Caring for the Whole Person

We are all designed uniquely and live uniquely.  Every person that we encounter is shaped by the interwoven threads of mind, body, and spirit as well as relationships, work, education, culture, community, and history.  As such, Harbor Christian Counseling Oregon seeks to care for the whole person through services that take into account this full range of formative influences.  Caring for the whole person also means that we partner with our clients to address unwanted or problematic behaviors while gradually moving deeper to explore root issues that might be hampering growth.  We approach counseling from an integrative perspective that expresses biblical truth alongside evidence-based theory and practice.  Though we operate from a Christian foundation, Harbor Christian Counseling Oregon welcomes clients from all faith backgrounds, including those with no religious affiliation at all, and we intentionally engage with each person according to their expressed preferences and interests.

You can read further about our integrative approach to counseling in the "Statement of Practice" below - or contact us directly to learn more for yourself.

Harbor Christian Counseling Oregon provides biblically informed, gospel driven, and clinically skilled counseling services for individuals, couples, and families in the Oregon area.

Biblically Informed

Our view of people is fully informed by the revealed truth of Scripture.  Our baseline assumption is that every person reflects both the glory of God and the frailty of human sin in every area of life.  We recognize the inherent dignity, meaning, value, and purpose that comes from being made in God’s own image.  At the same time, we recognize that the heart is deceitful, the mind is distorted, and relationships are disrupted with God, others, and self as a result of sin’s corrupting grip on humanity.  Whatever the need or concern that brings a person to counseling, treatment will always be oriented around these fundamental biblical truths about the human condition.

Gospel Driven

In Scripture we also find that God is passionately committed to the rescue and renewal of His people.  As He spoke through the prophet Isaiah, God is on mission “to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives” and “to grant to those who mourn…a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.”  This good news was ultimately fulfilled through Jesus Christ, as God took on human flesh, gave himself up to the cross for us, and was resurrected to glory on our behalf.

We regard counseling as an expression of God’s ongoing mission to heal, restore, and liberate where suffering, brokenness, and captivity exists within an individual or a relationship.  To that end, the possibility for real change and growth through counseling depends not on sheer human effort or ability, whether from the counselor or the counselee, but on the empowering ministry of the Holy Spirit at work throughout the therapeutic process.

Our aim in counseling is not to help clients become “better people,” either in a moral or religious sense.  Our aim is rather to come alongside clients and enable them to become more whole people with a fuller grasp of the life that God intends.  Treatment seeks to address the emotional, psychological, behavioral, and spiritual barriers that hinder clients while also encouraging clients to experience the grace and mercy of the gospel at the deep inflection points of their life.

Clinically Skilled

Harbor Christian Counseling Oregon services carefully integrate psychological theories and evidence-based psychotherapy techniques into a fundamentally biblical approach to treatment. Our staff have received graduate-level education, specialized training, and clinical experience in order to provide competent professional care while also grounding their practice with a mature, committed faith and sound theology. While treatment is always rooted in biblical truth, we believe that certain aspects of psychology and psychotherapy lend a helpful complementary framework for understanding and effectively treating complex internal and interpersonal dynamics. Furthermore, our approach to counseling is holistic, in that it recognizes the interconnectedness of mind, body, spirit, relationships, community, history, and culture when considering any issues of need or growth. We highly value cross-cultural competence and are committed to providing care that is well-equipped to meet the needs of a diverse city.