Hello and welcome to 2026 my newly rebooted webpage.
From here, you are able to contact me to book either a spiritual counseling session or a clinical mental health session. What’s the difference, you ask? Good question. I will break this down and you can decide what serves your need right now.
The first most important qualifier, is I am a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in the State of New York. Regulations prevent us from practicing counseling outside of our license state, so I am currently restricted to New York residents. However, I do plan to expand my practice to include New Jersey, Connecticut and California residents when I am able. As a trained spiritual counselor and companion, I am able to serve clients from around the country, as these restrictions do not apply. All of my counseling is done on Zoom, which is a secure platform.
I will start with what are the commonalities of spiritual counseling and mental health counseling are, as far as I practice these modalities. In both cases, I seek to be a support to you as you explore and navigate your life. I practice unconditional high regard with warmth, empathy and humor. I made a vow as an interspiritual minister that my goal in service is to help my client’s help themselves towards healing and wholeness. Secondly, both spiritual counseling and mental health counseling are professions guided by ethical standards of care. You can be assured that our time together is a safe, secure and supportive space with respect for confidentiality, and an understanding that mandated reporting laws apply.
As for differences, there are some key points. With mental-health counseling, we will assess what challenges you face and focus on setting therapy goals to help you overcome these challenges, traumas and behavioral issues that cause distress and impact your daily functioning in a negative way. My goal is to facilitate healing, and I believe the first step towards mental wellness is finding hope that we can recover. I meet you as one human being to another; not as your diagnosis. My approach to treatment is holistic, strength-based, trauma-informed, culturally sensitive and person-centered. Modalities include a variety of evidence-based practices including cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectal behavioral therapy (DBT), motivational interviewing (MI), Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) and Expressive Arts Therapy. I am also training in the trauma treatment of Internal Family Systems. I work with adults across the age-spectrum and with a variety of mental health challenges including addiction, depression, anxiety, trauma disorders, bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder. This work is focused on problem-solving, psychoeducation, and learning new and more effective ways of thinking and being in the world.
In terms of spiritual counseling, this is a wellness-oriented practice which centers the question, “Where is God in all of this?” In terms of God, as an interspiritual minister, I support YOUR understanding of the Divine that brings you peace, comfort and inspiration. My clients range from progressive Christians to spiritual but not religious individuals, Spiritualists, Pagans, Santeros, 12-step, New Age and all Nature-based practices. This work relies heavily on learning to access your own inner wisdom in order to grow. It is not so much about fixing “what’s wrong with us,” but realizing and embracing wholeness. I think the biggest difference from clinical mental health is where the former focuses on strengthening and embracing our sense of self; the latter focuses on joining this healed sense of self with a Higher Power which can only lead towards transformation. In session, I often utilize guided journeys, psychic readings or oracle cards so that the presence of Spirit can be welcomed in our sessions.
I hope this sketch has helped you in terms of making your selection as to which type of counseling is right for you now. In terms of financial concerns; I do take a wide range of insurance and this information is available on my Headway booking site here: Headway Wendy Van Allen LMHC
If you would like to book a spiritual counseling session with me; I accept payment through PayPal, Zelle and Venmo and I have a sliding scale of $85-125/session. Most of my clients book monthly. You may book here on this website or email: wendyvanallenlmhc@gmail.com
Thank you for visiting my web page and Happy New Year!
