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Attending to the Soul Speaker Bios

SReederSONYA REEDER is Director of Hope Road Counseling in Longview, TX, a Christian counseling center.  She loves that God allows her to be a shepherd of hearts and that she gets to bring the hope and truth of the Gospel to the counseling session. In her own journey, she continues to be humbled by God’s boundless love and his extravagant mercy. Sonya grew up in East Tennessee where she attended and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from East Tennessee State University. Sonya then moved to Texas to attend Dallas Theological Seminary graduating with a Masters degree in Cross Cultural Ministries. While at DTS, she met and married David. Following seminary, they moved to Colorado where Sonya completed her Master’s degree in Biblical Counseling at Colorado Christian University. 

Returning to Dallas, Sonya was a staff counselor in the Counseling Services Department at DTS, where she provided small group training with the Center for Christian Leadership. While in Dallas, Sonya co-founded the Center for Biblical Counseling, serving as the assistant director. Several years later Sonya made the move to East Texas to serve as the Director of Counseling at Heartlight Ministries and here in East Texas she continued her private practice. Sonya has spent thirty years working in the field of counseling and her experience encompasses a broad spectrum of issues. Along with counseling, Sonya has worked with churches and Christian Universities as both a consultant and a mentor. She speaks regularly at various retreats and she is a long time member of AACC, The American Association of Christian Counselors. Currently, Sonya is a Licensed Professional Counselor, a Licensed Supervisor of LPC Interns, and a trained Spiritual Director under the direction of Dr. Larry Crabb. Sonya has been married to David for 34 years and they have four grown children, two daughter–in-laws and four beloved grandchildren.

Books Sonya has authored:  (These will be available in our gift shop during the retreat)

A Journey Lower ResA Journey Into Spiritual Formation:  This is the book that this retreat is based off of.  Spiritual Formation is a willingness to live with an aching heart and an unquenchable thirst as the Holy Spirit arouses a deeper desire to know more fully the Savior whom we long to imitate as we live on this side of Heaven.  It is a process of detaching from anything and anybody that keeps us from going deeper with Christ and attaching instead to Christ alone to become more like Him.

Listen In Lower Res

Listen In: Building Faith and Friendship Through Conversations That Matter:  "Science and Scripture agree: we are all wired to connect, not just physically with touch but relationally with words.  The question is, how can we use words to connect with each other in ways that can do deep and lasting good?" (From the foreward by Dr. Larry Crabb) In this book, Sonya Reeder and her friends Rachele Crabb and Diana Calvin take up this question of words in a creative and informative way.  They provide model dialogues with one another exploring the deep issues of their lives.  You will be intrigued and informed by learning from their journeys, but most importantly you will learn how you can start similar conversations with your friends.


JdeGraffenried Headshot

JOEY DE GRAFFENRIED is continually amazed by God’s “never stopping, never giving up, unbreaking, always and forever kind of love.” He loves seeing God in the scriptures, in the lives of others, and in creation. He is passionate about the relationships among believers and between them and God. With his wife, Lisa, Joey serves on the advisory council for Hope Road Counseling in Longview, TX.

Joey has studied spiritual formation with Larry Crabb and Sonya Reeder. He holds a certificate in spiritual direc tion from Larger Story Ministries.  Formative reading for Joey has included works by Larry Crabb, Henri Nouwen, Brennan Manning, Kent Denlinger, Dane Ortlund, and Winn Collier among others. He currently writes curriculum for and teaches a second year spiritual formation class through Hope Road.

Joey graduated from Baylor University and Baylor College of Dentistry.  In his spare time he practices dentistry and looks for better jokes.  He lives in rural East Texas with his wife, in-laws, two cows and a horse.