What Is Christian Counseling? Is Faith-Based Therapy Right for Me?
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One of the best-kept secrets in the therapy world is that most faith-based counseling centers don't require you to be a member of the same religion as the center. In fact, you don't need to be religious at all. Their services are available to everyone, and they usually won't even talk to you about religion unless you want them to.
However, if you are religious or spiritual, faith-based counseling centers can be an even better fit. If you want them to, the therapists at these centers can help you address religious or spiritual subjects in your therapy sessions. And there are other faith-based counseling options you might want to consider, too.
Types of Faith-Based Counseling
Types of faith-based counseling include:
- Pastoral counseling sessions with the leader of your religious community;
- Pastoral counseling sessions from a pastoral counselor with a private practice; or
- Faith-based therapy sessions from a faith-based therapist with a private practice.
The affordability of these options varies. Faith-based therapists generally charge similar rates as other therapists. Pastoral counselors in private practice may charge similar rates as well, or they may charge less; it depends on the setting and the counselor.
Pastoral counseling sessions at a house of worship are usually free. If your questions or issues are primarily spiritual in nature, these sessions may be all the help you need to get through a personal spiritual crisis. However, you’ll probably want to see a licensed therapist if you’re seeking treatment for a mental health condition.
And keep in mind that all licensed therapists follow ethical codes and professional standards that require them to set aside their own personal agendas. Even a faith-based therapist won’t provide faith-based therapy unless you tell them that’s what you want.
Faith-Based Counseling Centers
Therapy sessions at faith-based counseling centers can address a range of mental health issues and are usually provided for very low cost. Most of these centers offer affordable sliding-scale rates and accept insurance. And many are on the front lines where affordable mental health care is otherwise hard to find. You’ll often see programs run by the following faith-based organizations in the social service network in your area:
- Catholic Charities
- Jewish Family Services
- Lutheran Social Services
- The Salvation Army
- Vincent de Paul
- Samaritan Counseling Centers
- Volunteers of America
All of these non-profit social service organizations receive some government funding to run their programs. Many operate fully licensed mental health facilities. Proselytizing to you would go against their community service mission and would also put them at risk of losing their licenses and their government funding.
We wish more people realized that these affordable faith-based programs were options for them. You can usually get a free consultation in person or over the phone to find out more. So, we encourage you to reach out if you find a faith-based provider that’s affordable and close to you. The solace you seek might be just a call or click away.
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One of the best-kept secrets in the therapy world is that most faith-based counseling centers don’t require you to be a member of the same religion as the center. In fact, you don’t need to be religious at all. Their services are available to everyone, and they usually won’t even talk to you about religion unless you want them to.
These programs are an expression of spiritual principles which may include charity, hospitality, social justice, and welcoming “the stranger” without judgment. The purpose at these centers is not to convert you, but to engage in what members of the Jewish faith call tikkun olam—repairing the world—or what Christians call caritas or charity. It’s about their faith, not yours. Providing good, affordable therapy to those who need it, and elevating your preferences and needs over theirs, is one way to live that faith.
But if you are religious or spiritual, faith-based counseling centers can be an even better fit. If you want them to, the therapists at these centers can help you address religious or spiritual subjects in your therapy sessions. And there are other affordable faith-based counseling options you might want to consider, too, including pastoral counseling sessions at your place of worship. Read on to learn more about faith-based counseling and whether it might be right for you.
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What Is Faith-Based Counseling?
Faith-based counseling comes in many forms, but it is always rooted in the spiritual or religious principles of the person or organization providing it.
Sometimes, that just means your counselor sees their work with you as part of a religious or spiritual mission to serve others. Whether you actually discuss spiritual subjects or incorporate religious practices into your sessions with your faith-based therapist is nearly always up to you. And chances are good that there is a spiritually-oriented therapist out there who is a good match for you even if your spiritual views fall outside of the major religions.
DEEP DIVE
What Is Spirituality?
Spirituality is an important dimension of the human experience. Even atheists can be spiritual (check out Alain de Botton’s Religion for Atheists book or School of Life project for examples).
We all encounter existential questions at some point in our lives. In fact, many of the things that draw people to spirituality are also what bring them to therapy. These are all spiritual questions:
- What is the meaning of life?
- What is the meaning of a particular event I experienced in my life?
- What is the purpose of my life? Do I even have a purpose? If not, what am I supposed to do with my life?
- What happens when we die? How should I live, knowing that my life ends?
- How do I make sense of the loss of a loved one? Are they still with me in some way?
- What makes a person a good person? Am I a good person? If not, how can I change that?
- How do I atone for this bad thing I did? How do I release the guilt and shame I feel?
- How do I heal from betrayal and forgive the other person who wronged me?
