Ktara Brinkley was enjoying some leftovers from dining out the night before at The Chicken Shack and watching a Red Box movie with her family, rented from Luther’s Dollar General, when she got the call.
The Saturday night call was from a representative from the Town of Luther’s Parks Commission with the news that her name had been pulled out of a very full bin of entries from the much-hyped first-ever #LutherLocal Christmas promotion.
She won $700!
She thinks the raffle ticket drawn was from The Shack, although she had filled out tickets at many Luther stores over the last three weeks, including Rustic Farm, Urban 66 and The 116 Farmstead, Market & Table. The #LutherLocal Christmas promotion invited customers at participating Luther businesses to get one ticket per each $10 spent to qualify for the prize. The businesses all pitched in the $700 and the Town’s newly-created Parks Commission coordinated the effort.
A resident of nearby Wellston, Brinkley herself is a Luther business owner. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor and owns Revitalize Life Counseling on Main Street. She is located on the second floor of the 116 cafe in the middle of Main on the east side of the street.
She has a growing practice helping many from our area, mostly adults or couples. Some drive from the city or Stillwater for sessions in her cozy office that features the requistite sofa, soft lamp lighting, uplifting art on the walls and hot drinks. She is also a LPC Supervisor and trains other counselors at her Luther office. Her full range of treatment approches include EMDR and crisis diversion through telemedicine.
Brinkley says it is her goal to bring out positive mental and spiritual growth through counseling for issues that include anger management, depression, family confict, grief, postpartum, domestic abuse, stress, self-harming, eating disorders, suicidal ideation, chronic pain and others.
She jokes with new clients who might be nervous or scared that they can stretch out on her small sofa, but she will not say the sterotypical, “Now tell me how you feel!” and keep nodding. She says the sessions are for the cients – and they can cry, yell, cuss or whatever it takes to get to a point where she can help.
Consultations at Revitalize Life Counseling are free. For a thirty-minute session, she said potential clients can blast her with a thousand interview questions. “There’s nothing like spending six sessions with a counselor you can’t stand,” she laughed. She also doesn’t want financial issues to be a barrier. She is an out of network provider, and uses a sliding scale for her fees.
“I’m not doing this to get rich and I love small communities,” she said noting that she wants to provide mental health care in our area where it is not only more convenient, but more affordable than seeking care in Oklahoma City. Compared to a meal or two in a restaurant, or a spa treatment, Brinkley said someone focusing on their own mental health provides a better return on their investment with the potential for a lifetime of change rather than a moment. “It’s a shift in thinking to take better care of ourselves,” she said.
But don’t use the word “happy” with her. Brinkley counsels that when we focus too much on “being happy,” the opposite of that is sad, and circumstances can dictate which one we feel – whether it’s disappointment in family or work, negativity on social media or getting cut off in traffic. Instead, she recommends focusing on being “content.”
“Set up a range for yourself of ‘contentedness,’ to help us get off of the perpetual wheel of wanting more and more and more.” That way, she said, when you don’t win the $700 prize, you can still be content and move on.
But we can be “happy” for her because this time, she won the prize! She’s thrilled to be part of Luther and looks forward to a new year of growth for the town and her practice.
Contact Revitalize Life Counseling at 405-352-0041 or email revitalizinglife4u@yahoo.com.
From the Town of Luther’s Facebook page: Congratulations Ktara Brinkley! She’s the $700 winner of our very first #lutherlocalchristmas extravaganza! We’ll have another drawing next year in conjunction with our Community Christmas party at the Broken Horn Ranch! Thanks to all our wonderful Luther businesses who contributed to our pot!
Luther Mill & Farm Supply
First Bank and Trust
Sonic Drive-In
Josephine’s Cafe
The Boundary Restaurant
116 Farmstead, Market & Table
Luther Hardware & Lumber
Thermal – Kat Heating & Air Conditioning
Allan Booher CPA,
The Chicken Shack
Jarvis Liquor Well
Urban 66
Rustic Farm
Wood Fire Door
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Never heard of her but her being from Wellston explains that. Never heard of her Luther business but it certainly makes sense that someone who isn’t from Luther but dines in Luther often would win. Congrats.