Submitted
Psychologists say that January, with its cold temperatures and early darkness, can produce feelings of listlessness and a post-holiday letdown.
For those who struggled to celebrate the holiday season while also grieving a loss, the month can quickly become “Blue January.”
Three Hays organizations have teamed up to present a panel discussion on “The Unseen Effects of Grief and Mental Health Concerns in Everyday Life.”
The event will be from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 24, in the Black and Gold Room of the Memorial Union at Fort Hays State University. It is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.
The panelists, all from Ellis County, are Kenneth Windholz, Kate McGonigal, Myrna Jordan and Kris Munsch.S
Sponsoring the event are the Fort Hays State University Psychology Club, NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) on Campus and the Center for Life Experience, a non-profit organization that offers grief support services in Ellis County.
Laura Allen, executive director of the center, said, “CFLE is so excited to cohost this event. It’s important to us to work with others to remove the stigmas surrounding mental health concerns and their contributing factors.
“The holidays are so hard for so many. People may be missing family members who have passed, they may be struggling with being alone, or they may just feel sad. By coming together in an open, honest, caring way, we hope to explore those issues while giving our audience the opportunity to explore and come to terms with their own grief or other mental health concerns.”
About the panelists
Windholz has been active in the field of psychology for 50 years. He is a clinical psychotherapist and a full-time instructor in the FHSU Department of Psychology, teaching both graduate and undergraduate students.
He was the recipient of FHSU’s Pilot Award in 2022 as the outstanding faculty member at the university. In addition to his teaching duties, he serves as president of the Kansas Association of Masters in Psychology, president of the Board of Directors for NAMI Kansas, and serves as the adviser to the NAMI campus group.
Jordan has been a hospice social worker since 1993 and works at HaysMed. She volunteers with the Center for Life Experience, helping with its annual Healing Kids’ Hearts events. The center is one of the few organizations in Kansas that offers grief support services for children, and Jordan helps organize those events each year.
McGonigal is an associate professor of sociology at FHSU where she teaches classes in death and dying, focusing on end-of-life care and caregiving. Her research focuses on the funeral home industry in central and western Kansas, as well as changes in post-pandemic grieving practices.
Munsch said after his son, Blake died, everything in his life changed. As a way of dealing with his grief, Munsch started “The Bird House Project.” Now he travels the country speaking about that project and what he has learned through his grieving journey. His speaking engagements range from being the keynote speaker at corporate conventions to addressing death and dying classes via Zoom from coast to coast.
“Each of our panelists is passionate about helping others on their journey, whatever path that may be,” Allen said. “Connecting those who may be struggling with a needed resource is, ultimately, the goal of our panel discussion this year."
John C. Thorns Lecture Series
The panel discussion is part of the John C. Thorns Jr. Memorial Lecture Series put on by the Center for Life Experience. The lecture series, which debuted in 2019, is in memory of the late John C. Thorns Jr., one-time chairman of the Art Department at FHSU.
Ann G. Leiker, retired executive director of the center, said Thorns “was a strong spokesperson for mental health and suicide prevention.” He was on the center’s founding board and helped start one of the center’s grief support groups, Healing after Loss of Suicide, for those who have lost a loved one to suicide.
Thorns’ sister, Margaret Schmidt, will be part of the program at this year’s event, Allen said.
In the past, the lecture series has always featured a single speaker. Allen said the center decided on a panel discussion this year “in the hope that those in attendance connect with at least one thought, one idea, one person, or any/all of the above.
“Knowing that someone else has been where you are, faced similar struggles and is here to talk about it can be all the encouragement someone needs to put one foot in front of the other again tomorrow,” she said.
More information about the center’s grief support groups and other services is available by contacting Allen at [email protected]. The center is grateful to the city of Ellis, the Ellis County Commission, and the Robert and Patricia Schmidt Foundation for their funding.