Faith-Based Counseling
“I’ve tried everything, but nothing seems to work!”
I wish I didn’t hear this cry as often as I do. But I have been there myself, so I understand exactly where you’re coming from.
When we’ve been in emotional pain for decades, we’ll try anything to relieve that pain.
Abusive and dysfunctional childhood.
Betrayal of a spouse.
Childhood sexual trauma.
We have all experienced trauma in our lives, whether physical, emotional, spiritual, or sexual. And many of us have developed ways of “coping” with the pain of the trauma.
It’s often through unhealthy coping mechanisms we attempt to find relief.
Maybe it’s numbing out with drugs or alcohol because the pain is so great, you can’t bear feeling it any longer.
Denial that anything happened has kept you company for a long while now. But it hasn’t stopped the pain, so you just keep running away.
Or you rage at everyone around you because if they get too close, you’ll get hurt again.
The “time heals all wounds” mantra is a lie.
We hear comments from well-meaning friends and family, telling us things like…
“Get over it already. That happened so long ago.”
“Just forgive and let go.”
“You can’t change the past, so move on.”
But time does nothing but create more pain if the root issues aren’t healed.
Fear of (fill in the blank) has a death grip on you.
All you know is that you can’t dredge up all the pain. You believe it will be more painful to remember than to
face it and heal it.
Where has avoidance gotten you except being emotionally imprisoned?
Healing is an active, not a passive, process.
And it’s difficult to do.
Throughout your life, you have experienced trauma and pain.
Sitting back and waiting for the pain to go away has only made it worse.
Actively being involved in your healing with the Creator will provide you with the healing you desire. It requires work from you in cooperation with Him.
Step-by-step with me as your guide, and the Creator as your healer, we will work on one lesson at a time. We’ll delve into your false beliefs, protective personalities, behaviors that lead to relapse and help you build a support team that
will walk with you in your process long after your work with me is completed.
Let’s talk about the power of faith-based counseling…
The Genesis Process aims to heal deeply rooted emotional wounds by learning and using various tools to help clients understand why they do the things they don’t want to do and apply what they have learned to move forward into freedom. The Genesis Process has two workbooks: one for individuals and one for groups.
In 2007, I was introduced to The Genesis Process. At the time, I was tired of dealing with my pain through an enormous amount of anger. I discovered what was underneath my anger, and slowly but surely, I found healing. My husband asked me what I was doing because he noticed a change in me. In sharing my experience with him, we could then bring this process to our church and walk men and women through their healing process. Over the years, we have seen many individuals attain freedom and healing from their pain.
Together, we’ll integrate psychology and faith to provide you a holistic counseling experience. My clients will learn about the limbic system and how they can heal their limbic system through positive relational experiences. My clients will identify their false beliefs and protective personalities. In this process, we invite the Lord to reveal pain points that have remained hidden so that they can be brought into the light and dealt with appropriately. We will incorporate prayer and forgiveness of ourselves and others as part of the healing process.
Since I am not a psychiatrist, I will not diagnose, nor will I prescribe medication. I will, however, ask the Lord for guidance during each of our sessions together. We will also look at how a client’s emotional state has affected them physically and spiritually, and together, devise a plan to restore each area.
The Genesis Hope Formula (from the Genesis Process)…
Excerpt from The Genesis Process:
“The Hope Formula is a simple way to check on yourself as to where you are in the process of change. A primary reward of healthy change is what we call hope. In terms of recovery, hope is not a verb. It is a noun. It is something you have, or you don’t. There are two kinds of hope. One is, “I hope everything is always going to be okay, and I hope bad things never happen.” The other kind of hope is based on reality. When you project your current situation into the future, either hope or hopelessness is what looks back at you.”
HOPE comes from CHANGE,
We all need hope; otherwise, we’re unable to move forward. Hope is a very important element in one’s ability to recover and change. When you have hope, it gives one the ability to get through a bad day because it puts things into perspective. Without hope, you could relapse into destructive behaviors because you won’t think of a reason not to.
CHANGE comes from RISK,
There is a certain amount of risk that needs to happen to change. That risk could be opening your mind to trying something new to bring about that change. It could also be trusting someone to guide you through an unfamiliar process. Human beings resist change at all costs. Change is inevitable.
RISK comes from FAITH,
We take risks because we have confidence or trust (faith) in a person. That person is Jesus in this process of change and emotional healing.
FAITH gives you the HOPE (Courage)
When we have faith in Jesus and experience the positive changes made in our lives, we can project hope into our future once again.
To CHANGE and RISK again.
“A primary reward of healthy change is hope.” You take that step toward a life of hope, not knowing how you will achieve it, but you know you can’t stay where you are. There has to be something better, so you take the risk to try something new with someone you don’t know. And the HOPE cycle continues again and again.
Jesus will be your healer, and I will be your guide.
Together with me, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus, you will experience complete healing, and you’ll be able to let go of the burdens of guilt and shame from your past.
We will go back to move you forward.
Much of the work we will do together will look back at your life. We will look at trauma history and identify patterns of coping. To move you forward, we will discover what patterns have kept you stuck and stagnant. Once they’re revealed, healing in those areas can begin.
We’ll challenge your false, long-held beliefs that have been holding you back.
Desperately wanting to have an intimate relationship, you believe you can’t trust anyone. If you can’t trust anyone, then how will you be able to have an intimate relationship?
In our work together, I will help you identify who you have been able to trust in your past. With that simple technique, the false belief of not trusting anyone crumbles.
False beliefs isolate; challenging false beliefs opens the door to relationship.
You’ll learn how to predict an oncoming relapse into your coping mechanisms.
This gives you the power to keep it from happening!
An incredible tool (one of many!) called The FASTER Scale will help each client identify behaviors that lead to their relapse. Once these behaviors are brought into conscious awareness and why the client does these behaviors, they will prevent relapse from happening.
“Veronica”* had been depressed for years.
Married with three kids, she had been engulfed in despair with no hope of relief. She could barely get herself up in the morning and get the kids ready for school. All she wanted to do was sleep as a means to the end of making the pain go away. Friends said, “Get out of the house… it will make you feel better.” She had people talking to her but not offering any real help. They didn’t know how.
When Veronica came to me, I provided her a listening heart as she shared her pain of depression that has been with her for as long as she could remember. She had reservations about anti-depressant medication… she just wanted to feel better.
She was encouraged to learn that I, too, had dealt with situational depression and was able to overcome it with faith-based counseling and no meds. Veronica began her healing process, knowing that I had the understanding and compassion of someone who had been there. Veronica’s journey to freedom had begun.
Veronica and I worked together for six months, and each week her inner light began to shine brighter and brighter.
This happened because she challenged her false beliefs, received healing for her pain, and saw and embraced her true identity. She was a child of God, and He loved her as she was; she didn’t need to be anything other than who He created her to be.
Toward the end of our work together, she shared that she no longer felt despair. My heart leaped for joy! That’s why I have such love and passion for this work that I do with clients like Veronica… and YOU.
*Name changed to provide confidentiality.
Know that you are not alone in this journey.
Where you are right now didn’t happen overnight. Your healing won’t happen overnight, either. You need time and help from someone who has been there and understands.
I might not have it all figured out, but I do have tools that will help you get relief from the pain you’ve been experiencing. These tools worked for me… and they’ll work for you, too.
Let me guide you through this process, taking you from the darkness of despair to the light of hope and freedom.
Call me to schedule your free 20 minute consultation, and let’s talk about your journey to healing, restoration, and transformation. All you need to do is fill out my contact form below.