we can start with the desire to feel better."

Collins believes strongly that it's important we have control at the end of our lives. To do that, she encourages families to start having "the conversation," discussing the options and what ifs, making decisions before they become necessary so everyone is on the same page when the time comes.

Collins goes over advance healthcare directive forms and talks about palliative care and hospice services so the family is aware of the person's wishes at the end of life. She says we need to ask questions now, not keep it inside, not live in fear or die in fear.

"It's not our thoughts, but our attachment to our thoughts, that causes suffering," she says.

She'll ask you, "How do you want to feel when you die?" Then she'll tell you, "Start now!"

Kelsey Collins is a person who knows how she wants to be treated during her last days and that is how she treats others now, with love, respect and dignity. For a free consultation, call her at 541-419-8833.