Adjunct professor at Rosemead School of Psychology, Biola University and The King's College
Licensed therapist at Biola Counseling Center
MSW, LCSW
Ruth Ann Graybill is a licensed therapist at Biola Counseling Center (Biola University, La Mirada, CA) involved in providing individual, marital, and family therapy services to the community, and is an adjunct professor at Rosemead School of Psychology and The King's College. In addition to her regular commitments, Ruth Ann has a special place in her heart for missionaries, actively working with them for many years in pre-field training and screening, post-field debriefing, presenting seminars on the mission field, on-site crisis intervention, and counseling missionaries home on furlough. Several years ago she took a three-month leave of absence from Biola and joined the Mobile Member Care Team in West Africa to provide member care to missionaries in that part of the world. While there to help deal with crises, among other things, on the mission field, she had the "golden opportunity" of experiencing one of her own first hand - that of getting caught smack dab in the middle of a political coup in the Ivory Coast. It is with much relief and gratitude she lived to tell the story!
Ruth Ann also serves as faculty advisor at Biola University to Mu Kappa, a national organization for MKs on Christian campuses. She herself served as a missionary associate for three years in Japan, teaching English as a second language with the Christian Service Corps.
Ruth Ann Graybill was blessed to grow up in a strong Christian family on a dairy farm in Pennsylvania, surrounded by a large extended family. Her father was one of 10 children, her mother one of 15, and Ruth Ann herself was one of 5, so there was always lots of contact with relatives. She loved all that family contact and credits this with her desire to eventually pursue a career in social work and psychology, with a focus on helping hurting people heal and grow, especially in the context of families. Thus began her career as a therapist, providing counseling services to individuals, couples, and families.
Ruth Ann is single and jokingly comments that someone in her large family needs to be responsible and help hold down the world’s population! Ruth Ann is actively involved in her church and remains closely connected to her family, even though most of them live clear on the opposite side of the country.
As a therapist, Ruth Ann derives tremendous joy in being part of the healing process in people’s lives, watching God set people free from all kinds of bondage and release them to become the persons He has designed for them to become. She finds that a special by-product of being a therapist is having the challenge and privilege to keep her own life open before the Lord - to address any blockages in her own life so as to not hinder clients in working on their lives.