Member Spotlight

Dr. Jeanne Kuckelman

Inside Out Christian Counseling

Dr. Jeanne Kuckelman is the founder of Inside Out Christian Counseling, a Non-Profit organization formed in 2002 following a passion to bring “authentic and lasting change” to those seeking help for their broken hearts. Her passion led to the development of several other centers, and to the training of other counselors. From an office nestled in the corner of rural Iowa, she has ministered utilizing the APS report in Brazil, Germany, Bulgaria, Mexico, Costa Rica and Jordan. Inside Out has also extended its reach into more than 15 states through way of video conferencing. 

Jeanne has been licensed as a Clinical Christian Counselor for 21 years by the NCCA. She holds her doctorate with Cornerstone University, and a master’s from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Additionally, she is a Clinical Supervisor, and International Representative. Jeanne is also a Certified Temperament Coach. 

A Journey of Healing: Jorge's Transformation at Casa Hogar

He was a handsome young man at 12 years old and seemingly self-assured as he walked into the kitchen of Casa Hogar with a swag and a smirk that seemed more a threat than a hope of welcome into this family of orphans. His pants hung low, and his hair swooped to one side hiding the real hardness of his face while his coolness caught the attention of the younger children and the workers serving lunch. The atmosphere quieted a bit, and the tenuous nature of his smile gave pause to the activity in the room. He was being admitted into the orphanage provisionally and as I met his gaze the cacophony of his inner world seemed loud and out of control. This child was in pain and was doing his best to keep everyone from hearing the beat of a battered heart.

I had gone to this orphanage for one month to work with the director of this non-profit organization to become certified in Creation Therapy. The children and others in the community that surrounds Casa Hogar would be “clients” for his pursuit in learning to employ this powerful tool. It was about halfway through my mission when this young man entered its doorways in a fashion that may have caused his rejection to this home. Among the whispers of those who worked there came doubts of his ability to fit in or become subject to the guidelines and culture of the family being created by the founders. As I listened to the natural response of workers who understand the challenge in asking submission from a person who has most likely not been respected, or worse been used as a tool in someone else’s hand, their concern was valid. As one standing on the edge, outside of the responsibility of daily protection of the children who had made this their home, my own response was different. What is his story, I thought. Why must he create such a disturbance from the start? Why the apparent warning to all he passed by, to remain clear of his heart? What was so broken inside that he held as though no one could touch it? If we could just peer inside his soul, if he could be safe enough to tell us of his pain, he might be perfectly suited to this place as his new home.

The need had been so great among the children and the people of the area that had agreed to help our student reach his certification. The student though was also the director, and in great demand. Many obstacles had to be scaled to do our work. Still amid what we had committed to, I wanted to profile this young man with a desire to give him a chance to reveal the strength of who he could be as opposed to what he had come to believe he had to be. His Temperament had become his buffet, characteristics to be employed as defense, causing great strength to give way to weakness. My guess was that his woundedness demanded his unique blueprint be his fortress rather than a gift to others or to his Creator. The strength of his soul had been hijacked by the need to be his own protector. What might an APS report and some solid questions and a good ear do for him?

My relentless badgering of the Director to deviate a bit from whatever it was that was on the schedule caused him to move this young boy to the front of the line. The questionnaire was administered and results received. To the best of my memory the blend of Temperaments before me was a new one. Upon seeing the report there was inside of me a kind of inner gasp. There was little in this Temperament that was interested naturally in fitting in, listening to authority, following rules or attaching to others without personal benefit to him. Still, the possibility of his life as a gift under the direction of the Holy Spirit indicated little limitation on what he could offer to God’s kingdom. More than that, his healing could bring him to the Father in a way no human being could ever do. I wanted him to have that chance. (APS Report Results; Cc-Mc-P)

As the director and I sat down with young Jorge (name changed) it was the first time in days I had witnessed any anxiety. He had covered it well. Now, though, it seemed he sat with both longing to be there (at the meeting and Casa Hogar) and a fear of not being accepted in either place. I began as I always do. Can you tell us about yourself? Can you tell us what happened to bring you here. There was little hesitancy as he reported with anger and confusion the rejection of his stepfather. It is not necessarily uncommon in some families in Mexico for the stepfather to not receive his wife’s children. In many cases these men can be harsh. Jorge reported being hit and verbally abused regularly for reasons he did not understand. It seemed in his perception that regardless of how hard he tried to contribute and be a help around his home it was not enough. Jorge described days of his mother’s absence and caring for himself over the past several years, not knowing when she would come back and being banished from the house by his Stepdad when they did return. These things might have been hard to believe except for the children before him that often had a similar story. His own rebelliousness, hardness, and disrespect was a natural response to what was happening to him. When he seemed to be done talking about what had brought him to the orphanage, I asked with some hesitation and sensitivity, “Can you tell us

about your dad, what happened to him.?” What happened next was unpredictable in memory of the young man who swaggered into the home a week before. All at once this tough, rebellious and insolent young man became a sobbing abandoned child.

“My dad had a problem with eating. He just kept getting thinner and one day he went to the hospital and did not return,” he said in an expression of pain not often witnessed in a 12-year-old boy. As we continued in the interview he looked down and through his sobs talked of a Dad who taught him to read, to play baseball, who listened to him and found great joy in his son. Even as I write I remember the palpable sense in that room that his heart gave way to the hemorrhaging it had been managing. As the dam broke there came a new river of grace that offered a new way to live. Tenderness and humility became evident for the first time since he arrived.

The meeting continued with more stories, and more questions, that were suited to the unique characteristics of his Temperament. His apparent demand to want to go to school was a need to produce, to learn and network, not a ploy find a way to escape. As his APS Report was unfolded to him in a way he understood, his head lifted, his tears slowed, and it seemed he was listening. Jorge received hope that day that had been waning since he buried his father. In the knowing of his soul and the promise of the director to guide him in its development there was a plan, a direction and trajectory that honored who he was before he did anything. The power of the tool in the hands of God led the student and I in that place, gave us a way to peer into his battered soul and gave a son of God a chance.

Jorge still lives in Casa Hogar defying the odds.