When you’ve lived a faith-based life, it feels only natural to seek out faith-based guidance for your mental health. Somewhere, you’re sure, is someone who excels at professional psychological methods balanced with a spiritual point of view. You’re looking for a pastoral counselor.

What sets pastoral counseling apart from other modes of therapy is the way faith, spirituality, and theology are incorporated. It’s a unique listening perspective that can help you find peace, forgiveness, and acceptance. Within the talk therapy that is the hallmark of psychotherapy, pastoral counselors may also use prayer, scripture study, and a validation of your religious beliefs to encourage healing and growth.

Pastoral counseling can be especially powerful when you or your family is struggling with situations that can exhaust your emotional and spiritual resources: