“With my previous therapists, maybe they understood my issues, maybe they were really compassionate and kind. But they didn’t understand what was most important to me – my faith in Jesus,” Carolyn* thought.
“I really wanted to find someone who understood my faith from the inside. Who had the same faith as me. Who, if I needed, could listen but also pray with me. I tried with other therapists. I really did. But when it came to certain issues, there was a huge disconnect…they didn’t understand.”
Have you been there?
This is where Christian therapy can make a world of difference.
“In some ways, the therapy with Alvaro was the same. We talked, he listened, he identified unhelpful thoughts and behaviors. But in other ways, he was quite different.
“We would begin the session with prayer or, at other times, end with prayer. This alone was comforting. We also explored forgiveness and “forgiving in the name of Jesus” – a simple thing that allowed me to let go of my hurt and anger.
“Allowing Jesus, someone I trusted, into the therapy session allowed me to trust Alvaro more. But it also helped me trust Jesus more and taught me how to use something that I already had – my faith – as an instrument in emotional and spiritual healing.”
Carolyn had been dealing with hurt, anger, and anxiety since childhood.
Together, we took a hard look at her thought patterns, noting how many of them were unhelpful. She realized, for example, that she tended to “catastrophize,” and her anxiety was connected to that.
But we went further… we let Jesus in.
We prayed together. Through that prayer, Carolyn was able to identify places in her life where she had allowed hurt, anger, and anxiety to take root. I led her through repenting of her past faults. I then led her through verbally forgiving all the people that had hurt her in her past. She had no idea how much these hurts were still haunting her. She was able to identify why she had so much sadness and anxiety – the roots were exposed.
I then led her through renouncing and letting go of that hurt, anger, and anxiety. She saw how these emotions had entered into her life through her mistakes and the hurts others had caused, and now she understood that she could let go of these emotions once she had cut the strings that held them in.
You can have this peace, too!
In therapy, we’ll look deeply into who you are – why you think what you think, feel what you feel, and do what you do. You’ll gain insight into your deepest parts, and we’ll help you make meaningful changes in your life.
But we can further strengthen this process with your faith. God can guide and heal you through your pain and fears… and give you strength and courage to keep moving forward.
Don’t check your faith at the door… let it come into therapy with you.
Give me a call today, and let’s talk more about it during your free consultation: (713) 396-2742.
*Name changed to preserve client confidentiality.