Daniel Kiser

Melissa Haas

Melissa Haas serves as the spouse-supporting therapist at HopeQuest. Melissa has a master’s degree in marriage and family therapy and is a licensed professional counselor.  Passionate about spiritual community, healthy marriages, and intimacy with God, Melissa regularly facilitates small groups and teaches and speaks on these topics in order to help the Body of Christ grow relationally with God and each other.  

Melissa and her husband Troy have been married for thirty-four years and have three adult children and one grand-daughter. They have devoted their lives to helping others find hope and freedom from addiction, giving back the comfort they have received on their own journeys of healing.  

Daniel Kiser

Daniel Kiser

Daniel is a Licensed Marital and Family Therapist in the state of Tennessee. He has earned master degrees in Marital and Family Therapy and Biblical Studies from Lee University. Throughout his clinical experience, he has demonstrated clinical effectiveness working with adolescents and families through utilization of evidenced based approaches in his roles as a counselor, clinical supervisor, and behavioral health manager. He has worked with adolescents with severe suicidal behaviors, anxiety, depression, aggression, and high-risk behaviors in residential treatment. Addressed the relational distress within the parent-child relationship created by their child’s disruptive behavioral responses, helping parents through their despair, resentment, and disillusionment. He is invested in the integration of theology and psychology, believing that activation of human longings, desires, and vitality for life is based upon both disciplines. Aside from professional development, he also has experienced the profound impact of a transformative therapeutic relationship that provides accountability, exploration of underlying wounds and thoughts, and compassionate care. Counseling is oriented towards reclaiming, rediscovering, and restoring vital aspects of human development and he is eager to help others in their process as well. 

Program of Recovery

Attending a treatment program, including one more long-term than a Bethesda Workshop intensive, is only the beginning of the journey of transformation. Getting help is an important first step, but if that’s all someone does, he or she won’t recover successfully. Genuine, lasting transformation requires more.

Attending a treatment program is a sacred first step on the path of transformation. Saying yes to help is an act of courage and faith—an opening of the heart to healing. But true, lasting change is a journey of the soul, unfolding over time through continued inner work, grace, and devotion. 

The Twelve Step tradition refers to this more as “working a program of recovery.” That means a person consistently takes specific action steps such as:

  1. Cultivate a deeper relationship with God
  2. Attend 12 Step or faith-based meetings (ideally at least 3 times a week; daily is better)
  3. Daily connect with other recovering people (by phone preferably or email)
  4. Use a sponsor as a guide for recovery
  5. Solicit daily accountability from multiple people who know your story
  6. Cultivate community
  7. Use an Internet filter
  8. Practice healthy boundaries
  9. Read recovery literature
  10. Practice emotional presence
  11. Practice healthy self-care
  12. Receive counseling as needed
  13. Use medication when appropriate

Taking these actions is crucial, and a recovering person must be willing to “go to any lengths” to work a program, especially in the early stage until sobriety has been well established for a number of years. As the 12 Step slogan says, recovery “works if you work it, so work it you’re worth it.”

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