Faithful Counseling Online Therapy Review

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), one in five American adults has mental health issues every year and yet, nearly half of adults with a mental illness do not seek treatment. There are many barriers to treatment, including stigma, affordability, and accessibility, but for some Christians, the idea of seeking mental health assistance from someone who does not share their faith feels uncomfortable.

This is the gap that the online therapy company Faithful Counseling is trying to bridge by offering “professional mental health therapy from a Biblical perspective.” To evaluate how well the company is achieving its mission, I signed up for services from Faithful Counseling and tested it over the course of three weeks. We also surveyed 105 users. Here’s how it fared against 54 other online therapy competitors.

What Is Faithful Counseling?

Faithful Counseling is an online therapy company that was founded in 2017 by its parent company, BetterHelp, as a means of providing Christian therapy seekers with a “spiritually informed” therapy experience. 

Today, the company has over 6,000 licensed therapists who are all professing Christians abiding by the company’s Statement of Faith. 

Faithful Counseling appears to have good word of mouth with users, as 71% of our respondents said they were either likely or very likely to recommend the service to a friend or someone like them.

What Services Does Faithful Counseling Offer?

The company only offers individual, faith-based therapy. It does not offer couples therapy, group therapy, or therapy to minors under the age of 18. It also does not offer medication management or psychiatry. 

Who Is Faithful Counseling For?

Faithful Counseling is for Christian therapy seekers. According to our user survey, it appears to be most popular with Protestant Christians. Fifty percent of our survey respondents identified as Protestant, while 18% said they were Catholic, 6% Orthodox Christian, 4% Mormon, and 1% Jehovah’s Witnesses. 

According to this statement, the company’s Christian perspective on therapy is based upon Paul’s appeal to the Corinthians to unite in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, regardless of differences. The four core tenets all counselors share are, briefly:

1. The Bible is the word of God.
2. God is at once the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
3. True Christian fellowship must be built on agape (Christ’s love).
4. Salvation can only come through Jesus Christ, who died for our sins and rose again.

How Much Does Faithful Counseling Cost?

Faithful Counseling costs around $60 to $90 per week, depending on where you live and when you sign up. 

The subscription is typically charged monthly, but after paying for your first month, you can adjust your payment preference to weekly or quarterly. Just keep in mind that your payment will go up if you choose to pay weekly, and if you pay quarterly, your payment will be lower.  

“Therapy at this company is reasonably priced,” says Nic Hardy, PhD, LCSW, one of our subject matter experts. “Based on the number of sessions allowed per month and unlimited messaging, their rates are on the lower end of industry standards,” Dr. Hardy says.  

Eighty-one percent of our surveyed users considered the pricing affordable, though. Another 73% rated the value they got for their money as either good, very good or excellent.  

Does Faithful Counseling Take Insurance?

No, Faithful Counseling doesn’t work directly with insurance companies or help to process insurance claims. 

Does Faithful Counseling Offer Discounts?

Faithful Counseling doesn’t offer free trials, but as a Verywell reader, you can get 20% off your first month’s subscription. In my case, my first month’s payment was reduced from $320 to $256 after the discount was applied.

If you want to save even more, you can apply for financial aid on the payment page to see if you qualify for an additional discount. The financial aid questionnaire will ask you basic questions regarding your financial status before giving you an instant decision on whether or not you qualify. For example, I applied for financial aid and got 40% off my subscription for the first three months.

Navigating the Faithful Counseling Website

The website is attractive and easy to navigate; 67% of surveyed users found it easy or very easy to navigate the website. The homepage is visually appealing, but offers less information than many other online therapy platforms we reviewed. It just has a large photo with a prompt to get started with the sign-up process, a brief summary of the company’s philosophy, and a Venn diagram with Faith Counseling’s logo at the center of circles labeled “professionally licensed,” “spiritually informed,” and “readily accessible.”

There is also a header with six tabs: Pricing, About, FAQ, Reviews, Contact, and Statement of Faith. 

As a result, it’s clear that the focus of the homepage is to get therapy seekers to sign up; a message that is hammered home by the fact that the “Get started” button appears three times on the page.

The website has no blog, which is disappointing as that would seem like a valuable resource for a company that aims to combat mental health stigma among Christians. 

It does have an FAQ section, though, which answers some of the questions therapy seekers might have. That said, the answers are not very comprehensive and this page fails to answer a few important questions, such as the therapy techniques used and the kinds of therapy offered by the company.

