Senior Renewal Center Helps Seniors Find Hope in the Midst of Despair

Deana Moberly recalls the dark road that brought her to the Senior Renewal Center at Saint Joseph Berea.

“I didn’t feel like I was wanted or needed. I felt pretty worthless,” she said.

Those feelings, her severe depression and anxiety led to a suicide attempt, and inpatient treatment in Louisville. After her inpatient treatment, her primary care provider suggested she check out the program in Berea.

While the program is targeted to people 55 and older, Beth Clark, MS, a licensed psychological practitioner at the Senior Renewal Center, said the center makes exceptions in times of critical need, as with Moberly, 50.

“Mental health is a big stigma for a lot of people,” Moberly said. “But so many people are going through the same kinds of problems and having families tell them the same kinds of things. There are other patients who, when you are telling your story, say, ‘I’ve had something similar happen to me.’ Having them listen and understand what is going on … having a similar story and even if their stories are a little different, that’s just helped in so many ways.”

The Senior Renewal Center at Saint Joseph Berea celebrated its 15th anniversary in April 2025, and is holding an open house on September 18. The program, Clark said, offers a geriatric group therapy program as well as individual and family therapy options. Patients can come up to three times a week, depending on their therapy needs.

Older people are at risk of suicide, she said, because of the changes in their lives as they age. Older white men are at the highest risk. “I really attribute that to the loss of living how they used to be,” she said. 

The center provides a support network, a sense of community and acceptance, which is critical in mental health care. “Providing a voice, providing a space for your voice to be heard is important and we do that with our group sessions,” Clark said.

Moberly said the sessions helped her to leave toxic relationships and rebuild other, more supportive, ones. “Counseling has helped me repair my relationship with my siblings, my nieces and nephews,” she said. “It actually helped me build stronger bonds with my family.”

She said the program helped her learn ways to deal with anxiety and panic. Clark said the care is individualized to the needs of the patient, and the center addresses a range of behavioral health issues, such as depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder.

“Through group and individual therapy, we have treatment plans and we assign goals depending on symptoms and severity and getting through overcoming symptoms that they’re feeling,” said Clark.

She said while mental health issues are becoming less stigmatized, there is still a lingering stigma in some areas.

“I think society as a whole is definitely more understanding and more open to people having mental health struggles. It doesn’t mean they’re dangerous but they are having illness and it’s important to get it taken care of just like your physical health,” she said.

During Suicide Prevention Month in September, Clark encourages people who need help to seek it out.

“I want people to know that your feelings, your depressive symptoms, your mental health symptoms, they are temporary,” she said. “I think people get caught up and think that they will never feel differently and that is not true.”

Programs like those offered at the Senior Renewal Center help, according to Moberly.

“When I leave a session, whether it be from the therapists or office workers or fellow group members, I know when I leave I’m going to feel better about myself and the situation that I am dealing with,” she said. “I will still feel better at the end of the day. We lift each other up in ways that I’ve never felt from other people."