- How do I find peace living in a world where there is cruelty and evil?
You don’t have to see a religious therapist or get faith-based therapy to engage with questions like these. These are spiritual and existential questions that therapy can help you answer for yourself no matter what your therapist’s religious orientation might be.
However, if you’re curious about the spiritual dimension of life, a faith-based or faith-oriented therapist can help you connect the work you’re doing in therapy to the spiritual path you follow.
All the better if you find a therapist whose approach to spirituality is compatible with yours. While a therapist from a different religious background can help you explore spiritual questions on your own terms, their ability to engage with you on religious topics or themes will depend on how much they know or understand about your religion or spirituality.
What Are the Different Types of Faith-Based Counseling?
There are many different ways to get faith-based counseling. It’s important to understand the differences between these options. Which one is right for you will depend on your reason for seeking therapy or counseling.
Types of Faith-Based Counseling
Different ways to get faith-based counseling include:
- Pastoral counseling sessions with the leader of your religious community;
- Pastoral counseling sessions from a pastoral counselor with a private practice;
- Therapy sessions with a faith-based therapist who can incorporate religion or spirituality into their work with you;
- Therapy sessions with an existential or interfaith therapist who specializes in addressing spiritual subjects outside of any particular religious framework or dogma; or
- Therapy sessions at a faith-based counseling center (if you opt into getting faith-based instead of secular counseling there).
Pastoral counseling can be an excellent choice when you’re wrestling with spiritual questions. On the other hand, you’re going to want to work with a licensed therapist if you’re having moderate to severe mental health issues and need to work with someone who knows how to treat them.
Faith-based counseling centers can be a great option if you’re looking for low-cost therapy regardless of whether your concerns are particularly spiritual in nature.
What Is Pastoral Counseling?
Pastoral counseling can refer to a few different things. It can refer to the informal and free counseling you get when you meet with a spiritual leader in your faith community. It can also refer to something much more formal.
Many faith leaders seek training in therapy to better serve members of the congregation who are in crisis or who are struggling with mental health issues. Some actually become licensed therapists, while others become certified by the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education. Some certified pastoral counselors continue in their role as faith leaders, while some open a private practice.
Certified pastoral counselors are trained to address behavioral health issues, though not to the same level as a pastoral counselor who also has licensure as a therapist. In a few states, pastoral counselors can obtain independent licensure like therapists do.
Seeing a pastoral counselor can be a great choice when you’re struggling with issues at the intersection of spirituality and mental health, such as confronting your mortality, coping with the loss of a loved one, or going through a spiritual or existential crisis. This is especially true if you can find a pastoral counselor whose spiritual orientation and approach is in alignment with yours.
If your questions or issues are primarily spiritual in nature, and you have a good relationship with the leader of your faith community, meeting with them one-on-one may be all the help you need to get through a personal spiritual crisis. However, you’ll probably want to see a therapist if you’re seeking treatment for a mental health condition.
And it’s important to understand that while it’s usually free to get pastoral counseling in a house of worship, you’ll usually pay an hourly rate to see a pastoral counselor in an office setting. The rates pastoral counselors charge can vary. In some cases, those rates may be less than what therapists charge, but not always. So, whether or not this is a more affordable approach totally depends on what kind of pastoral counseling you get.
What Is Faith-Based Therapy?
In order to call themselves therapists, faith-based therapists have to get the same license as any other therapist. This means they have the same qualifications to treat mental health conditions and can address any of the issues you’d go to a secular therapist to address, like issues with sex or relationships, work or career decisions, or personal growth. The difference is that faith-based therapists can incorporate a spiritual or religious approach into their work with you if you want.
There are faith-based therapists from nearly every religious background. You can find therapists who are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, or Hindu. You can find therapists who are pagans or witches, who practice an indigenous or ancestral spiritual tradition, or who have New Age spiritual perspectives. You can find many who take an interfaith approach. Of course, your best result will come from finding a therapist whose views and values align with your own.
Do You Have to Talk About Religion with a Faith-Based Therapist?
How and to what extent a faith-based therapist incorporates religion into their work with you depends on their personal philosophy and your preferences. If you end up with a faith-based therapist who has different beliefs from you, they should not proselytize or pressure you to embrace practices or ideas you’re not comfortable with. All therapists understand that helping you requires them to set aside their own personal agenda and meet you where you are. Anything less would be a violation of the ethical codes they must follow to keep their license.
That said, if you are comfortable with it and indicate to your therapist that you are, they can incorporate any number of spiritual practices or approaches into your sessions. This can include prayer, study or discussion of spiritual texts, meditation, mindfulness, ceremony, ritual, or divination. In many cases, however, the way they will blend religious approaches with therapy will be subtler.
