Joel Lesses started his journey with psychology in 1996, when he decided to face the trauma he experienced growing up. Through deep investigation of writings from a variety of religions, Joel was able to build a spiritual framework for himself which helped him make meaning out of his traumatic memories from childhood and adolescence.
Even though he already earned his master’s degree in Biomedical Sciences in 2001, he went back to school in Psychology studying Rehabilitation Counseling in 2004 because he had such a strong passion for it.
Joel has been bearing witness to other people’s spiritual journeys through his counseling services since 2013. He pulls from his experiences of traveling to Israel and Nepal, as well as experiences working with the Zen Center in Rochester from 1995 until today.
He has since expanded his individual and group counseling services to include Mental Health First Aid training and community workshops & presentations under the umbrella of the Education Training Cente in 2017.
This is the same year that he brought a screening of the documentary “Crazywise” by Phil Borges to Rochester, and the following year to Buffalo, hosting community discussions on how psychosis is perceived in other cultures than our own in the US – sometimes as a connection with spirits and, sometimes as a special spiritual sensitivity.
Through the Education Training Center, he has been able to bring awareness to mental health, mental wellness, and spirituality through training, public talks, presentations, and workshops. Due to his personal experiences, he feels psychology became a skillset that he could use to offer to the community. Now, through his counseling services he offers his clients “trajectories towards hope” and making sense of the things that happen in their lives bit by bit.
When talking about his counseling and education business, Joel says “It’s a joy, it’s what I’m built to do. I always turn things to a spiritual lens, and I really feel like we each have a mission and it’s veiled from us, that it’s hidden from us, and through this investigation of ‘who am I?’ or ‘what am I?’ or ‘what is the matter with me?’ I came to deeper and deeper levels of understanding of myself, my psychology, and my mission.”
In conjunction with psychology, Joel has been exploring the topic of spirituality and religion for much of his life and when a friend suggested starting a podcast, Joel mulled over it and eventually decided he’s already done so much investigation into spirituality that it would be the perfect topic for a podcast. Now he’s been making new monthly episodes for his show “Unraveling Religion” since finishing his second master’s degree in 2007.
He decided on the topic of religion because he feels there are so many benefits religion could bring to life once you look at it in its organic form without all the negativity our society has added onto it. Religion can often get a bad rap and “for good reasons” as Joel said, so through the podcast he wanted to bridge the commonalities people have with each other no matter what religion you believe in, since all religion looks at what it means to love, to care, and to be kind.
“I wanted to unravel religion to show what was common for all of us” Joel said. At the end of the day the podcast ends up being more about mysticism, spirituality and psychology – the pieces that make up religion.
Every episode of the podcast involves a guest who has a deep investigation into themselves, who they are, and their spirituality, and a spontaneous conversation with them. One episode that sticks out to Joel is his conversation with artist Graham Sears who is an atheist. Through the conversation their truths didn’t always meet but they always tried to find common ground. Joel says people tell him they listen to that episode, and they are able to better understand how to relate to someone else with a different spirituality from their own.
Joel takes his curiosity through all aspects of his work, using his own investigation to guide others through their journey of healing. Another platform for healing he has created is a poetry workshop with a steady following called the “Ground and Sky Poetry Roundtable.” He has been helping people find their way through poetry since 2015.
Joel got the idea for hosting this type of poetry group from his college professor at Kent State, poet Maj Ragain, a legendary fixture in Northeast Ohio, who passed in 2018 where Joel had a creative writing focus. The format is “No mic, no list, no podium,” which, as Joel describes it, is more of an “organic conversation through the lens of poetry.” Through the creation of “Ground and Sky,” Joel has been able to combine his love for poetry with his counseling and facilitation skills to create a platform for psychological healing.
Poetry can take the conversation to a more vulnerable place, discussing topics that might have been more difficult to bring up in ordinary conversation. Joel describes that this can build a sacred space of community so that all participants feel safe to explore the topics they want to. A topic often forms spontaneously based on participants reflecting on their own similar experiences from what arises in the conversation. The discussion often centers on personal healing through exploration of stories and narratives, history and current events, or even readings from other poets.
Platforms like “Ground and Sky” gives participants a chance to bear witness to their friends and neighbors and as Joel says, “from what is comfortable in conversation to open what is necessary for our health like things like spirituality, trauma, mental health, what we prioritize and why.”
If you’re interested in joining the roundtable, the only invitation needed is your curiosity! The event used to take place at Rust Belt Books but right now it’s over Zoom every first Wednesday of the month, and there’s also a workshop you can attend on the third Wednesday of the month. Contact Joel on the Facebook page to get involved.
Everyone can benefit from the types of programs Joel offers as it’s always a good idea to set aside time to take care of your mental health – it’s easy to push it aside with the everyday distractions of TV, technology, social media, etc. Working toward healing psychologically and spiritually helps ground us and see our own minds more clearly and feel more whole. “When you see what is true, you can then prioritize who you really are and what you want to be,” Joel said, a word of wisdom we should all keep in mind when choosing how to address mental wellness.
In the coming couple of years, you can also keep an eye out for Joel’s autobiography, “Odyssey of Autumn’s Breath: An American Collection and Life,” which will chart the lessons from his trauma and his spiritual development through poetry and prose.
Book a therapy session, mental health first aid training or workshop by contacting Joel.
email: joel@joellesses.com
phone: (585) 285-0081
Website: https://www.joellesses.com/
Cover Photo by Matt Duncan on Unsplash