Welcome to our counseling ministry’s FAQ page. We are here to provide clarity and support as you explore the path toward holistic healing and spiritual flourishing.
Who is Welcome at Sacred Hearth Pathways?
Our welcome is absolute. We honor every constellation of kinship, embracing individuals, couples, families, and every relational bond as sacred and unrepeatable. This hearth is open to all regardless of gender, sexuality, relational orientation, culture, race, or family configuration. We celebrate queer, trans, nonbinary, and straight individuals, as well as monogamous, polyamorous, aromantic, and neurodivergent kin. You are received exactly as you are, a bearer of divine presence.
What Issues Do You Provide Support For?
We provide holistic pastoral counseling, coaching, and spiritual care for individuals and diverse family systems. Our ‘Pathways to Wholeness’ include specialized support for pornography and sexual addiction recovery, partner and family support, life alignment, and Relationship Hearth Sessions. Whether you are navigating thresholds of grief, joy, rupture, or repair, we listen alongside you for how the Divine is moving in your unique story, from the depths of the soul to the ordinary rhythms of daily life.
What Kind of Care Do You Provide, and How Can It Help?
Drawing from the refreshing wells of ancient contemplative traditions and the wisdom of ‘anam cara’, or soul friendship, we provide professional, spiritually integrated care. We look to the archetype of the Wounded Healer, helping you uncover deeper meaning and heal from past wounds. By recognizing that we are all intertwined branches of the same sacred vine, we help you gain new perspectives and build an architecture of flourishing that integrates the Book of Nature with a profound understanding of the human spirit.
Is This Approach the Same as Traditional Mental Health Counseling?
While this work is deeply healing, it is uniquely spiritual and pastoral in nature, focusing on soul recovery and the search for meaning rather than medical intervention. We do not provide clinical diagnoses or traditional psychiatric treatment, as our focus remains on an expansive trust in the interconnectedness of all things. We honor the spiritual dimensions of your growth while actively supporting a collaborative approach that includes medical professionals when clinical support is necessary.
Can You Prescribe Medication?
While our focus is rooted in the spiritual aspects of your journey, we do not prescribe medication. However, we believe in a holistic approach to your well-being. If you feel medication is an avenue you would like to explore, we are completely supportive. We draw strength from the Presence that restores our souls and are happy to connect you with referrals to medical professionals who can collaborate with us to ensure you are held with the skill and depth you deserve.
What If I Am Agnostic, Atheist, or Spiritually Wounded?
You belong here. Whether your roots are deeply planted in a particular faith, interspiritual, agnostic, atheist, or if you are actively deconstructing, you are an honored guest. We embrace questioning as a vital part of the sacred journey. Inspired by universal wisdom, we trust that the Kingdom of God is already woven into your ordinary life, even if you have been taught not to see it.
I Have Never Been to Counseling or Coaching: What Is It Like?
Our priority is to make you feel at ease within the warmth of our virtual hearth. In our first session, we listen for truth beneath the noise, much like listening for a ‘still small voice’ in the wilderness. We move at your preferred pace, navigating the sacred ‘thin places’ where the veil between heaven and earth is lifted, ensuring your journey continues to be held with tenderness and respect.
Where Are You Located?
Our counseling ministry is 100% virtual. Because we operate as a pastoral and spiritual care ministry, we offer our services worldwide. All sessions are conducted online through secure, confidential telehealth platforms, allowing us to maintain a sacred, dedicated space for deep listening from the comfort of your own home.
How Do You Approach Financial Reciprocity?
Our standard requested contribution is $95 per hour. As a ministry of the heart, we operate on a model of sacred reciprocity, where your contributions serve as the vital sustenance that keeps our hearth fires burning and allows this work to remain present for those in need. While these contributions are the primary way we sustain our mission, we also practice the tradition of ‘gleaning’ by setting aside a portion of our resources for those facing genuine financial hardship. If your current circumstances make the standard amount a barrier to care, we invite you to discuss a sliding scale or scholarship arrangement during our initial consultation.
Do You Take Insurance or Share My Records?
As a ministry, we operate as a private, direct-pay practice and do not bill insurance companies directly. We have chosen this model to protect your confidentiality and avoid the requirement of a formal mental health diagnosis. We adhere strictly to privacy guidelines and are under no obligation to share your records with third parties unless you explicitly request a superbill for out of network reimbursement.
What Happens If We Are Not the Right Fit?
Just as we recognize the sacred necessity of limits, we practice compassionate boundaries. In the spirit of wise stewardship, if we discern that we are not the right fit to fully support your situation, we will communicate this gently and transparently. Our commitment is to your highest good, and we will help guide you toward other resources, elders, or professionals to ensure your journey is supported.