There’s also no dedicated page where you can check out the bios of the company’s therapists before signing up. The only way to access therapist bios is by going to the review page and individually clicking on the names of the therapists. Still, because you are matched to your therapist by an algorithm (more on that below), even if you find a therapist you’d like to work with on this part of the site, it is not guaranteed you will be matched with them.

How Do You Sign Up for Therapy at Faithful Counseling?

The sign-up process on the platform is quite straightforward. Fifty-five percent of users agreed and considered the process of looking for a therapist on this platform easy or very easy. 

First, click one of the many “Get started” buttons; this will redirect you to another page where you’ll be asked some basic questions, such as your gender, age, location, language, and relationship status.

Then, you’ll be asked questions about your overall health, issues for which you’re seeking therapy, and a few faith-based questions such as your denomination and how often you pray.

Just keep in mind that once you answer a question, the questionnaire doesn’t allow you to return to the previous question, so you’ll have to start all over if you want to change your response.   

When you complete the questionnaire, you will be asked to register an account with your first name (or nickname), email, and password. 

Once you’ve verified your email address, you will be redirected to the payment page where you can pay for your first month’s subscription—via Paypal, credit card, or Google Pay.

Getting Matched With a Therapist

Once you make your first payment, you will gain access to a personal portal. This is where you will have all your interactions with your therapist, whether it's messaging, phone calls, or video meetings.  

Faithful Counseling matches people with therapists fairly quickly. For instance, I got matched with my first therapist within five hours of signing up. 

After you’re matched with your therapist, you can schedule your live session with them directly through your personal portal or send them a message asking them to schedule you for a particular time. And, if you’re not happy with the therapist you were matched with, you can switch to another therapist (more on that below).

Of the users we surveyed, 85% rated their therapist qualifications as excellent, very good, or good, while 77% said their therapist met all or most of their needs. Another 19% said some of their needs were met. 

How Do Therapy Sessions Work at Faithful Counseling?

All therapy sessions at Faithful Counseling are scheduled and held through the personal portal. You can choose to log in to your portal through the website or a mobile app. 

You can communicate with your therapist either through video, phone calls, or live chat. But you’ll have to specify your preferred communication mode when scheduling each session. 

At Faithful Counseling, you only get one 30- to 45-minute live session per week. If you want more weekly sessions, you’ll be charged an extra $25 for each additional session. 

The actual length of each session depends on the availability of your therapist. Some therapists offer 30-minute sessions by default, some 45, and others will ask you for your preference. In my experience, I was able to switch from 30- to 45-minute sessions by asking my therapist. But that may not be the case for everyone. Once it’s time for your session, your therapist will initiate the video, phone call, or chat through the portal.

One of the things I loved about both therapists I worked with is that they always created the time to meet when I asked, even if the time was initially unavailable on their calendars. 

I personally had a great experience overall with Faithful Counseling and so did 86% of our surveyed users, who described their overall experience as either good, very good, or excellent. The phone call and video sessions were mostly fine, except for a couple of occasions where the video froze intermittently. 

Both therapists I met with were well qualified, genuinely helpful, and very responsive. At the end of each session, I walked away with actionable advice and I felt like I had learned something new about myself. By the time I finally cancelled my subscription, I felt I was meeting all my therapy goals. 

Outside of live sessions, you also get unlimited messaging with your therapist. The two therapists I tried out were very responsive even when I sent them long messages at late hours.

Missing or Rescheduling Sessions at Faithful Counseling

According to the company, if you miss your therapy session, you can request another free session within the same week or get two free sessions the next week.

If you want to reschedule or cancel your session, you typically need to do it at least 24 hours before the time. I was able to reschedule a session just one hour before the time by reaching out directly to my therapist. But that may not apply to everyone.

Switching Therapists at Faithful Counseling

Switching therapists on this platform can be done with a single click. All you have to do is go to the dropdown menu on the top right corner of your screen and select “Change Therapist.” This will lead you to a short questionnaire asking if you’ve informed your current therapist about the switch, why you’d like to switch, and what you’re looking for in your new therapist.

Once you specify your preferences, you get a list of therapists with a summary of their expertise and qualifications. You can then view the full bios of each therapist by clicking their name. The notable difference here is that you get to choose your new therapist instead of being matched with one. 

Forty-one percent of our surveyed users said they had to see two or more therapists. And, out of the 39 users that switched therapists, 87% said they were able to find a new therapist within a week at the most. 