For example, a faith-based psychodynamic therapist might reference religious symbolism when they interpret your dreams. Or a faith-based cognitive-behavioral therapist might draw from contemplative principles or practices, such as Buddhist meditation or Christian centering prayer, in their work to help you shift your relationship with your thoughts.
PRO TIP
Given that faith-based therapists are therapists, you can expect them to charge roughly what other therapists in your area charge. So, you won’t necessarily save money going to one. Instead, the decision should be based on whether you want your therapist to have a religious approach.
What Are Faith-Based Counseling Centers and How Do They Work?
Faith-based counseling centers are non-profit or charitable social service organizations that are run by a religious group. They usually have a religious or spiritual mission to provide therapy or counseling to people who couldn’t otherwise afford it by offering it for free or for very low cost.
The important thing to understand about them is that getting faith-based therapy or counseling is not a requirement if you go to one. This is especially true for large faith-based organizations that receive government funding alongside charitable donations.
Large Faith-Based Organizations
The following organizations are large and well-funded. Chances are good one or more of them offers mental health services in your community.
- Catholic Charities
- Jewish Family Services
- Lutheran Social Services
- The Salvation Army
- St. Vincent de Paul
- Samaritan Counseling Centers
- Volunteers of America
Proselytizing to you would go against the community service mission of these programs. It would also put them at risk of losing their licenses and their government funding. The professional and ethical standards they follow as licensed therapy providers allow them to have a religious mission, but they’re not allowed to force that mission on you.
This is important to understand because mental health programs run by these organizations are often on the front lines in places where affordable mental health care is otherwise hard to find. Many faith-based organizations step up to fill in the gaps when public mental health programs lose funding and have to close some of their locations.
What Services Do Faith-Based Counseling Centers Offer?
Faith-based counseling centers frequently offer couples and family therapy as well as individual and group therapy. They may also run free support groups and provide other community services. In cases when their services aren’t free, they usually are still quite affordable. Most accept insurance and have sliding-scale rates for people who don’t have insurance.
You can find many of these programs listed in our affordable counseling database and in the listings for your state’s public mental health system. If you’re open to going to one, but not sure it’s the right match, you can usually get a free phone consultation or in-person assessment, so don’t hesitate to call one to learn more.
Conclusion
Therapy and religion can both help when you're struggling with spiritual or existential questions. Whether one or the other—or both—are the right choice depends on what you believe, what you prefer, and what you need to address.
Faith-based counseling is a great option when you want to address spiritual issues in therapy. It can be extremely affordable, even free—especially if you go to a faith-based counseling center or get pastoral counseling from a leader in your faith community.
Faith-based therapy and pastoral counseling can be great options when you’re struggling with spiritual questions or issues that are affecting your mental health. They’re natural choices when you’re a spiritual or religious person. But they can be valid options even if you’re not religious.
Important Facts About Faith-Based Counseling
Some important things to understand about faith-based counseling include:
- Pastoral counseling sessions at your house of worship may be all you need if your issues are primarily spiritual in nature. They’re usually free.
- However, if you’re struggling with mental health issues, you’ll probably want to see a therapist. If you want to address those issues from a spiritual perspective, you can go to a faith-based therapist, a pastoral counselor who has been certified in behavioral health care, or a pastoral counselor who has also been licensed as a therapist.
- Faith-based counseling centers can be great places to get faith-based counseling, but you don’t have to get faith-based counseling if you go to one. The mission of these centers is to provide affordable therapy as a community service, and most of them (especially large faith-based organizations that get government funding) can’t and won’t proselytize. You can leave religion completely out of your sessions if you want.
Not only will most faith-based counselors follow your lead as to whether you even talk about religion or spirituality, but they also’re well-equipped to help you find your own answers to the spiritual questions you may find yourself asking.
And whether they call themselves "faith-based" or not, all licensed therapists are qualified by their license to treat mental health conditions and to address the same issues you'd bring to any other therapist.
So, if you’ve found a faith-based counseling option that’s affordable and close to you, consider it. A phone call or free interview visit will help you figure out if it’s a good fit. You never know—hope, solace, and healing might be just a call or click away.
Where Can You Find a Therapist?
If you think it’s time to start seeing a therapist but haven’t found one yet, let us help. You can use the search tools on OpenCounseling to find free or low-cost therapy where you live. You may also want to consider trying affordable online therapy through BetterHelp (a sponsor).
Other options include using insurance (and searching for a therapist on your insurance plan’s website) or calling a mental health crisis or information line to ask for a local referral.
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Stephanie Hairston
Stephanie Hairston is a freelance mental health writer who spent several years in the field of adult mental health before transitioning to professional writing and editing. As a clinical social worker, she provided group and individual therapy, crisis intervention services, and psychological assessments.