CAI Spotlight
Ethos Christian Counseling
An NCCA Certified Academic Institution
While I regard being a wife, mother, and Mimi as among my most cherished expressions of ministry, I am deeply honored to serve as a Licensed Clinical Pastoral Counselor-Advanced Certification and Certified Academic Instructor with the National Christian Counselors Association.
I have had the privilege of establishing and leading both Ethos Counseling and Ethos Counseling Institute. Ethos Counseling serves individuals, couples, and families through Christian counseling, while Ethos Counseling Institute provides education and training for those pursuing a calling to Christian counseling. As a Certified Academic Instructor with the National Christian Counselors Association, I have the honor of training counselors through the educational structure and model established by NCCA.
The name Ethos reflects the foundation of both ministries, emphasizing the character, values, and lived expression of a follower of Christ. For me, Christian counseling is not simply about acquiring knowledge or mastering techniques; it is about developing counselors whose character, competence, and faith shape the way they care for those entrusted to them.
My educational journey into counseling began before my husband and I entered pastoral ministry. I desired a deeper understanding of psychology that could complement the biblical morals, values, and truths foundational to my faith. For more than 22 years, I have served alongside my husband in pastoral ministry and have practiced counseling for more than 20 years. We provide marriage counseling, with his experience as a senior pastor, combined with my counseling background, allows us to offer a unique perspective to the couples we serve.
Marriage and family counseling are especially meaningful to me, with a particular passion for premarital counseling. I believe couples can learn to identify potential areas of conflict and develop healthy ways to navigate challenges before unhealthy patterns become established. A healthy marriage is not one without conflict, but one in which two people learn to navigate conflict constructively. I believe healthy individuals contribute to healthy marriages, and healthy marriages contribute to healthy families. True health begins with submitting to the Lord and, through the power and grace of the Holy Spirit, becoming more like Christ.
One of the most valuable tools I have discovered throughout my counseling career is Temperament Therapy and the Arno Profile System. Understanding temperament can provide meaningful insight into individuals, marriages, and families, helping people embrace how God created them and better understand others' needs. As understanding grows, frustration can give way to appreciation, stress can decrease, and peace can increase.
My husband and I also have a special heart for pastors and ministry leaders who are walking through seasons of burnout, as well as those who want to cultivate healthy rhythms that help them remain spiritually and emotionally healthy for the long journey of ministry. I believe it’s so important for pastors to remember that before we are pastors or ministry leaders, we are beloved sons and daughters of God. Our relationship with Jesus is at the heart of everything we do, and it’s from that place of being loved by Him that we can most freely and faithfully pour into the lives of others.
Approximately eight years ago, we established Ethos Counseling Institute to share the education and training I had been blessed to receive and to walk alongside those responding to God’s calling to Christian counseling. My desire is for every student to feel heard, safe to ask questions, encouraged in their calling, and grounded in sound biblical instruction. I want them to leave equipped with both the knowledge and confidence to serve others well.
I often remind myself of the Apostle Paul’s words: “Follow me as I follow Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1). As Christian counselors, people may look AT us, but we must continually lead them to look TO Him. Our role is not simply to provide techniques or knowledge, but to point others toward the One who brings healing, deliverance, and restoration.
After more than 20 years of counseling, I can say that this work has profoundly shaped me, teaching me greater grace and compassion and deepening my understanding of God’s heart for His people and their suffering. At the heart of Ethos Counseling Institute is a commitment to equipping those called to counseling with the knowledge, skills, and theological formation necessary for effective ministry, so that through their lives and practice, others encounter not merely the counselor, but ultimately Christ.
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