2 Timothy 3:16
We offer real Christian counseling using the nouthetic method — dealing with man's problems God's way. Scripture is sufficient, and counseling is no exception. In-person in Southwest Florida, or online wherever you are.
Our objective is to tackle the challenges we face in a sinful world from a biblical perspective. We firmly believe the Bible is sufficient — counseling is no exception. All Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. (2 Timothy 3:16)
The standard you are held to is not vague, nor determined by social constructs. God's standard for a life full of joy and peace is not determined by your circumstances but by Him. In nouthetic counseling, we keep you accountable to God and His standard.
We counsel by making a disciple of Christ, holding you accountable to how God wants you to live. We address sin because the problems people face are often related to sin.
Designed to help you overcome fear, stress, sadness, hopelessness, and despair. We provide a safe environment to share your struggles, gain insight into your behavior, and develop strategies to finally be free.
Help to overcome the effects of traumatic events. We use Scripture and prayer to help you heal from the psychological and spiritual impact of trauma, including PTSD, anxiety, and depression.
Marriage was ordained by God and is a blessing — even when it doesn't always feel like one. We provide communication strategies, address underlying sin hurting the relationship, and help with peacemaking.
Ever wonder what the Lord's will is for you? We provide guidance, support, and motivation through Scripture to help you identify your strengths, overcome obstacles, and achieve success.
Support to cope with the loss of a loved one. A safe space to explore your feelings of grief, gain insight, ask the "why" questions only God has the answers to, and develop strategies to move forward.
Help to overcome anger in a biblical way — identifying its root causes, developing coping skills, and improving your relationships with others.
Every session we offer is completely free for the client — we run entirely on donations from people who want biblical counseling to be accessible to anyone who needs it, regardless of ability to pay.
Begin your journey today.
Before you book, know what you're walking into.
Scripture exerts a controlling authority on both the terms and content of counseling. We are bound by God's Word as our standard for counseling practice, and affirm the following commitments as the standards of conduct by which we evaluate the faithfulness of our certified counselors.
Psalm 19; 119; Proverbs 6:23; 10:17; Romans 15:4; 2 Timothy 2:15; 3:1-17; 2 Peter 1:3-21
Matthew 28:16-20; Acts 1:8; Romans 6:1-4; 10:8-13; 1 Corinthians 2:1-5; 2 Corinthians 3:18; 4:4-6; Ephesians 4:15
Proverbs 3:27; Matthew 22:34-40; John 15:12-17; 1 Corinthians 9:1-18; 13:1-13; 1 Timothy 5:18; 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12; James 2:14-17; 1 John 2:7-11; 3:11-24
Matthew 16:16-19; 18:15-20; Acts 2:42; 1 Corinthians 5:1-5; Ephesians 2:19-21; 1 Timothy 3:15; Titus 1:10; Hebrews 3:13; 10:25
Genesis 1:26-27; Proverbs 4:23; 20:5; Mark 7:14-23; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 11:2-16; 2 Corinthians 4:16-5:4; Galatians 3:28; Ephesians 5:3, 22-33; Colossians 3:18-19; 1 Timothy 2:9-15; 5:22; Titus 1:6; James 1:19-27; 4:1-2
Exodus 20:17; Proverbs 5; Matthew 5:27-32; Romans 13:13-14; 1 Corinthians 6:9-20; Ephesians 5:1-8; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8; Hebrews 13:4; James 1:14-15
Proverbs 18:13, 17; John 15:1-11; Matthew 12:33-37; Ephesians 3:14-21; 5:11; Colossians 1:9; 3:16; 1 Timothy 4:15; 2 Timothy 2:2, 15; James 1:19
Acts 26:17; Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 3:18; 10:5; Ephesians 4:17-32; Colossians 3:1-17; Hebrews 4:16
Matthew 20:25-28; Acts 5:29; Romans 13:1-7; 1 Corinthians 10:31; 2 Corinthians 5:9; Ephesians 5:22-33; 6:1-4; Colossians 3:18-21; 1 Timothy 3:1-7; Hebrews 13:17; 1 Peter 2:13-25
Exodus 20:16; 23:1; Leviticus 19:11; Deuteronomy 16:19; Proverbs 19:5; 24:28; 25:18; Zechariah 8:16; Matthew 5:37; 2 Corinthians 4:2; Ephesians 4:25; Colossians 3:9
Psalm 32:1-5; Proverbs 28:13; Matthew 5:9, 23-24; 6:14; 7:1-5; 18:15-35; Mark 11:25; Luke 17:3; Galatians 6:1; Ephesians 4:31-32; Colossians 3:12-13; James 3:18; 1 John 1:8-9
Counselors are required to observe these standards to remain members in good standing. The Association's board of trustees is responsible for enforcing these standards, and for clearly and publicly communicating the process for reporting alleged violations, investigating them, and instituting any penalties.
