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I have been walking alongside others in the counseling relationship for almost 20 years. My heart is to see my clients set free to live life more fully and joyfully. I enjoy helping people know and understand themselves and God better, so they can enter into life and relationships with a greater degree of freedom and love.

We are made for relationships. But it is also in relationships where we have been most wounded. I work together with my clients to allow the counseling relationship to be a safe place to be known and to be real in order to work through issues of grief, depression, anxiety, trauma, disappointment, attachment, and struggle, to find healing.

I draw from my own experiences and personal walk with my Savior and God’s word.  Our core values at NCF have been profoundly shaped by the principles of Sonship and fundamentally shape my perspective on counseling and who we are as God’s people.

I also

• utilize various modalities of treatment from Dialectal Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Attachment Theory, Biblical mindfulness practices, EFT and other anxiety reducing techniques.
• have a special interest in nutrition and exercise.
• have experience working with those struggling with depression, anxiety, trauma, grief, domestic violence, body image, and eating disorders-including food addiction, anorexia, and bulimia, self-harming behaviors, attachment and adjustment issues, sexual abuse recovery, identity, adoption and relationship issues.
• have specialized in working with adolescent girls and women but also enjoy pre-martial and marriage counseling.

My undergraduate degree is from Taylor University and I completed graduate studies at Covenant Theological Seminary, receiving a Master’s Degree in Counseling. I’ve been married for 27 years and have three children who are now teenagers/young adults. My family is mixed racially through adoption. In my free time, I take any chance I get to be outdoors. I run, hike, kayak, camp, and garden. I also love to read, cook, and enjoy being creative.

I work in conjunction with our New City University City counseling team, which includes Suzanne Bates and Mike Parker. To reach either of them please call the Hodiamont office at 314-726-2302. We work on a sliding scale. Scholarships are available for church members and those in need. Individual, marriage, and family counseling are available. I can be reached at 314-488-0253 or svandenbrink@ncfstl.org.