Reflecting on the Dream

All of us are probably aware of Dr. Martin Luther King’s speech, “I have a dream.”  When I listen to that, it speaks to a passion in me in terms of justice and civil rights. That passion continues in terms of PCS outreach beyond the borders of our individual, couples, and family therapy. Our therapist Ken Wells has helped us create programs with point-counterpoint when it comes to social issues in our culture. Another passion is the integration of sound psychology and spirituality. My wife and I started PCS in 1973. I had been a psychologist who founded Ecumenical Counseling Services in Scottsdale and for two years a psychologist at Scottsdale OBGYN in a setting where we integrated psychology in an OBGYN practice.

It is the “PCS page” to continue working on the integration of sound psychology and spirituality with an openness to “new kids on the block” in terms of advances in the mental health work. I am personally blessed by the fact that we have 27 therapists, interns, and front office staff. We challenge each other as a PCS family to figure out how best to help individuals, couples, and families in pain. Currently, I am blessed by the fact that my son, Dr. Marcus Earle, is the clinical director and manager of PCS.

A major emphasis for the PCS family is constantly improving how we help others. This includes taking care of ourselves. Our intensive outpatient program provides and opportunity for people to get the kind of help that I needed at an early stage in my 58-year marriage to Glenda. I am grateful for the help I was able to receive and for the couples and family therapy our family went through.

I am also grateful to provide this kind of help to people now. From many different parts of the world, people come to PCS and take part in this opportunity. We do offer a very intensive program which is quite unique in terms of how much individual therapy people receive. We are always committed to learning from each other and from patients whom we are privileged know.

On April 2, I turned 80. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a part of a team whose mantra is to provide help above all else. It doesn’t matter which one of us is the most helpful to any client. We are a team, a family, and we make an impact on our clients lives through our joint effort. I am grateful to our referents around the world who believe in us in which we can be an adjunct to work done by therapists outside of PCS. And I am grateful to the many alumni of our program who sometimes come back for a “tune-up” and refer friends for help to PCS.

By Ralph Earle, MDiv, PhD, ABPP, LMFT, CSAT, PCS Founder