A Space Where Your Whole Self Is Welcome
For many people of faith, finding a counsellor feels like a quiet compromise: someone who understands the psychological side of things but treats your spiritual life as something to work around rather than work with. Or someone who speaks the language of faith but doesn't have the clinical grounding to go deeper.
I offer something different. My approach to Christian counselling integrates genuine psychological training with a personal, lived Christian faith, not as two separate things held awkwardly together, but as perspectives that, at their best, point toward the same things: healing, wholeness, and becoming more fully who you are.
What Faith-Informed Counselling Looks Like
Christian counselling at Roots & Resilience isn't a separate program or a different set of techniques. It's the same evidence-based, attachment-focused therapy I offer to all my clients, with the door open to bring your faith into the room if that feels meaningful to you.
What that might look like in practice:
Making space for spiritual questions: Questions about meaning, identity, suffering, and belonging are some of the most common reasons people come to counselling. For people of faith, those questions often have a spiritual dimension. We can explore them together.
Faith as a resource, not a problem to solve: Your beliefs, your community, your relationship with God — these can be genuine sources of strength and grounding. I work with them, not around them.
Integration, not compartmentalization: Many Christians have learned to keep their inner world and their faith world separate. Counselling can be a space to bring those together in ways that feel authentic rather than forced.
No assumptions, no agenda: I don't bring a specific theological position into the room or assume your tradition looks like mine. This is your faith, your story. My role is to help you make sense of it in a way that serves your healing.
My Own Faith
I'm Mark Walters, a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) with a Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy (MA MFT) and seven years in practice working with individuals, couples, and families in Abbotsford and across BC.
I'm a Christian myself, and that's not something I set aside when I sit across from a client. My faith has shaped the way I understand people: that we are made for connection, that suffering can be a place of genuine transformation, that belonging and becoming who we are aren't in competition with each other.
Clinically, my work is grounded in Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) and attachment theory, alongside acceptance-based approaches and elements of CBT. I believe that wounding and healing both happen in relationship, and that for many people, their relationship with God is part of that story. That's not something I impose, but it's something I know how to hold with care when it comes up.
I hold my faith lightly in the therapeutic space. Not everyone I work with shares it, and not everyone who does wants to integrate it into their counselling. What I offer is a counsellor who understands faith from the inside, someone you don't have to explain yourself to if you choose to bring it in.
Who This Is a Good Fit For
Christian counselling may be a good fit if you're:
- A person of faith navigating anxiety, depression, grief, or relationship challenges and wanting a counsellor who genuinely understands that dimension of your life
- Working through spiritual questions, religious transitions, or experiences of spiritual hurt or disillusionment
- Looking for a faith-informed space for premarital counselling or couples work
- Simply wanting a counsellor whose worldview resonates with yours, even if faith doesn't come up explicitly in every session
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Premarital counselling is a great fit within a faith-informed context, and it's something I genuinely enjoy. Whether you're looking to build communication skills, work through differences, or simply start your marriage with intention, I'd love to support you in that.
Not at all. While I'm happy to integrate faith for those who want it, my practice is open to everyone. Many clients come to me with no interest in bringing spirituality into their sessions, and that's completely fine.
Not unless you'd like to. My approach is grounded in evidence-based psychotherapy, though faith elements are available as a resource if they're meaningful to you, but not the default.
That's a valid and important part of your story, and it's welcome in the room. Spiritual hurt and religious disillusionment are things I work with thoughtfully, and I won't minimize or rush past them.
Yes. I see clients virtually via secure telehealth for anyone in British Columbia, in addition to in-person sessions at my Abbotsford office.
Ready to Get Started?
If you're looking for a counsellor who can hold both the psychological and the spiritual with care, I'd be glad to connect.
Roots & Resilience Counselling
34334 Forrest Terrace, 252Abbotsford, BC
V2S 1G7 View Staff & Treatments
