Faithful Counseling is a subscription-based online therapy service that offers Christians weekly half-hour, biblically-informed sessions with a licensed therapist for $240 – $360 monthly. All therapists and counselors on Faithful Counseling have signed the website’s Statement of Faith prior to being allowed to provide services. Faithful Counseling is an excellent option for those who have spiritual needs in addition to mental health needs.
Faithful Counseling is available nationwide, as it is a part of the BetterHelp family. You can connect with a faith-based therapist through live video, phone, or texting sessions. A great perk to Faithful Counseling is the option to send messages to your therapist whenever you need them. Currently, Faithful Counseling does not accept insurance.
Pros & Cons of Faithful Counseling
Faithful Counseling is a great way to connect with a Christian therapist or counselor in your state. The sign-up process is very quick, and matching with a therapist happens within one to two days. However, Faithful Counseling does not accept insurance and does not accept FSA/HSA cards as payment. And while Faithful Counseling offers therapists that are of the Christian faith, the in-app activities are not Bible-centered.
Faithful Counseling Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Faith-based therapy for those who are spiritual or religious | Upfront costs are not clear until after the lengthy questionnaire |
| Live video, phone, or texting sessions with a therapist who is biblically sensitive | Costs depend on your location and therapist availability |
| Signing up takes less than 10 minutes | Only one subscription option to choose from |
| Matching with a therapist happens within 1 to 2 days | Insurance is not accepted |
| Services are available nationwide and internationally | You cannot use your FSA/HSA to pay for therapy |
| A part of the BetterHelp family, with the same technology and functionality | None of the in-app activities are based on Bible verses or scripture teachings |
How to Sign Up For Faithful Counseling
What Is Faithful Counseling?
Faithful Counseling is a subscription-based online therapy service for adults (18+) of the Christian faith. You can attend weekly, 30-minute live video, phone, or texting sessions with a Biblically-sensitive, licensed therapist in your state. Each subscription is billed in one-month increments and starts at $240 – $360 monthly, depending on your location and therapist availability. Unfortunately, Faithful Counseling does not accept insurance at this time.
Faithful Counseling only sees individuals and does not offer teen or couples therapy. After a somewhat lengthy questionnaire, which includes questions about your personal information (like gender and age), your religious affiliation (Christian, Catholic, Presbretyrin, etc.), and how important your faith is to you, you will receive an email with a verification code. After you input this verification code, you will answer a few more questions about what you want to focus on and your preferences for a therapist. Finally, you will be prompted to pay for your subscription, which is billed monthly.
Much like its parent company BetterHelp, Faithful Counseling offers similar in-app activities. In addition to your private session room (chatroom), you will also have access to a journaling space and group webinars. An interesting aspect of these perks is that none of these journal prompts or group webinars appear to be based on biblical teachings or have a spiritual lean. This seems like a missed opportunity for this platform, as journaling with Bible verses or attending webinars on specific spiritual topics would be a really great addition for someone seeking out Christian-based therapy.
Who Is Faithful Counseling Right For?
Faithful Counseling would be great for those who identify with the Christian faith and who are over the age of 18.
Christians & People With Spiritual Needs
Faithful Counseling is dedicated solely to those who are in need of faith-based therapy. All therapists have to sign a Statement of Faith prior to providing services with Faithful Counseling. This statement, in part, holds therapists and members to the belief that the Bible is the word of God and that working in therapy will further your spiritual journey.
Adults 18-Years and Older
Faithful Counseling is available to those 18-years and older. They do not currently have availability for kids and teens.
Who Might Want an Alternative to Faithful Counseling?
Faithful Counseling offers a great service for those of the Christian faith, but those who are not interested in biblically-sensitive therapy may want to find an alternative. Those who need more intensive and longer therapy sessions, and kids and teens will also want to seek out an alternative to Faithful Counseling.
Secular Therapy Needs
For those looking for therapy that is not biblically based, you will want an alternative like BetterHelp or Talkspace. Both of these options will allow you to have a secular experience with a licensed therapist in your state. And Talkspace accepts many major insurance plans, which might make it a better choice for those seeking non-religious therapy.
You Want In-Person Therapy
Online therapy is not always a great fit for everyone, and those who need more intense and longer therapy sessions than Faithful Counseling can offer will want to seek an in-person option. A great place to start is by looking through an online therapist directory and reading therapist profiles.
Kids & Teens
Faithful Counseling is available to those 18+ so anyone under that age will need to seek an alternative. There are faith-based counseling services for kids and teens available in-person, and often, you can find these through your local church or parish. If you prefer your teen to seek a secular therapist, Teen Counseling is a great online option for those 13-years and older.
Faithful Counseling User Reviews
Faithful Counseling has a 4.8-star rating from 709 reviews in the Google Play Store and a 4.8-star rating from 2,400+ reviews in the Apple App Store.
