Guided gratitude mediation offered Saturday morning

A guided meditation of gratitude will be hosted by the Mental Health Ministry of Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church on Saturday, November 8. The meditation, which will be led by licensed clinical social worker and CONTACT volunteer Linda Doyle, will begin at 10:30 a.m. in the church fellowship hall.

The church is located at 131 West Gettysburg Avenue in Oak Ridge. The event is free and open to the public, and child care will be provided.

Doyle said in notes about the meditation that it is a type appropriate for all faiths and for the coming holiday season.

“The theme will be gratitude, keeping in mind the upcoming celebration of our country’s national holiday in November,” Doyle said in a press release.

She further explained that in a guided meditation, the leader reads the meditation thoughts while participants sit in a comfortable positon in a chair, with heads bowed and eyes closed in order to focus and reflect, personally, on the words being read and each person’s individual experiential response to the reading.

“It can be a very meaningful guided meditation experience,” Doyle said.

An opportunity for sharing of participants’ experiences will follow for those who wish to express or share their experiences during the meditation, the release said. In addition, free gratitude journals will be given away at the event.

Doyle has been in practice as a licensed clinical social worker for 34 years, working with individual, couple, and marital psychotherapy. She retired earlier this year from private practice as an associate with Oak Ridge Psychotherapy Practice and continues to be active in various community organizations, the release said.

A member of the Academy of Certified Social Work, she is a board certified diplomat and has been a clinical member of the American Association for Family Therapy. Doyle earned her MSSW from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville in 1980 and her bachelor’s degree from the University of New Mexico in 1972 with a major in elementary education and a minor in library science, the release said. She has worked with UT, supervising MSSW graduate students in their field placement work.

Prior to graduate school, she was executive director of CONTACT Oak Ridge, an ecumenical telephone listening hotline and referral service.  She has also served the organization as a volunteer in various capacities for 40 years.

Doyle’s personal interests include mindfulness meditation, centering prayer, and healing touch, where she is presently a healing touch practitioner apprentice.

The Mental Health Ministry of Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church seeks to provide encouragement, support, and solace to those individuals and families affected by mental illness, brain disorders, and substance abuse; to promote understanding of these issues, reduce stigma, sustain individuals through the treatment and recovery process, and provide educational opportunities that actively promote wellness, the release said.