Influential Woman · Education and Professional Writing / Counseling Services
Shirley Fessel, MA, MEd
Author / Educator / Counselor, Redemption from Biblical Battering
Kansas City, MO 64158
Her Story
About Shirley
Shirley Fessel, MA, MEd, is an accomplished writer, educator, counselor, and communication professional based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Shirley currently much of her current work on women's spirituality, religious abuse and recovery, mental health, empowerment, and communication. As the author of the self-help workbook, Redemption from Biblical Battering, she seeks to help women navigate difficult experiences and develop healthier perspectives and communication skills.
Endorsed by therapists, advocates and pastoral care workers, the workbook has helped women clarify 7 levels of confusion around faith issues.
Leon Probasco, a Board Diplomate marriage and family therapist, wrote “this is a new paradigm for working with these issues. I recommend her innovative and original methods to anyone, professional or lay person, interested in pursuing freedom and healing from abuse underwritten by appeals to religious concepts."
Her writing, counseling, public speaking, advocacy, and educational consulting have receive awards and recognition from a variety of organizations. She specializes in the impact of communication competency on mental health issues.
Shirley has built a diverse academic and professional background. She earned a BA in English from Spalding University and an MA in Communication from Wichita State University, where she received recognition for outstanding achievement in her master's thesis on communication theory. She has conducted training for nonprofit groups, small businesses, and faculty in college, secondary and adult education.
She is most proud of her three children and four grandchildren, whose lives are a testament to the power of recovery in family systems. She assists families and organizations in creating legacy stories for the next generation.
Contact info@redemptionbb.com
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Shirley
01What do you attribute your success to?
I think the women that I deal with and the advocates and the therapists see that I truly understand the dynamic and the complexity, and that's why one of the therapists said it was a new paradigm. My work resulted from years of research into church response to women's issues, educational methods, counseling methodologies, and trauma-informed initiatives.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Honor your intution and your gifts.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Women who are drawn to spirituality, dedicated to being loving and forgiving, and want to be helpful sometimes believe who is a Christian aligns with that. But religious abuse is not about faith, nor is it about marriage. The predator is only using that because it's important to the woman. Just because a man is in church and says he's a Christian does not mean necessarily that he's a safe person.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Domestic coercive control that includes the misuse of the Bible or faith concepts is a taboo topic. While sexual or child abuse has received media attention, the topic of someone identifying as Christian and engaging in abuse is so difficult to consider that people default to blaming the individual woman. Pastors are untrained and in a difficult situation to address married couples living in this condition. My workbook can help a pastor deal with this. Domestic abuse is a systematic problem that is left at the feet of the woman in trauma.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Compassion is essential to avoid oversimplification or dismissal of the woman living in this complex problem. Those who would help need to be educated on what can and cannot be helpful within a faith context. Advising more prayer, Bible study, obedience, church attendance or Christian counseling are not effective, especially if the counselor is not trauma-informed or more concerned with retaining church membership or marriage than helping someone suffering.
Join Influential Women and start making an impact. Register now.