For many people, faith is central to identity, meaning, and the way they understand mental health and wellbeing. Psychological care that takes faith seriously — rather than ignoring or dismissing it — is more effective, more respectful, and more aligned with what clients actually need.
Our registered psychologists in Melbourne offer faith-sensitive psychological care, including for Christian clients, across four clinic locations and via Telehealth.
WorkCover, NDIS or TAC approved? YOU PAY NOTHING.
If your claim has been approved, we bill your funder directly. Zero out-of-pocket cost — no gap, no upfront payment, nothing.
Faith-sensitive psychology integrates evidence-based psychological approaches with genuine respect for the client’s religious and spiritual values, beliefs, and community context. It does not require the psychologist to share the client’s faith — but it does require genuine respect and understanding of its role in the client’s life (Pargament, 2007).
We provide psychological support for:
Faith-sensitive psychological support may help when:
Spirituality and religious involvement are significantly associated with positive mental health outcomes — including lower depression, better coping, and greater resilience — when the religious environment is healthy (Koenig et al., 2012).
For people of faith, religion provides frameworks for meaning, moral decision-making, community, and coping — all of which are highly relevant to psychological wellbeing (Pargament, 2007). Psychological care that ignores or undermines this foundation is less effective and may feel invalidating.
Faith-sensitive care:
Spiritually integrated psychological therapy produces significantly better outcomes for religious clients than standard secular approaches (Worthington et al., 2011).
We provide evidence-based psychological care with genuine faith sensitivity:
Standard CBT adapted to incorporate the client’s religious beliefs, values, and practices as resources — rather than treating them as obstacles to cognitive change. Spiritually adapted CBT produces superior outcomes to standard CBT for religious clients (Worthington et al., 2011).
Scrupulosity is a form of OCD in which intrusive thoughts focus on religious or moral themes — fear of sin, blasphemous intrusions, excessive concern with confessing. ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention) adapted for religious content is the evidence-based treatment (Abramowitz et al., 2002).
For people who have experienced harm within religious institutions — spiritual abuse, coercive religious control, or exploitation by religious leaders — trauma-informed therapy that holds the complexity of preserving faith while healing from the harm of its misuse.
Supporting people navigating bereavement, suffering, or loss of faith within a Christian framework — including the ‘dark night of the soul’ and spiritual deconstruction — drawing on grief therapy and meaning reconstruction approaches.
Our psychologists approach faith with genuine respect. We will not attempt to change your beliefs — our goal is to help you flourish within the values and life that matter most to you.
Your first appointment is a space to share your faith background, your current difficulties, and what you hope to achieve. Your faith is welcome here.
You do not need to share your psychologist’s faith tradition for care to be genuinely faith-sensitive. What matters is genuine respect for your beliefs.
We see people from all Christian traditions — Catholic, Protestant, Pentecostal, Orthodox, and non-denominational — as well as people of other faiths seeking faith-sensitive care.
We offer appointments in-clinic at our Mooroolbark, Wheelers Hill, Reservoir, and Melbourne CBD locations, as well as Telehealth sessions from anywhere in Australia.
WorkCover, NDIS or TAC approved? YOU PAY NOTHING.
If your claim has been approved, we bill your funder directly. Zero out-of-pocket cost — no gap, no upfront payment, nothing.
Do I have to see a Christian psychologist to get faith-sensitive care?
No. Effective faith-sensitive psychology requires respect and understanding of your faith — not necessarily a shared religious identity. Our psychologists are trained in faith-sensitive approaches and genuinely respectful of religious belief.
Will my faith beliefs be challenged or pathologised?
No. We treat your faith with genuine respect. Psychological work may explore how particular beliefs interact with your mental health — but we will never tell you what to believe or imply that faith itself is a problem.
What if I am struggling with religious OCD?
Religious OCD (scrupulosity) is a well-recognised and highly treatable form of OCD. ERP adapted for religious content is highly effective and will not require you to abandon your faith — it targets the OCD, not the faith.
Can I access Medicare rebates?
Yes. Depression, anxiety, OCD, trauma, and other mental health conditions are within the scope of Medicare-rebated psychological therapy via a Mental Health Care Plan — regardless of the faith-sensitive framework of treatment.
Your faith is part of who you are. We’re here to support your mental health — and to respect everything that gives your life meaning.
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Abramowitz, J. S., Huppert, J. D., Cohen, A. B., Tolin, D. F., & Cahill, S. P. (2002). Religious obsessions and compulsions in a non-clinical sample: The Penn Inventory of Scrupulosity (PIOS). Behaviour Research and Therapy, 40(7), 825–838. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0005-7967(01)00070-5
Koenig, H. G., King, D. E., & Carson, V. B. (2012). Handbook of religion and health (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.
Pargament, K. I. (2007). Spiritually integrated psychotherapy: Understanding and addressing the sacred. Guilford Press.
Worthington, E. L., Jr., Hook, J. N., Davis, D. E., & McDaniel, M. A. (2011). Religion and spirituality. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 67(2), 204–214. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.20760
