Spiritual Counseling
Developing A Deeper Understanding
of
How God Moves In Our Midst
What is Spiritual Counseling?
Spiritual counseling is not psychological counseling, but rather reflective listening and faith-filled prayer, that helps remind an individual that we are immersed in Spirit and God is always present in every situation, as a constant resource and a mirror to guide us in what needs to be healed or learned. Spiritual Counseling helps an individual relate spiritual principles and law to stories and situations that they find themselves in. Through this internal processing blocks are removed from our awareness, revealing a deeper understanding and connection in our life. You can search the world for your answers, but until you truly understand yourself and the way you silently, and unknowingly, engage the laws of the universe, the happiness, self-love, inner wisdom, peace and enlightenment you seek will most likely evade you. Let’s affirm, “I am open and receptive to the Infinite One’s inspiration, guidance and healing, flowing through me in this moment now.”
How Does Spiritual Counseling Work
While listening, your spiritual counselor will ask you gentle questions and reflect thoughts back to you. This will help you clarify in your own mind the issues before you. Your spiritual counselor does not offer specific solutions nor will he/she attempt to “fix” your problem. Instead, you will be encouraged to reach within yourself to your own inner guide to find your own best solution. As with other kinds of counseling, spiritual counseling affords you the opportunity to talk in confidence with someone who will hear you fully without exercising any form of personal judgment. Simply by being allowed to tell your story in your own words you will begin to feel great relief and comfort.
You are immersed in God’s Presence and with each breath you take you are filled by the Wisdom and Life of God; therefore you are never separate from God. In God’s eye you are filled with infinite potential and blessed with the abundance and wonder of life. This Infinite potential fills your being is a creative power that can solve any problem you face. Simply by shifting your attention away from the “external problem” to this “inner potential” will allow this wonderful, creative power to bring forth solutions that are in your highest and best interest. A Spiritual Counselor assists you in tapping into this “inner power.”
Have More Than One Problem?
As you are reminded of your divine inner potential and connection, you will be guided on how to use your own internal resources to find solutions. You will see that the key to every problem is an awareness of the presence of God in your life. Your spiritual counselor will support you to know this truth. They will show you how to access your “inner potential” – where all your answers resides, anytime and anywhere.
How Many Times Can I Receive
Spiritual Counseling?
One to three sessions should be sufficient to awaken you to your own internal guidance system. If the spiritual counselor, or you, feel that you would also benefit from another kind of counseling, you will be offered the name and phone number of a local therapist, who is trained to help you explore your problem in a psychological way.
Will My Counselor Keep My Confidence?
Unity’s ministers and Unity Licensed Teachers are certified as spiritual counselor and have received extensive training. As such, they are bound by a code of ethics, which requires total and absolute confidentiality. The only exception to the confidence requirement occurs when you tell the spiritual counselor something that violates the laws of the State of Oklahoma and requires them to report to law enforcement officials –this includes the abuse of a child.
What does it cost?
Unity Spiritual Life Center’s members are invited to leave a Love-Offering. Spiritual counseling and our entire ministry is supported entirely by the responsible giving of those who receive their spiritual inspiration and nourishment from this center.
The Non Unity member fee is $40 per hour. You may leave an appropriate gift with your counselor at the end of your visit. Checks should be made payable to Unity Spiritual Life Center and should indicate for spiritual counseling in the lower left hand corner.
“Give and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, it will be put into your lap. For the measure you will give will be the measure you get back. (Luke 6:38)
Our Spiritual Counselors
Rev. Patrick has received extensive training in spiritual counseling. He has many real life learning situations that pushed him to his limits before finding their way to Unity in 1986. At that time he became immersed in studying Unity’s Principles and gained in depth understanding of universal laws and how they were engaged in our daily living. It wasn’t long before Spirit nudged him to take a leap of faith and follow the ministerial path, so they might share his insights and understandings to help others who at times might struggle with life.
From 1990 – 1992 Rev. Patrick attended extensive trainings with Dr. John Gray, a world renown psychologist and author of What You Can Feel and Men are from Mars… and appeared with him on Oprah.
In 1997 Rev. Patrick graduated from Unity’s Ministerial Education Program which provided an in depth study and application of the tools of Spiritual Counseling. Both have continued to learn and teach how God works and moves in daily life.
Rev. Patrick received a BS in Psychology and Business Management with a focus in Human Resources when he graduated from James Madison University in Virginia in 1976, and was employed for 21 years in supervisory roles where he was provided lots of opportunity to use his college training.