News

A hope for happy hearts in the Bottineau area

By Scott Wagar

09/30/2014

Pastor Deb Burger-Peery and Dixie Pasicznyk have organized a support group on depression and anxiety which will begin on Tuesday, Oct. 7 at Bottineau’s United Parish Church.

The origin of the support group started with Pasicznyk, who shared her idea of a group with Burger-Peery who is the senior pastor of United Parish. After speaking with one another, Pasicznyk and Burger-Peery felt it would be a positive support mechanism to offer to the community.

“I brought the idea to Pastor Deb to start up a group because I suffer from both of them myself and I know that I’m not alone in dealing with these illnesses. So, I just wanted there to be a time where people could get together and share their thoughts and to be able to help each other through this,” Pasicznyk said.

“Another reason I felt that this would be a good idea is that when I was in Rochester at the Mayo Clinic for treatment I was in a group setting for two weeks and I know that it help me and I would like the same opportunity for others. I know that with winter coming on, that it is a time where more people feel a little under the weather because of there being less daylight,” she continued.

Burger-Peery and Pasicznyk stated the goal of the group is to give individuals the opportunity to learn how to manage their illnesses, while at the same time have a place to find reassurance at their time of need.

“Many people don’t understand just how common depression and anxiety really are for women as well as men,” Pasicznyk said. “We also want people to have a place to come and visit and share their thoughts and feelings with one another, a place where they can have the comfort of knowing that what they share will stay with this group of people.”

Burger-Peery and Pasicznyk thought Happy Hearts would be a positive and uplifting name for the group.

“I know that many days I feel like my heart hurts,” Pasicznyk said. “So, we thought this would be a good name for the group.”
Happy Hearts will be a non-denominational support group which will provide a number of different services.

“We are planning to start with different topics with some printed literature to discuss among the group,” Pasicznyk said. “Later on we will look into possibly getting a speaker or counselor to come direct our meetings for a session.”

Burger-Peery and Pasicznyk stated that there will be confidential agreements within the members of the group so that everything that is spoken about will stay within the group.

The meetings for Happy Hearts will take place every first Tuesday of the month starting at 7 p.m. The expected time for each meeting will be no longer than one hour.

Individuals, who wish to have more information about Happy Hearts, can contact Burger-Peery at (701) 228-2800 and Pasicznyk at (701) 228-3916.