Shoen returns to help others
Megan Feddersen — StaffArticle Photos
FAIRMONT - Kris Shoen wanted to get back to Fairmont.
She'd been away from her family and hometown for seven years while she studied for her four-year degree in social work, then her master's degree and finally her license as an independent clinical social worker.
She was working in mental health at Immanuel St. Joseph in Mankato when she approached Sioux Trails Mental Health Center to see if the agency would be interested in opening a branch office in Fairmont.
"And here I am, quite happy to be home," she said, looking comfortable in her new office on Downtown Plaza.
Shoen, 56, was traveling often for her work with Martin and Faribault counties' mental health program, when she decided to pursue a different career.
"What prompted me to go back to school? I lost my sight," she said, "so I only have 10 percent sight."
Returning to school, she completed her bachelor's degree in three years and her master's degree in only nine months.
"I was ready to work," she said. "I didn't really want to stay in school."
The transition to social work was a natural one for her. She had previously worked in nursing and had provided foster care with her husband, Maurice, to 48 children. She learned "if you treat people well, they respond."
"That's been my life philosophy," she said.
The reward for her is helping people see they can make positive changes in their lives when they find themselves stuck in a rut.
"Sometimes it just doesn't take a lot to get them out of that rut, if someone believes in them," she said.
And sometimes they just need to hear that their reaction to the situation is normal. Shoen gave the example of a person who loses someone, especially to suicide, and they're trying to work through everything, thinking they can't be mad.
"Yes indeed you should be mad," she said, "because if you can't work through that, you can't work through the rest of it."
Shoen spoke of when she started losing her eyesight, and the process she had to work through.
"I don't know if I felt like giving up, but I sure was mad," she said. "... There was a little time that I was overwhelmed and (wondering) what I was going to do."
She came to the conclusion that she could "decide to stay home and feel bad for myself or I could do something." She chose the latter.
"I can't expect someone to do something different, to move on, if I'm not willing to do it myself," she said. ... Certainly when I went back to school there were a lot of times when I thought, 'Whatever possessed me to do this?' But my family is very much behind me, which is why I wanted to come back to Fairmont. I really like Fairmont. I really wanted to be a part of this community and get back to this community, so I worked real hard to get back here. That was my goal."
Sioux Trails opened the Fairmont office last week. The agency is based out of New Ulm, with branch offices in Gaylord, St. Peter, North Mankato, St. James and now Fairmont.
"I had heard of Sioux Trails and I liked their philosophy of working with the whole person, kind of a holistic (approach.) I knew they did a broad range of services and did some research on them and talking with people and it just seemed like something that would fit," Shoen said.
As a new staff member, she is providing outpatient therapy to adults, juveniles, families, veterans, anger-management groups and anyone else who wants therapy. She is certified in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, which focuses on helping people with emotional management. Shoen also does in-home therapy, where she visits clients at their houses to work with the whole family, not just an individual or a couple.
"It isn't just one person who has the issue, if it's a family, it's everybody," she said. "You don't go in and say, 'You have to change this, or do this or do that.' That doesn't work.
"You go in and you meet people where they're at and see what they're doing and what works for them and what doesn't work for them, and ... everybody's trying, not just one person."
"I like to work on their strengths," she said.
For more information on Sioux Trails, go online to www.siouxtrails.org. To contact Shoen, call (800) 247-2809.
