Faith-integrated counseling
If you're looking for a therapist who shares your faith, you're in the right place. While we aren't a Christian counseling center, many of our clinicians are Christians with an active faith and committed to their local churches.
Licensed therapy, with your faith in the room rather than left at the door. It is there as much or as little as you want it, and nothing here requires you to be sure of what you believe.
A lot of people looking for this have already hit one of two walls. A therapist who treats faith like something to work around, or a counselor who treats therapy like it's somehow separate from faith, like you have to pick a lane. Neither is what you'll find here. Many of our clients:
Want a therapist who understands their faith, not one who has to have it explained to them
Have felt dismissed by therapists who treated their faith as irrelevant, or worse, as the problem
Are wrestling with something hard and don't want to choose between good theology and good therapy
Want prayer, scripture, or faith language available in session, without it being forced into every conversation
Have tried "secular" therapy before and felt like a part of themselves had to stay outside the room
Want a therapist who can hold both clinical expertise and genuine respect for what they believe
Early sessions are mostly about getting to know you: your history, your relationships, what's actually going on, and what brought you in. As part of that, we'll talk about your faith: what it means to you, how it shapes your daily life, and what role you want it to play in our work together. For some people that's central to everything; for others it's more in the background, and that's fine too. You set the pace here, not us. By the end of the first few sessions, you should have a clear sense of whether this feels like a good fit.
The consultation: Twenty free minutes. Tell us what is going on and what you are looking for.
The first sessions. Getting to know you and forming a unique plan to support your values and goals.
After that: the work of therapy begins. Your faith is in the room as much or as little as you want it.
Ellen Johnson
MA, LPC | Clinical Director
This is licensed clinical therapy that takes faith seriously. It is not pastoral counseling, and it does not replace what your church does.
What it is: real clinical training (the same evidence-based approaches used in any good therapy) combined with a genuine respect for your faith as part of who you are, not a topic to be managed around. Your therapist won't leave their training at the door to hand you a Bible verse instead of a treatment plan, and they won't leave your faith at the door to get to the "real" work. Both are in the room, because for you, they're not separate.
That means we can talk about grief and lament in the same conversation. Anxiety and trust. Boundaries and grace. Shame and forgiveness: the theological kind and the psychological kind. You don't have to translate your faith into secular terms to be understood here, and you don't have to set your clinical needs aside to be taken seriously as a person of faith.
Who sends people here
Pastors and care teams refer people here regularly, and we're grateful for their trust. Whether you came from a church or found this on your own, your confidentiality is always upheld. We care about being a safe space for you.
Churches whose care teams send people here include Austin Ridge, The Austin Stone, Providence, The Well, Red Rock Austin, All Saints, The Vine, Riverbend and Gateway.
If you're interested in faith-integrated Premarital Counseling, we also offer that and would be happy to work with you. Learn more about Premarital Counseling through Decades by visiting the page or giving us a call.
We also offer faith-integrated intimacy counseling. Learn more about Christian intimacy counseling through Decades by visiting the page.
If you are a pastor or care team referring somebody: for churchesYou won't have to explain or defend your beliefs to be understood here. You also won't get platitudes instead of real clinical care. We bring both (solid, evidence-based therapy and genuine respect for what you believe) and let you set the pace on how much faith is part of the conversation.
No. We work with people of any faith, and people with none. This page exists because some clients want faith in the room, not because anyone's required to bring one.
No, and the difference matters. This is licensed clinical therapy delivered by people who take faith seriously. Pastoral and biblical counseling are their own things, offered by churches, and they are not a substitute for each other. Plenty of people do both.
All of your feelings and uncertainties will be welcomed here, and not judged.
Some! Let us know on the consultation call if this is important to you. Faith comes into the room when you take it there, and not before. This practice is clinical first, and that is deliberate.
No, that goes against confidentiality. If you want us to work collaboratively with someone, we would ask your permission through a written Release of Information.
Appointments Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm, in person in Central Austin (across from Pease Park) or virtually across Texas. Weekends are sometimes available, so please ask if that works better for you.
No. The practice does not bill insurance directly. We can check your out-of-network benefits for you, by hand, before you commit to anything.
Twenty free minutes. You describe what's going on, and we tell you honestly whether this is the right place. If it's not, we'll say so and point you somewhere better.
Book a free consultationPick a time that suits you, sometimes as early as today.
We listen and answer your questions.
You leave with a recommendation to work with someone on our team, or a referral to another resource in the area. Either way, you won't be back at square one.
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