Once you select your new therapist, you can start sending them messages immediately. Just keep in mind that once you change your therapist, all your conversation with your previous therapist gets deleted. So it may be a good idea to copy and save your conversation history if you think there’s something in there you might need with your new provider.

Cancelling Therapy at Faithful Counseling

You can easily cancel your subscription by going to the billing section from the top right corner of the homepage. Once you hit cancel, a questionnaire will appear asking why you want to cancel.

After answering this question, you will receive a message saying “your subscription will not be renewed.”

Quality of Care and User Satisfaction

As noted above, I had a good experience at Faithful Counseling. Both therapists were professional, qualified, and supportive, and I found the sessions helpful.

The users we surveyed had a similar experience. Seventy-nine percent said they were very likely or likely to recommend the company to a friend or someone like them and 70% said if they were restarting their search for a therapist, they’d come back to Faithful Counseling. In addition, 61% said they were very likely or likely to still be seeing their therapist at Faithful Counseling in a year. 

Of those that stopped therapy at Faithful Counseling, 60% said they had either reached all their goals or they were feeling better and felt they no longer needed therapy.

Privacy Policies at Faithful Counseling

Faithful Counseling does collect and use personal information such as age, sex, race, or sexual orientation for advertising purposes.

You should also keep in mind that although you can sign up with a nickname, you can’t use the service anonymously. Once you begin therapy, you’ll have to provide your real name and emergency contact information.

It’s important to note, however, that BetterHelp has been at the center of a lot of controversies regarding how it handles user data, and that it is not fully HIPAA-compliant.

Faithful Counseling vs. Its Competitors

“The main distinguisher of Faithful Counseling is its focus on Christianity,” Dr. Hardy says. “According to the site, all therapists listed self-identify as Christian, but also, have the credentials of a licensed professional (e.g., LCSW, PhD, LMFT, etc.).” 

Most online therapy companies have filters that allow a user to select a religious/spiritual preference, but an online therapy company that focuses entirely on Christian therapy is unique. It helps take the guesswork out of the equation for those seeking a Christian therapist.

Faithful Counseling is also a bit more affordable than many other online therapy companies out there. So, it may be an acceptable choice for those who are uninsured or underinsured. Eighty-one percent of our surveyed users considered Faithful Counseling to be affordable. 

Of those who had used another online therapy service in the past, 87% considered Faithful Counseling to be somewhat better. 

Faithful Counseling was the only Christian therapy company we re-reviewed this year. Last year, we reviewed users at four other companies: Cornerstone Christian Counseling Center, Christian Therapist on Demand, MyCounselor.Online, and Grace Wellness. 

However, both Cornerstone Christian Counseling Center and MyCounselor.Online had statements of faith and codes of ethics for its therapists that contained troubling language regarding the LGBTQ+ community. We also chose not to re-review Grace Wellness center because it used some pseudo-science techniques, like Splankna therapy, and we did not re-review Christian Therapist on Demand due to its error- and typo-ridden website. 

Faithful Counseling was the only faith-based company we were left able to recommend.

Final Verdict

Faithful Counseling is an excellent choice for Christian therapy seekers looking for a therapist with a faith-based background. Its therapists are fully licensed and spiritually informed, which makes for a customized experience for Christians. Plus, it offers discounts and financial aid. 

Many of our surveyed users had a good experience with this service. Ninety-four percent of respondents rated Faithful Counseling as either good, very good, or excellent. Fifty-eight percent said they will likely continue to see a Faithful Counseling therapist six months from now, while another 63% said they would start their search here again if they needed a new therapist.

Methodology

To fairly and accurately review the best online therapy programs, we sent questionnaires to 55 companies and surveyed 105 current users of each. This allowed us to directly compare services offered by gathering qualitative and quantitative data about each company and its users’ experiences.

Specifically, we evaluated each company on the following factors: website usability, the sign-up and therapist matching processes, therapist qualifications, types of therapy offered, the service's quality of care, client-therapist communication options, session length, subscription offerings, client privacy protections, average cost and value for money, whether it accepts insurance, how easy it is to change therapists, overall user satisfaction, and the likelihood that clients would recommend them.

We also signed up for the companies in order to get a sense of how this process worked, how easy to use the platform is, and how therapy takes place at the company. Then, we interviewed two therapists we found who either currently work or worked for this company in the past and worked with three subject matter experts to get their expert analysis on how suited this company is to provide quality care to therapy seekers.