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Two Ripples

our story

The Well-Being Center of Colorado™ (WBCC) is a non-profit organization, formed in 2024, but with a long and storied history. The purpose of WBCC is new, but the foundations upon which we build go back decades. The foundations include extensive academic research as well as personal and professional care. Growing out of the education not-for-profit organization Institute for Life and Care (ILC) formed in 2007, WBCC has as its purpose “to enhance the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being of individuals and families by providing educational programs, guidance and support for personal growth, spiritual formation, and healing.”

 

Below are opportunities to understand our journey, the clinical and academic foundations for what we do, who we have served historically, and the significance of the work we do and have done for almost 20 years.

The Social Value of Well-Being and Spiritual Care

Care of our bodies and minds, the domain of the healthcare industry is arguably the largest and most expensive in the world. Yet, for all this focus of energy, talent and money, people continue to suffer from ailments that healthcare cannot adequately address.

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Our notion of “spiritual” is non-denominational, inclusive of all, and interfaith.

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WBCC is in the business of addressing in a powerful and profound way the yawning gaps in healthcare by providing care for a person’s heart and spirit. The kinds of challenges people face that we address include:

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1. Search for Meaning and Purpose: Individuals often grapple with understanding their life’s significance. Clarifying one’s purpose can lead to a more fulfilling and directed life. Existential Crisis: Periods of questioning life’s meaning can cause distress. Exploring these questions can lead to personal growth and clarity.

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2. Healing through Suffering, Loss and Grief: Understanding and finding meaning in suffering can transform adversity into opportunities for growth and resilience.

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3. Sense of Belonging: Feeling connected to a community or a higher power provides support and reduces feelings of isolation, contributing to emotional health.

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4. Moral and Ethical Dilemmas: Conflicts between personal values and actions can cause inner turmoil and moral injury. Resolving these dilemmas fosters inner peace and integrity.

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5. Forgiveness and Healing: Harboring resentment can impede personal growth. Practicing forgiveness promotes emotional release and healing.

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6. Fear of Death and Mortality: Contemplating mortality often leads to existential anxiety. Addressing these fears can result in a more meaningful appreciation of life.

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7. Spiritual Disconnection: Feeling estranged from one’s faith or spiritual practices can lead to a sense of emptiness. Reconnecting spiritually enhances overall well-being.

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8. Guilt and Shame: Unresolved guilt can lead to self-esteem issues. Spiritual counseling aids in processing these emotions constructively.

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9. Transcendence and Self-Actualization: The desire to connect with something greater than oneself drives personal development and fulfillment.

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Addressing these spiritual issues through reflection, counseling, or community support can lead to a more integrated and harmonious state of being for all people.

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People experiencing well-being in their lives will find relief from substantial negative circumstances that afflict most of us. By addressing the following conditions of people, the WBCC provides substantial social value. What people experience with a sense of well-being include:

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  • Alleviation of loneliness and isolation.

  • Care for the vulnerable (elders, young people) and their families.

  • Comfort and healing amid grief and loss.

  • Restored dignity and worth when that has been diminished or lost.

  • Reduction of fear.

  • Restored hope for the vulnerable.

  • Improvement in the perceived quality of life for individuals and their care partners.

  • Strengthened family relationships.

  • Personal development.

  • Expanded experience of love and compassion.

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It’s important to add here that our work is not limited to demographic groups, a person’s level of resource, power or influence. These benefits are available to anyone living anywhere and under any of life’s circumstances. The WBCC exists to serve you and your loved ones.

The journey to well-being

In speaking about Well-Being, it is helpful to first talk about what it is not. Well-being is distinct; it is not the same as wellness or health. Health and wellness, the domain of the healthcare industry, focus on diagnosing and treating symptoms associated with physical, mental or emotional illness.

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Even Integrative Medicine, which addresses the mind-body connection and incorporates elements of “eastern medicine” into practices of western medical practice does not address well-being as we define it.

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Ensuring wellness of body or mind relies on diagnosing ailments or disturbances of daily functioning requiring interventions like medical procedures or treatment, therapies or medications to “correct” or mitigate them. The goal of wellness is at best a cure, and at least the minimization of suffering.

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In contrast, a state of Well-Being can be thought of as being whole or integral in body, mind, heart, and spirit. A person can experience Well-Being even if they are dealing with physical, mental, emotional or spiritual issues or symptoms. The sense of wholeness comes from within and can be present while the person deals with symptoms of illness or emotional discomfort.

