For those of you out there that are devout Christians searching for online therapy we, may have just found what you’re looking for - Faithful Counseling. This online counseling platform offers online therapy from a Christian point of view and connects users with mental health professionals who are also practicing Christians.
Online Christian counseling seems to one of just a handful of online therapy platforms that caters to those looking to find an e-therapist that shares their faith. With religion as a common factor between patient and online counselor, the counselor is free to bring God, religion, and the bible into the counseling process in a way that aligns with both modern-day therapy and Christianity.
To be honest, there isn’t too much information on the web about Faithful Counseling. What we were able to discover after a bit of digging is that Faithful Counseling was started in 2017 by telehealth giant Teledoc, a massive company that is known to operate a large and varied selection of online health services and platforms.
Faithful Counseling’s reputation seems to have grown quite quickly among the Christian community, with over 100,000 people visiting their website every month, and has become known as an online Christian therapy platform where the online therapists can help their patients address whatever mental health issues they are struggling with by making God a part of the process.
Faithful Counseling claims that their main goal is to improve their patient's physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. In fact, Faithful Counseling have a “Statement of Faith” (which can be viewed on their website) which fully outlines their beliefs, aims and hopes. Their stated goal is to not only improve the person’s state of physical and emotional well-being but also their spiritual state of mind as well. Their Statement of Faith, which can be found on their website, is a testament to that.
Speaking of their website, on browsing through it, you are sure to come across their list of the advantages they believe they have over traditional in-person therapy. The list includes:
That being said, Faithful Counseling has also stated that while all of their online Christian counselors are capable of providing spiritual insight based on their personal knowledge, beliefs, and wisdom, they might not have the formal training to properly deal with your particular faith-based issues. They have also stated that if patients are seeking counseling related to strictly spiritual matters, such as connecting with God, biblical wisdom, or spiritual warfare that their needs would be best served by what they term “traditional pastoral counseling”, which is usually offered by a church.
The online counselors at Faithful Counseling specialize in dealing with a number of mental health issues and conditions from a Christian perspective and are more than happy and capable of assisting their patients to deal with whatever problems or issues are standing in the way of them achieving their goals.
At the moment, Faithful Counseling has over 1,000 fully qualified and state-certified Christian counselors, with many of them specializing in areas that include:
While Faithful Counseling should be considered by anyone looking for an online therapy platform that counsels from a Christian perspective, it may not be the answer for everyone. Certain individuals and situations may benefit more from a more intensive in-person therapy approach or traditional pastoral counseling” offered through a church
Faithful Counseling may also not be your best option if any of the following is applicable to your particular situation:
With Faithful Counseling you can choose to interact with your online therapist in any of the following ways:
Patients are not limited to just one form of communication with their online counselor and can switch between the options listed above depending on what best suits their needs at any particular time.
Signing up
When you sign up with Faithful Counseling, you will first have to complete an online questionnaire, as with most online therapy services. However, with Faithful Counseling being an online Christian counseling platform, it only makes sense that a number of their questions are faith-based. Overall, there are 20 questions that need to be answered during sign up. We strongly recommend that you are as truthful and accurate as possible as this information is used to match you to your ideal online Christian counselor.
Some of the questions asked include:
All in all, the questionnaire should take about 5 minutes to complete. Once you are done with the questionnaire, the next step is to create your private account. Many potential patients will be happy to hear that they do not have to supply their full name and can use a nickname on the site, ensuring that patients can remain anonymous and their privacy is protected.
Once you have supplied your username, email address, and picked a password, you need to check your email inbox for a mail from Faithful Counseling. Simply click the link in the mail you’ve received to verify your email. Once you have done so, you will be taken to a much shorter questionnaire based on your therapy and online counselor preferences. Questions include whether you would prefer your online Christian counselor to be male or female and what type of experience you would prefer your online counselor to have.
Once that questionnaire has been completed, you will be automatically directed to a secure payments page.
Using the information from the questionnaires, you will be matched to your most suitable online Christian counselor within 24 hours. If you are unhappy with the e-therapist you have been paired with, you are free to change and have another counselor assigned to you.
After you have been assigned an online counselor, you will receive another email. Clicking the link in this mail will take you to your own private therapy room. This is the room you will use to engage with your counselor at any time. Only you and your online counselor will have access to this room, ensuring your privacy is safeguarded. Anytime your counselor leaves you a message or replies to one of yours, you will receive a notification via email that they have done so. You can message your e-therapist at any time without having to schedule a session since you have access to your private therapy room 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Live chats
Unlike the delayed response communication option, you will have to schedule a session whenever you wish to interact with them in real-time. When you want to schedule a live session, simply click on the appropriately labeled button and you will be instructed how to go about scheduling it.
With live chats, you are able to communicate with your online Christian counselor in real-time. Live chats can be done via text, video, or voice calls.
Voice Call Sessions
This is a convenient way to interact with your online counselor in real-time via either a landline or your cellphone. To set up a voice call session, simply schedule a session with the counselor. Once they have agreed to a time, you simply log on to the Faith Counseling website and enter your private therapy room. Once both you and your online counselor are both in the room, they will ask you for you to enter your phone number. The system will then contact you using the phone number supplied and connect you to your online therapist. The number you are using will never be shared with your counselor.
Video Call Sessions
This type of live session allows you and your online counselor to interact face to face, much as if you were interacting via Skype. Like a voice call, you will first need to schedule your video call session with your online Christian therapist. Once you have both agreed to a time, you simply log on to the Faithful Counseling website and enter your private therapy room. Once both you and your online counselor are both in the room, they will ask you to start the session. Once you click on the appropriate button and confirm, you will be connected to your e-therapist and you will be able to see each other on the screens of your phone or computer.
All of the online Christian counselors at Faithful Counseling are fully trained Ph.D./PsyD’s, LMFT’s, LCSW/LMSW’s or LPC’s. Every online counselor either holds a Master’s degree or a Doctorate in their particular field of practice and have at least 3 years and 2,000 hours of practical experience. In addition to all of this, every online counselor at Faithful Counseling are practicing Christians and have affirmed their beliefs through Faithful Counseling‘s ‘Statement of Faith.
Faith Counseling offers the following subscription plans:
Faith Counseling’s online Christian counseling services are not usually covered by the majority of health insurance, Medicare or Medicaid. What’s great to note is that Faith Counseling offers financial aid to those who cannot afford their usual rates.