Spirituality/Faith Incorporated Counseling

Many therapists are uncomfortable addressing spirituality in counseling. Yet for many people, their personal faith beliefs are a very significant part of who they are, and to ignore that in the counseling process would be missing a crucial part of their identity as well as a vital resource for emotional healing.

In my counseling work, I am both curious and respectful about learning what role (if any) that spirituality plays in the lives of my clients. I am very open to incorporating one’s faith beliefs into our work together.  However, I’m guided by each person as to their comfort level and desire to digger deeper from a spiritual perspective.

While studying in graduate school, I worked as the Director of Children and Youth Ministries at a vibrant church where I got to both write and deliver sermons that were designed to speak to the hearts of both children and adults. Since I have a strong musical background, it was rather common for me to include songs in a sermon to reinforce the meaning of message. More importantly, I got to LISTEN to people of all ages and glimpse how their faith was helping to shape their lives.

As a therapist, I’ve been asked by local pastors to provide premarital counseling. I am a certified facilitator of the Prepare/Enrich Inventory and have also facilitated the FOCCUS (Facilitating Open Couple Communication, Understanding and Study) Inventory. 

The spiritually-focused clients that I see are typically Christian or Jewish. However, I’ve also provided support for clients who are practicing Buddhists, Muslims and those who identify as Agnostic or devout Atheist.