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An important aspect is that there is no such thing as complete or perfect Well-Being (at least not in this life). Rather, the pursuit of well-being is a life-transforming journey in which we discover and experience an ever-expanding sense of being well through life practices. Well-being can also be thought of as a place to live life from, not a goal or destination. Finally, well-being is independent of wealth, position, appearance, or social standing. Well-being is fully a product of attitude. A well-being journey is available to every person – no exceptions.

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We have distinguished seven pillars of Well-being. These include:

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1. Honoring my true self, my inherent dignity and worth, and my life story.

2. Choosing and living by the 7 Healing Attitudes™:

     a. Peace

     b. Compassion and kindness

     c. Mission and purpose

     d. Healing and forgiveness

     e. Gratitude

     f. Joy

     g. Love

3. Nurturing wholeness in my body, mind, heart and spirit by daily care of each dimension.

4. Cultivating and experiencing opportunities to find meaning in any life situation; bringing what I value to life; developing a “meaning mindset”.

5. Nurturing life-giving relationships with myself, others and a Source of spiritual strength.

6. Giving of myself to others.

7. Experiencing love as the purpose of life: whom I love, what I love, how I love.

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Embarking on a journey toward the state of well-being can be seen as a time of discovery and a quest for meaning in life, always in the face of whatever circumstances we are dealing with. So, our quest for meaning involves an ongoing journey wherein we choose our attitude as we deal with the circumstances we have. Ultimately the journey has the potential to bring us face to face with love – the kind of love that transcends life as we experience it. On the journey, we continually ask these fundamental questions of ourselves:

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  • Who am I?

    • ​What are my signature strengths?

    • What are my beliefs and values?

    • What do I do best?

  • What is life asking of me?

    • ​How do I bring my unique gifts to the world (my talents, skills or work)?

    • What do I receive from life through my experiences and relationships?

    • What stance do I take for life through my attitude?

    • How do I respond to unavoidable suffering?

  • How do I live and give from my spiritual core?

    • ​How do I demonstrate the seven healing attitudes?

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our clinical and academic foundations

Because the world of Well-being is unique and not part of traditional healthcare, it is necessary to give some background in the clinical basis for the work we do.

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The phenomenon of Well-being has its roots in psychology, philosophy and spiritual practices. In particular, the noted psychiatrist Viktor Frankl created a discipline he called “Logotherapy” within which people embark on a journey to experience essential meaning in their lives in the face of any suffering or circumstances that affect them. Logotherapy is at the heart of our work.

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Frankl, in his seminal work “Man’s Search for Meaning”, states: “Everything can be taken from a man (person) but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” The experience of well-being is a function of one’s attitude.

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Logotherapy is considered to be a third major branch of psychotherapy; the other two branches are Freud’s psychoanalysis, and Adler’s individual psychology. In logotherapy, a person encounters a fundamental “will to meaning” that is an existential parallel to Freud’s “will to pleasure” and Adler’s “will to power”. Logotherapy is a widely practiced discipline for psychiatrists, psychologists, and therapists worldwide. Indeed, Logotherapy can be thought of as “meaning-centered psychotherapy” which works in the domain of people’s inherent will to meaning. Where traditional psychotherapy focuses on a person's past and on diagnosable pathology, Logotherapy focuses on the future – the individual’s quest for meaning in life and the path toward discovery of meaning.

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According to Frankl, there are three paths to life’s quest for true meaning: 1. through actions; 2. through relationships, and 3. through suffering. While all are valid and important, the third path is the most rewarding. In “Man’s Search for Meaning”, Frankl says “If there is a meaning in life at all, then there must be a meaning in suffering. Suffering is an irradicable part of life, even as fate and death. Without suffering and death, human life cannot be complete.”

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A second fundamental pillar of the path to well-being is another form of psychotherapy called Narrative Therapy. Through Narrative Therapy a person is able to separate themselves from whatever they call a problem. The goal of Narrative Therapy is to allow a person to externalize their issues rather than internalize them. It relies on a person’s own skills and sense of purpose to guide them through difficult times.

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The combination of Logotherapy and Narrative Therapy (also containing the concepts of Carl Jung and Carl Rogers) forms the basis of a rigorous transformational education platform called THRIVING FROM WITHIN® (TFW).

