The first distinguishing characteristic of our Christian counseling approach is in the way we view our clients and the world. We believe in the bible and that all people are created in God’s image, but we live in a fallen world. We all struggle to do what is right or healthy for us and our relationships sometimes, even when we know what is right. We also believe that every person has value regardless of their past, what others think of them, or things they have done wrong. Bad things happen because we live in a fallen world that does not work the way God intended, so suffering is a part of life. We all have different emotional scars from difficult situations and relationships, but God’s desire is that we would have fulfilling lives of peace despite hardships. We believe people are made to be in relationships and we strive to form the therapy relationship to feel safe and healing.

Ethically, professional counselors are discouraged from impressing their beliefs upon clients, but the therapists’ personal values often come out in subtle ways in the therapy relationship. All therapy is inherently values-based; but unfortunately, not all counselors recognize or acknowledge their value biases in therapy. For example, if you go to a therapy office to express frustration with a difficult marriage and the therapist encourages you to leave your spouse, this represents a value judgment in itself (marriage is supposed to make you happy, so if you feel unhappy, you should leave). We want to come by our values-based biases honestly and openly, so you can make an informed decision about if our Christian counseling approach is right for you. We specifically ascribe to the American Association of Christian Counselors code of ethics and if you would like to know more you can check them out at this link. Threads of Hope Counseling, LLC is not legally affiliated with the AACC.

You do not need to be a Christian in order to come to therapy with our Christian Counselors and we will not use the therapy session as a platform for evangelism. You should not expect to be preached to by your counselor. We are here to meet your needs in whatever way we can, regardless of your personal beliefs. As Christian Counselors we seek to treat all people with compassion, acceptance, and love like Christ.

For those who desire, we happily incorporate faith discussions into sessions. This may be as simple as discussing how your faith helps you to be resilient and can be used as a coping skill to handle your life situation. Others may desire to incorporate prayer and or scriptures into their sessions which we also offer. That being said, Christian counseling is different from biblical or pastoral counseling; while we can use scripture it is not the primary focus and we also use clinical skills. Additionally, if you are seeking help specifically with spiritual formation and advanced faith questions we may refer you to a pastor if appropriate. Additionally we do not offer healing prayer or deliverance ministries, but if these are services you desire we can certainly make a referral.