Great In-App Extras
Several users mentioned they love the convenience of being able to text their therapist and share their journal entries with them. This is something that is often brought up about all of BetterHelp’s platforms and seems universally beloved. I also really like the in-app journal feature that BetterHelp has built into their apps, but I don’t often choose to share what I write with the therapist I am matched with.
Convenient & Easy
There were many four- and five-star reviews that mentioned how easy it was to connect with a therapist and how convenient it was to use the app. Several of these reviews mentioned that their therapists were really amazing and oftentimes truly helped them in their spiritual and mental health journeys.
Confused About Prices
Much like its parent site and sister sites, Faithful Counseling is advertised as a weekly cost of $60 – $90 depending on location. However, you will pay an upfront monthly cost for Faithful Counseling. The advertised weekly cost made users feel upset when they got to the final payment screen and were presented with a monthly bill. Several users asked how those of low income, students, and elder folks could afford these upfront costs. And while there is financial aid available, even that upfront cost was too steep for many.
App Needs Work
Like with its sister apps, Faithful Counseling has a few bugs that users have noticed over the years. The one that pops up the most frequently is how quiet the sound is during video calls. This issue seemed to be more prevalent with Android users over Apple users. I have noticed a similar problem with other online therapy platforms when using my Samsung phone for live therapy sessions. The only way I have found to fix this is to go into my main sound settings and turn all of the volume settings to their highest setting.
How Much Does Faithful Counseling Cost?
Faithful Counseling costs start at $240-$360 billed monthly (advertised as $60-$90 weekly) with the exact upfront costs depending on your location and therapist availability.
A Faithful Counseling subscription includes:
- One live, 30-minute weekly video, phone, or texting session
- A private chat room with your therapist
- Unlimited texting with the therapist any time, with responses to be expected at least once daily
If you cannot afford the out-of-pocket costs of Faithful Counseling, there is the option to apply for financial aid.
Faithful Counseling Discounts
Does Faithful Counseling Accept Insurance?
No, Faithful Counseling does not accept insurance for therapy at this time.
Out-Of-Network Benefits
According to the Faithful Counseling website, neither the platform nor the therapists on the platform will submit out-of-network claims to any health insurance providers. Therapists on Faithful Counseling will not provide superbills, as they cannot provide you with an official diagnosis.
How to Schedule Your First Therapy Session with Faithful Counseling
You can sign up for an account with Faithful Counseling on their website. This process is fairly straightforward, taking around ten minutes in total to complete.
To get started you will:
- Log onto the Faithful Counseling website, or download the app in the Google Play or Apple App Stores.
- Create your account and answer some questions about yourself, your religious preferences, and prayer routines.
- Verify your account via email and answer a few additional questions about your symptoms and therapist preferences.
- Pay for your first month’s subscription.
- Either online or in the app, familiarize yourself with the session room (the chatroom), the journal space, and the group webinars.
- Wait to be matched with your therapist.
- After matching, schedule and attend your fist live session.
Faithful Counseling: Detailed Review
Faithful Counseling is a subscription-based online therapy service for adults (18+) of the Christian faith. You can attend weekly, 30-minute live video, phone, or texting sessions with a biblically-sensitive, licensed therapist in your state. Each subscription is billed in one-month increments and starts at $240 – $360 monthly, depending on your location and therapist availability.
How Does Therapy Work on Faithful Counseling?
Therapy with Faithful Counseling is very much centered around the Christian belief system. However, during the sign-up process, you can choose how you want your spiritual beliefs to play into your therapy process. You can choose to keep things clinical, have biblical wisdom shared, recommendations of spiritual disciplines to check out, and if you want prayer to be a part of your sessions.
Signing up for Faithful Counseling is a very quick process, with the questionnaire taking around ten minutes to complete. After I paid for my subscription, it took just a few hours for me to be matched with a therapist. All of the technology used by Faithful Counseling is the exact same as its parent company, BetterHelp.
The Session Room
All live video and texting sessions happen in your “session room,” which also functions as your private chatroom. All video sessions are like a basic Zoom or Google Meets meeting, with just video and audio functionalities. Live phone sessions, however, will happen through your actual phone line. At your scheduled appointment time, you will get a call from an 800 number. When you answer this phone call, your therapist will be on the other end.
Prior to any live sessions, you will sign two consent forms and input your name, address, and phone number. These forms must be signed before you can attend any live sessions with your therapist.
A great perk to Faithful Counseling is the option to message your therapist anytime, 24/7. You can expect these messages to function more like emails, rather than the live, instant messaging option. There are the options to send audio or video messages in the app, as well as an option to send photos. This would be great for when you have something you really need to get off your chest but don’t need a real-time response.
The Journal
Your Faithful Counseling subscription will include an in-app or online journal. The journal will have a weekly view at the top, a suggested prompt to write about, and a space to type your thoughts. A cool thing about the journal space is you can select “See All” and a list of journal prompts will appear for you to choose from.