Please reach out if there are any unanswered questions!
What's usually called "Christian counseling" often uses secular psychology while viewing the client through a Christian worldview — the counselor may or may not use the Bible or pray in sessions. Biblical counseling counsels from biblical theories and principles, letting God speak for Himself through His Word, ministering a love that deals with sin and produces obedience.
Secular psychotherapy is needs-based, built on theories from figures like Freud, Jung, and Rogers, and holds mankind as the highest standard of truth. Biblical counseling holds God as that standard, believes Scripture is sufficient to address the fallen human condition (Genesis 3; 2 Timothy 3:15–17; 2 Peter 1:4), and — rather than seeking answers within one's own mind — confronts sin, seeks wisdom from above (James 3:17), and applies the Word to the situation.
A biblical counselor is a believer in Jesus Christ with a good practical working knowledge of the Word, committed to doctrinal soundness and a life that reflects the Gospel. This includes pastors, who are well-equipped for this ministry through their calling and shepherding role.
Nothing. Counseling is completely free for every client. We run entirely on donations from those who want to help make biblical counseling accessible to more people.
Real Christian Counseling has been very fruitful in my life and others as well, and I pray that more souls will be blessed by it through Christ Jesus our Lord.
— JadonReal Christian Counseling has given me the answers to key questions that many new believers have. The counselors are determined and eagerly ready to guide anyone towards truth.
— Hannah
Tristin walks with individuals, couples, and families through life's hardest seasons, holding fast to the conviction that Scripture is sufficient to address every problem people bring into the counseling room.
As a pastor, Tristin brings the same shepherding care from the pulpit into one-on-one counseling — pointing counselees toward repentance, faith, and lasting change through the person and work of Jesus Christ.
Our mission is to provide biblical counseling by using the Word of God to deal with man's problems, and to make nouthetic counseling known and more accessible.
Counseling is fundamentally a theological task. Understanding the problems that require counseling, and helping people with those problems, requires theological faithfulness and submission to the way God explains life.
The contents of Scripture speak with authoritative relevance to the content of counseling conversations. The Bible sufficiently informs the structure and content of counseling relationships.
Counseling must join accurate theology with godly character to honor the Lord Jesus and provide competent care. We seek quality at every level to ensure each counselee receives solid, faithful biblical counsel.
The church is the primary context for soul care. We must recover the church's responsibility to care for sufferers and sinners, and we support biblical counseling as an expression of church life.
We are an association of Christians called together by God to help the Church of Jesus Christ excel in the ministry of biblical counseling, with the firm resolve that counseling is fundamentally a theological task requiring theological faithfulness. Because this faithfulness is a necessity in counseling, we lay down this summary of Christian doctrine, which we believe represents the biblical standards that biblical counselors must embrace to do their work faithfully.
The 66 books of the Old and New Testaments constitute the completed, inscripturated Word of God — carried along by the Holy Spirit through human authors so that the words of Scripture are the very words of God. As inspired by God, the Bible is free from error and serves as the inerrant, infallible, final rule for life and faith. Because counseling issues are matters of life and faith, the Bible is a sufficient resource to define and direct all counseling ministry.
Acts 1:16; 2 Timothy 3:1-17; 2 Peter 1:3-21; 2 Peter 3:15-16
God is eternal and infinite in all his perfections, existing eternally as three distinct, fully divine persons — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He is creator of all that exists, exerting comprehensive sovereignty, possessing exhaustive knowledge of all events past, present, and future, present everywhere at all times, and infinitely good with no shadow of sin in his being.