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Crafted over nearly twenty years by Dr. Nancy Markham Bugbee, TFW is an academically and clinically sound educational structure which synthesizes the disciplines of psychology, spiritual formation, and clinical chaplaincy. The form of TFW has evolved to a coherent core model for many educational, therapeutic, and spiritual curricula. The structure and content of TFW has been recognized by clinicians and practitioners as groundbreaking, so, in 2016, Dr. Bugbee received a patent office registration for the foundational platform, the embedded concepts, and content.

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Later, to support the pursuit of administrating well-being services for healthcare providers using TFW, the content was customized and upgraded for clinical certification, receiving the approval of National Association of Social Workers (NASW), the American Association of Pastoral Counselors (AAPC), and the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC), making TFW available to clinicians for continuing education and professional development. The 2017 NBCC approval allowed up to 40 hours of continuing education units (CEU) for in-person programs. A full curriculum for CEUs has been developed and used by licensed chaplains and clinical social workers.

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TFW prompts people to reflect on 20 choices in their lives. Doing so allows the parts of life to fit together like a puzzle. It is designed to allow a person to discover their true identity and use the results of that discovery in service to others.

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TFW is built in three levels to serve a person's desires for support in their journey. In Levels 1 and 2, a person focuses on their own life journey. But if a person sees a calling to impart this remarkable development model to others, they can engage in Level 3 which is designed to empower them to support others in their journey toward their own well-being. Levels 1 and 2 are available with live coaching, mentoring, and support structures from our journey guides. Level 3 training resembles an internship in a medical curriculum with field practice and one-on-one mentoring for others.​

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years of caring for healthcare professionals

While serving as chief hospital chaplain, Dr. Bugbee recognized the extreme need for spiritual and emotional care for the health professionals she worked with. Burnout was (and is) rampant, affecting both staff and patients alike. She observed that the healthcare system was (and is) unprepared to provide the kind of support and care for the front-line professionals that was essential for their health and wellbeing.

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In 2007, LaFawn H Biddle, community leader, and Dr. Bugbee, chaplain and counselor, teamed up with a vision to strengthen the well-being of healthcare professionals and family caregivers, as both groups experienced high levels of stress and burnout. They founded the Institute for Life & Care (ILC), a non-profit organization dedicated to provide personal and professional development programs for people in the community employed by or volunteering in the helping professions, including caregivers in hospitals, hospices, eldercare settings, schools, nonprofit organizations, correctional institutions, churches and others.​

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Over a seventeen-year period, ILC ministered to the well-being of doctors and nurses, social workers and others, mostly in counseling and support in small group settings.

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ILC grew to a talented faculty and staff of clinically trained professionals from various disciplines, aided by interns from the University of Denver’s School of Social Work. Their efforts resulted in tens of thousands of service hours and hundreds of lives impacted.

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Co-Founders of Institute for Life & Care:

1. LaFawn H. Biddle

2. Dr. Nancy Markham Bugbee, PsyD., M.A., M.B.A., BCC

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Faculty Members & Staff:

  1. Dr. Barbara Dalberg, PhD: Psychotherapist

  2. Dr. Dee Jaquet, DMin, BCC: Psychotherapist

  3. Linda Holloway, MT-BC, BCC: Music Therapist

  4. Mary Ann VanBuskirk, M.Div., M.A., L.M.F.T.: Psychotherapist

  5. Rev. Kae Madden, MA: Bishop

  6. Dr. David DeBord, PhD: Psychotherapist

  7. Rev. Kelby Cotton, M.Div.: Clergy

  8. Sr. Rita Cammack, M.Div.

  9. Janet Iona, M.Ed.

  10. Kate Hoffmann, L.C.S.W.

  11. Dr. Charles Stephens, M.D., M.Div

  12. Rev. Shawn Kellogg, M.Div., R.N.

  13. Rev. Shani Jones, M.Div, R.N.

  14. Beverly McCutcheon, M.Div.: Editor (check spelling)

  15. Kate Linhart, M.S.W.

  16. Shelly Hall

  17. Lisa Linhart

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Adjunct Faculty:

  1. Dr. Terry Chase, N.D., R.N., M.A.

  2. Rev. Jeffrey Vankooten, M.Div.

  3. Aurora Owen, L.P.C.

 

Interns:

  1. Katie Young, M.S.W.

  2. Lindsey Rhodes, M.Div., L.C.S.W.

  3. Amanda Russell, M.S.W.

  4. Beth Pearson, M.S.W.

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Forging global alliances in the area of ministering to the needs of those caring for others, the ILC became a member of Spiritual Care Association (SCA), Center for Spiritual Care and Pastoral Formation (CSCPF), and the Viktor Frankl Institute.

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