There are journal prompts for depression, anxiety, relationship issues, and general suggestions you can choose from when you select “See All.” Unfortunately, there is not a category dedicated to Bible verses or scripture to reflect on, which is definitely a missed opportunity for Faithful Counseling as a whole.
Group Webinars
The group webinars available on Faithful Counseling are included in your subscription and you can attend at no extra cost. All of the group webinars are led by licensed therapists or counselors on the BetterHelp platform and are generally hour-long, PowerPoint-style presentations.
The group webinars available on Faithful Counseling are:
- Skill Building Series
- Anger Management
- Trauma
- Anxiety & Depression
- Relationships
- Wellness
- Anxiety
- BetterHelp
- Employment
- Substance Abuse
Much like the journal prompts, there are no webinars specifically tailored towards those on Faithful Counseling. The closest webinar I could find to something that may work for someone of faith was a webinar called “Existentialism: A Path to Self Through Meaning Making.” The summary for this webinar said it was an introduction to an existentialist approach to therapy. The therapist I was matched with on Faithful Counseling uses existential therapy as her main clinical approach, so I felt this might make these types of webinar a good fit for those of faith.
Therapists Vetting & Credentials
Faithful Counseling is a subsidiary of BetterHelp and every therapist must first be accepted onto the main platform. All therapists and counselors on BetterHelp are licensed and accredited psychologists, licensed marriage and family therapists, licensed clinical social workers, or licensed professional therapists. All professionals on BetterHelp must have at least three years and 1,000 hours of hands-on experience.
According to BetterHelp, counselors must provide proper licensure documentation and proof of identity when they apply. BetterHelp then cross-checks their licensure information with their respective state licensing boards. Additionally, BetterHelp requires each therapist or counselor to complete a case study exam to be graded by a licensed clinician and evaluated in a video interview.
An additional step is required for those that want to provide services with Faithful Counseling. Any professional wishing to offer therapy or counseling with Faithful Counseling must sign and agree to their Statement of Faith. This statement, in part, reinforces the idea that the Bible is the word of God and that salvation is through God’s Grace alone.
Matching With a Therapist on Faithful Counseling
Matching with Faithful Counseling happens automatically based upon the answers you provide at the beginning of the sign-up process.
Can You Choose a New Therapist?
Yes, you can choose a new therapist at any time. In the app, tap “More,” then tap “Change Therapist.” The app will ask you why you think your therapist is not the right fit for you and ask you to update your therapist preferences. After you submit, you will be taken to a screen where you can self-select a new provider.
Faithful Counseling vs BetterHelp
Faithful Counseling is a subsidiary of BetterHelp, with their technologies, costs, and therapist pools all being the exact same. Therapist vetting and credentialing is all taken care of on the BetterHelp side of the company and it is a requirement that a therapist sign-up with BetterHelp in order to provide services with Faithful Counseling. The biggest difference between the two is that if you want to provide therapy on Faithful Counseling, you must opt into the platform and sign a Statement of Faith.
How Faithful Counseling Started
BetterHelp announced they were launching Faithful Counseling in January of 2018.(FN1) The main aim of Faithful Counseling is to help those of the Christian faith feel mentally, emotionally, and spiritually safe and supported. Not much is written about Faithful Counseling in the news or the media and is one of BetterHelp’s newer additions to their family.
To read more about BetterHelp, you can read our in-depth review here.
Frequently Asked Questions About Faithful Counseling
Can I Use My FSA/HSA to Pay for Faithful Counseling?
Faithful Counseling does not currently accept FSA or HSA cards to pay for therapy, however, there is an option to apply for financial aid during the signup process.
How Do I Cancel My Subscription With Faithful Counseling?
It is very simple to cancel your account in the app. Go to “more” and click on “My Account,” then scroll down to “Payment Settings.” You will see the option to “Change Membership/Quit Therapy,” simply click on this and select “Quit Therapy.”
Does Faithful Counseling Offer Refunds?
Faithful Counseling will offer refunds on a case-by-case basis and you can contact them at [email protected] for more information.
Is Faithful Counseling HIPAA Compliant?
Yes, Faithful Counseling has policies that are consistent with HIPAA standards , however, the company does not state that it is compliant with HIPAA regulations. Prior to any sessions (messaging or live sessions), you will be required to sign a form agreeing to their privacy policies.
To read more, please visit Faithful Counseling’s Terms and Conditions or Privacy Policy.
Final Verdict on Faithful Counseling
Overall, Faithful Counseling would be a good starting point for those of the Christian faith wishing to try online therapy for the first time. This is especially true for those of faith that perhaps want to keep their struggles private and away from their church family. However, Faithful Counseling doesn’t offer much in the way of daily scripture to journal about or any biblically-based group webinars to attend. This is definitely a missed opportunity for this platform and one I hope is remedied, because if so this would make Faithful Counseling a really amazing Christian-based therapy program.