Genesis 1-3; Psalm 139:1-16; Isaiah 46:8-11; Acts 5:1-4; Romans 9:5; Ephesians 1:11
Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, one person with two distinct natures — fully divine and fully human. Born of a virgin, he lived without transgressing God's law, suffered a violent death on the cross to pay for the sins of his people, rose bodily on the third day, ascended into heaven, and reigns over creation while interceding for his people as they await his return.
Matthew 1:18-25; John 17:6; 1 Corinthians 15:1-8; Ephesians 1:21-23; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Titus 2:11-15; Hebrews 4:14-15; 7:25
The Holy Spirit is the eternal third member of the Trinity — the person who convicts of sin, indwells and regenerates Christians, and empowers them to live the Christian life, understand Scripture, and worship Jesus. He equips believers with gifts for ministry and continues the work of the Wonderful Counselor, Jesus Christ.
John 16:4-15; Romans 8:9-11; 1 Corinthians 12:12-30; Ephesians 1:13-18
Salvation is a work of divine grace from beginning to end. The Father elected a people before the foundation of the world; Christ purchased their salvation through his life, death, and resurrection; the Spirit applies that work to all who believe, creating faith and keeping them in it forever.
Romans 3:21-23; Ephesians 1:3-14; Ephesians 2:1-10; Philippians 1:6
God made mankind in his image from the dust, in two complementary genders equal in dignity and worth, each with a physical body and immaterial soul, separable only at death. Men are called to spiritual leadership particularly in home and church; women to affirm godly servant leadership. Man is by design dependent on divine counsel to serve God and be conformed to Christ.
Genesis 1:26-27; 2:7; Proverbs 4:23; Romans 8:29; 1 Timothy 2:8-15; Ephesians 5:22-33; 2 Corinthians 4:16-5:10
Mankind was created sinless but fell when Adam rebelled against God. Every person since, except Christ, is born in sin and separated from God, in need of grace to be cleansed through repentance and faith. Sin increases the need for all counseling, as people seek help for problems caused by their own sin, others' sin, and sin's consequences in the world.
Genesis 3:1-7; Psalm 51:5; Romans 3:1-21; 5:12-21
The church is the bride of Christ, called to proclaim the Word, administer baptism and the Lord's Supper, and exercise church discipline. It is the main agent through which God carries out the ministry of counseling and discipleship.
Matthew 16:18-20; 18:15-20; Romans 15:14; 1 Peter 2:1-12; Revelation 19:6-10
Regeneration is the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit transforming a hardened heart into a believing one that loves God and obeys his Word, granted solely by grace along with the gifts of repentance and faith.
Ezekiel 36:25-27; Acts 20:21; John 3:1-9; Titus 3:4-6; James 1:18
Justification is God's sovereign declaration that Christ's righteousness is imputed to those who trust in his obedience and atonement — based exclusively on Christ's merits and received through faith alone, not any merit of the sinner.
Luke 18:9-14; Romans 4:1-12; Philippians 3:1-11
Sanctification is a joint work of God and man in which believers, made holy at conversion, grow in holiness through the means of grace — Bible reading, prayer, thought renewal, and fellowship. Counseling is fundamentally the work of helping Christians grow in this grace.
Acts 26:17-18; Romans 6:1-14; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Philippians 2:12-13; Colossians 3:1-17
God discloses himself through special revelation (Scripture) and general revelation (creation), both of equal authority though differing in content. General revelation requires special revelation to be properly understood and applied.
Psalm 19:1-6; Romans 1:18-23
God extends goodness to all people, granting even unbelievers the ability to apprehend facts. But common grace cannot overcome sin's effects on human thinking without saving grace in Christ — meaning unbelievers will misunderstand what matters most: God, the human problem, and its solution. Secular counseling methods are therefore ultimately at odds with a biblical approach.
Matthew 5:44-45; John 1:9; Romans 1:18-23; Colossians 1:21
The church is called to evangelism and discipleship, using conversations to point people to Christ and build them up in him. Every faithful counseling conversation must have Jesus Christ as its ultimate goal.
Matthew 28:16-20; Romans 10:1-17; 2 Corinthians 5:11-21; Colossians 1:24-29
Christ will return at a moment known only to God and sit in judgment over all humanity. The unrepentant will go into everlasting torment; the righteous in Christ into everlasting joy in his presence. This hope of the new creation is the foundation of all counseling.
Matthew 25:31-46; Romans 2:6-11; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation
