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Mindy Sutton wasn’t ready to stop serving others when she retired, so she went back to school and started a local private counseling practice.

We often tend to think of our vocation as set in stone, something that remains constant throughout our lives. However, that’s not always the case. Sometimes God calls us to different things at different times.

From 1993 to 2020, Mindy Sutton was a vascular sonographer. She served at Harborview Medical Center, OHSU and Salem Health, using ultrasound machines to capture images of patients’ arteries and veins. She loved her job. 

“My favorite part of being a vascular tech was actually talking with the patients,” Sutton says. “I just loved meeting people, talking with them, and hearing their brief stories.”

After nearly 30 years in the field, Sutton decided it was time to retire. But her love for serving others didn’t vanish when she made the decision. Instead, her passion evolved into a new calling, and she chose to pursue a second career in counseling. 

Sutton’s own life experiences also influenced her decision to become a counselor. Years ago, one of her children suffered from depression. When things looked really bleak, people rallied around their family in support.

“I got to see a part of a world that I wasn’t expecting and was never exposed to, and there were some amazingly kind and loving people in our lives at that time who supported us,” Sutton says. “And I thought, ‘I just really want to give back.’”

There’s so much hurt in our world, and Sutton is determined to do something about it. 

“I just wanted to be there for people who were either going through something similar or something just as devastating,” Sutton says.

The Start of Something New

Shortly after Sutton retired from her job as a vascular sonographer, she started applying to schools. She ultimately chose to enroll in the Marriage, Couple and Family Counseling program at Â鶹Éç Fox. 

“I just preferred the feel, size, atmosphere and location of Â鶹Éç Fox,” Sutton says. “The professors in the graduate program are excellent, and I really got a high-quality education from Fox.”

Sutton didn’t just find a good education at Fox – she also found a vibrant community among her classmates. Her particular group of friends is just as close now post-graduation as they were when they were in the program.

“In my cohort, we had this group of women who were all 50 years old or older, and we all just gravitated toward each other and really bonded,” Sutton says. “We still get together at least once a month for lunch, and we just support and listen to each other. That friendship has been the biggest blessing. I don’t know if I would have gotten through the program without them.”

Sutton and her group of friends are all natural helpers, but each of them has unique gifts that enable them to help people in different ways. The counseling program at Fox helped them discover their talents and grow into their own clinical niche.

“In my little group, we have a play therapist who just absolutely adores working with kids,” Sutton says. “We have somebody who is on the crisis team at a county family and youth center. We have someone who is really good with people suffering from OCD and intense anxiety, and another person who’s really good with people in the transition stages of life. We also have somebody that is super great with LGBTQ individuals.”

A Different Kind of Therapy

Sutton found her own counseling niche in relational therapy, and her passion for this particular kind of counseling work stems from her Christian faith.

“I am passionate about what I do because of relationships,” Sutton says. “I believe that we were designed for connection, so having a strong connection to a few people in our lives is essential.”

But sometimes those very relationships that give us life are messy and challenging. That’s where Sutton comes in. 

“Helping people work on their relationships with the people who mean the most to them is critical for their well-being in every aspect of life,” she says. 

When you hear the term “relational therapy,” you might picture a traditional couple or family therapy session in a tastefully decorated office. But it doesn’t always look like that. At Â鶹Éç Fox, Sutton discovered a different approach to relational therapy.

“Fox offers an equine-assisted therapy elective in their trauma certification courses,” Sutton says. “I took that and was just blown away.”

After taking that course, Sutton fell in love with equine-assisted therapy. She had never heard of it before she enrolled in Fox’s counseling program. Now it’s part of her private practice, Heart Attach Counseling, which is based in Newberg, Oregon. 

“God is brilliant, and he just allows the horses to interact with us in a way that can be so impactful and healing, without having to use any words at all,” Sutton says.

Horses are extremely intuitive, and they easily pick up on whatever clients might be feeling under the surface. Then the horses interact with those clients, often helping them process their complicated emotions in a way that can feel more natural than a traditional sit-down session. 

Sutton partners with a local organization, Helping Hands Horse Rescue and Equine Therapy, to offer this service to her clients. 

“It’s just Old MacDonald’s farm out there,” Sutton says. “The surrounding area and any of the animals could impact someone’s life and be part of their story. That’s pretty amazing, and it’s a big part of my practice.”

A Client-Centered Approach

Even though Sutton is particularly passionate about equine-assisted therapy, she ultimately wants to help people by giving them a space to process their difficult experiences. In a way, Sutton’s new career as a counselor is just an extension of the work she was already doing as a vascular sonographer. 

“It’s an honor to be able to sit with people, talk with them, and hear their stories,” she says.

Sutton gets to know a lot of different people as a counselor, and she walks alongside them as they grow and move toward healing. Those connections are what matter most to her. 

“I’ve had such amazing clients so far with lots of hurt, strength and determination,” Sutton says. “There are people whose marriage was pretty much over when I first got to know them, and now they’re getting closer and working it out. It’s so gratifying to be a part of their journey. It’s humbling because it’s not what I did that got them there, but it’s the work that they put in.”

Sutton is especially interested in serving emergency responders in the future. Three generations of her family have been in the fire service, including her husband and both of her kids. 

“I know the impact that a stressful job can have on a marriage, on a family, and on an individual,” Sutton says. “That’s an area of clientele I would like to focus on.”

Sutton’s education not only enabled her to help others, but it also encouraged her own personal growth. She is not the same woman she was when she first enrolled in the program. 

“There’s this huge emotional component of the counseling classes I wasn’t super aware of prior to enrolling,” Sutton says. “But it’s amazing how all of the classes I took prepared me to be a better human. Even if I never had a client come and see me, it was so worth it.”

Ultimately, counseling is another way Sutton is able to love others, imitating how Jesus loves us. For her, loving is listening. 

“My belief in Jesus and my love for him impacts everything that I do,” Sutton says. “I just hope to be able to love others the way that I feel loved by Jesus.”