Providing Faith-Informed Therapy to Christian Couples

Christian couples frequently turn to both clergy and therapists when navigating relationship distress, spiritual conflict, or family challenges. Yet many helping professionals have not received formal training in how to responsibly integrate faith and clinically-relevant issues for couples. This continuing education course is designed for mental health professionals and clergy seeking to strengthen their competence in spiritually integrated couples work with clients from Christian backgrounds.  The training examines how a Christian worldview may influence beliefs about marriage, roles, sexuality, conflict, and forgiveness, and demonstrates how these perspectives can be addressed in clinical practice in an ethical, client-centered, and culturally responsive manner. Participants will learn structured approaches for assessing spiritual and religious dynamics within couples and for translating faith-informed relationship goals into evidence-based clinical interventions. Through case examples and applied clinical discussion, the course addresses common themes, including: - gender roles - religious discrepancy between partners - infidelity and forgiveness - sexual ethics - church and community influence & - the spiritualization of mental health concerns. In addition, participants will learn how to translate spiritual language and goals (e.g., “a godly marriage,” “biblical roles,” “forgiveness”) into evidence-based clinical processes using Gottman Method, Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), and Relational Life Therapy (RLT). Ethical considerations such as informed consent, therapist self-awareness, collaboration with clergy, and documentation of spiritually integrated care are emphasized throughout. This training is intended to enhance clinicians’ ability to integrate clients’ religious and spiritual beliefs into couples therapy in ways that respect client autonomy, maintain professional boundaries, and support clinically sound, ethically grounded care. The course does not promote or endorse any specific religious belief system but focuses on improving clinical competence when working with clients who identify with a Christian faith tradition.

1. Explain the ethical rationale for integrating spirituality and religion into couples therapy with Christian clients. 2. Differentiate the ways faith can function as a coping resource, stressor, or relational conflict driver within a biopsychosocial-spiritual framework. 3. Conduct a structured spiritual assessment that evaluates both individual and relational faith dynamics in Christian couples. 4. Analyze common clinical themes in work with Christian couples — including roles and authority, religious discrepancy, infidelity, sexual ethics, community influence, and spiritualization of mental health concerns — and apply appropriate treatment considerations. 5. Integrate faith-informed language and goals into evidence-based couples therapy interventions drawn from Gottman Method, Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), and Relational Life Therapy (RLT).

Q1: How many CE credit hours does this course provide? This course provides 3.5 continuing education (CE) credit hours upon successful completion, including passing the module quizzes. Q2: Who is this course designed for? This course is designed for licensed mental health professionals — including Licensed Professional Counselors (LPCs), Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists (LMFTs), Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSWs), and psychologists — who want to ethically integrate faith-based approaches into their clinical work with couples. Q3: Is this course entirely online and self-paced? Yes. The course is fully online and self-paced. You can complete all 3 modules and 31 lessons at your own convenience from any device. Q4: What therapeutic models are covered in this course? The course integrates three evidence-based therapeutic frameworks: the Gottman Method, Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), and Relational Life Therapy (RLT). You will learn how to incorporate these approaches within a faith-informed clinical context. Q5: Do I need to be a Christian therapist to take this course? No. This course is designed for any licensed therapist who works with or wants to be better equipped to work with Christian couples. Whether you share the faith perspective or not, the clinical skills and ethical frameworks taught are valuable for providing competent, culturally responsive care. Q6: What is faith-informed therapy? Faith-informed therapy is a clinical approach that ethically integrates a client's spiritual beliefs and religious values into the therapeutic process. Unlike faith-directed or pastoral counseling, faith-informed therapy is grounded in evidence-based clinical practice and professional ethics while honoring the client's spiritual worldview. Q7: How long do I have to complete the course? Once enrolled, you have lifetime access to the course materials. There is no deadline for completion. Q8: What is the H.O.P.E. Model? The H.O.P.E. Model is a proprietary clinical framework developed by Dale Pickett, LPC, specifically for faith-informed couples therapy. It provides a structured approach to integrating spiritual assessment with evidence-based couples interventions.