COUPLES COUNSELING AND FAITH

At Couples Counseling ATL, we are proud to offer counseling to couples of all religions and Faith traditions. Although our counseling practice is not religious, one of our counselors really loves working with Christian Couples who are wanting to include their religious beliefs in their couples counseling, Jessica Hart. So, Jess, why are you interested in working with Christian couples and how do you work with Christian couples?

J: Thank you so much for having me today Stephanie, this is a deep and important topic for me. Something that I am passionate about. I don’t know if a lot of people know, but I am a Christian and I also use the Gottman method for couples therapy (which is based on science and research. )

One of the things that I see when working with couples is that they are struggling with their faith-based counselor or if they go to a pastor or someone at the church they get these concerns:

“Well, my pastor or my faith-based counselor only recommended to pray about it or read a scripture passage.” This is important, but a lot of the couples tell me they need basic skills. How can you really communicate with one another? How can you incorporate skills into your day-to-day lives?

That is something I can offer my couples, having a balance of both faith and science. It can kind of be the best of both worlds! I am excited to offer that to my clients, being able to help in both help.

S: That is great, that’s something I’ve also heard from our couples that pastoral counseling is very limited faith-based perspective. I know you work with couples from all backgrounds, but working with Christian couples, in particular, has been very rewarding because you do identify as a Christian, so when they really do want to integrate their faith as well as their research-based assessment and skills; it sounds like you’ve really been able to help them walk away feeling empowered, being able to honor both!