My name is Amy Smith and I have been a counselor, case manager, social worker, teacher and instructor for over 16 years. Monarch Counseling Services was created out of the transformation process that comes naturally throughout the process of the healing journey. I have been called to help those that desire to commit to their own healing process and am honored to be present in that process.

The origin story will be different, but the language of pain we speak is all the same. Suffering is suffering though it may have unique narratives and manifestations. Much like a woven tapestry with a loose thread, so is the healing process, an unraveling, an undoing. Discomfort along the way which often begs the question: “How long will I remain the same and what will it take for me to change?”

Often in life, there is a medic dispatched for our physical health when in a crisis, how quickly we seek out attention for our physical wounds; but with what do we regard our mental health with? Often the shadow of shame and stigma, perhaps the human ego, or pride holds a script that plays in the background, almost a knowing.

Would asking for help mean to admit failure?

Can I trust a counselor while navigating through an aftermath of broken trust and betrayal?

If I have already faced exploitation and vulnerability will it be hard for me, how can I let my guard down in a counseling session?

Our relationship to pain plays an intricate part to healing as a whole, on every level, by nature we have a will to survive, pain is often treated as a plague to avoid. But pain as a teacher, pain as an illuminator, as it is inevitable, while not often welcomed, even pain serves a purpose. “Attitude of gratitude” and “one day at a time” often hold the eye roll trophy for most cliched and sayings mentioned in the tone of disdain. But, they are helpful.

What season are we in? Recognition of this can help to reframe, to reflect. What is it that’s unbearable? What begs for change but has been filed under the category of willful ignorance and wishful thinking?

Often in the myriad of the mess, comes the truth, whether unspoken or ignored that the bomb has obliterated the world we once knew and we woke up with an unwanted, unasked for new reality in a war we never asked for; a one way ticket into what we deemed hell. There will be no return trip. There’s nothing to return to.

Grief, while often in the same vein of pain, a downcast glance if ever having to face it, always exists for a reason and can often bring about the realization of lack that lead to self actualization. Emotions need not be judged or categorized as “good/bad/right/wrong” they merely exist. Beyond catch phrases and pop culture psychology, the way the brain works, does explain but doesn’t provide solutions, possible answers but rarely does it have the clout to contend with inner turmoil. Medication holds a place, a possibility an alleviation, an assistance but rarely is it a cure.

what is counseling then?

It is the choice to be present. it is the means to be different and beyond the norm. it is the choice to be with another person in their suffering. unphased. Undaunted.

It’s the permission to heal.

It’s not reliving, re-experiencing or time traveling. The versions of ourselves that faced trauma and pain, they remain as part of that tapestry, but the past, no matter how fresh in our mind, cannot be resurrected. Whoever we were then, we changed.

Counseling isn’t the cliched Freudian couch trip. Pop culture today begs that we self-diagnose, that we post you tube videos on our soap boxes, lamenting to the masses that we have a diagnosis and we must have an audience in order to what? Process? We need not justify our struggles, vindicate our pain or demand sympathy from strangers.

Who are we? Apart from pain, apart from labels, apart from diagnosis?

Therapy and psychology, counseling even play a helpful role in the healing journey but honestly it falls short if you leave out Jesus Christ.

Counseling for over a decade into 16 plus years and beyond I can communicate and educate how our brain works, I can regurgitate my college education, I can quote theories; I can offer explanations as to why the human condition is so filled with suffering; But really addressing symptoms doesn’t get to the heart of it, to the root of it. Addiction is only a symptom to a greater heart and soul issue. “It serves while it destroys.” No more than losing ourselves in the gym, substances, idols or taking a trip into self-help guru land and drowning out the soul cry into podcast heaven….

Psychology is but a mere peace of the puzzle it is not the answer.

Christ centered counseling is not spinning the wheel of scripture to see which one we land on, then throwing it at a suffering soul and hoping it sticks somehow. It is not making blanket statements or relying on diagnosis and medication alone. While those have a place, while they serve a purpose, again, they are part of the process, they aren’t the end game answer.

By no means can anyone bear the title as an expert on people as only the one who formed us in the womb could boast that title and even He, the most humble of all (He invented humility) wouldn’t boast.

A real counselor, is one who says “If you’re ready, I’m ready.”

I can’t fix you, I would never be so co-dependent or presumptuous to advertise that. But…”I know a guy.”

What is “Christian Counseling”?

Let’s clear up some myths or possible misconceptions. Christian Counseling is still available to anyone even if they don’t profess Christianity. Why? Jesus did not discriminate against those that he was moved by compassion to help. Period. This isn’t about brainwashing, condemnation, judgement or conversion. This is about healing and recovery.

Christian counseling is not pop psychology that adheres to “relevant” or “ear tickling” information that sounds good but does not deliver sustainable clarity or help. It is not “pop a pill, here’s a worksheet, take a deep breath and journal,” Or make sure people “hold space” for you.

Personal responsibility, while unpopular is invaluable, it seems like the sayings “this is the worst and I can’t even” is the motto across the board; Personal responsibility says, I’m willing to hold up a mirror on how I think and respond to this life and what I’ve been through. It is not guilt or shame ridden. It is not false humility. Its the ability to confront reality, address the past from an accompanied safe place, even being willing to surrender the ego, the perceived sense of self, embracing autonomy and rightfully pursuing healing.

Christian counseling does not abandon the Bible. It doesn’t promote “truth” apart from it. The gospel, the scripture remains sacred and intact. We do not make or speak “our own truth”, that is dangerous ground and shifting sand. Especially from a place of brokenness and pain, that which blinds, if unhealed, begs the question to what are you measuring truth to?

Christian counseling is not enablement, it is healthy validation and a source of comfort. You aren’t traveling alone this time. It is an invitation to have a companion on the journey. It isn’t asking for a human to replace the Savior. It is two human beings that are turning to the ultimate and only Savior, Jesus Christ.

Christian counseling is transformation. Hence the name, Monarch Counseling Services. It is the process, while there will be discomfort, challenges along the way, there is the hope of a new and brighter outcome, a better life, peace. Beyond survival mode. Beyond the shadow of the past and feeling the weight of victimization. It is not false promises that end in disappointment. This is not a program that boasts in six months, all will be better. Progress always depends upon the commitment of the progressor. The counselor is not responsible for the internal change, they are external assistance to an already on going process that God Himself is orchestrating. It is God himself, the healing of Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit that is what brings a redeemed life to a place of peace and comfort.

While your story may include chapters of pain, trauma and wounds; it’s not the ending of your book. God doesn’t rewrite those chapters, He removes the pain attached to them. They are still part of our story but we can speak of how He brought us through them. How He never abandoned us. How He never left. Even when it felt like we were forgotten and forsaken. He can make it as though it never was. And the narrative changes from a feeling of helplessness to a report of hopefulness.

Christian counseling is for anyone who is willing to commit to their own healing process. The good, the bad and the ugly. The valleys and the mountain tops. A celebration of the wins and the momentum toward the trajectory of the future.The truth when it hurts and the healing when its time. Its not overnight and it’s not something that can be bought “as seen on tv”. It is a choice.

If you’re ready to make that choice, there is help. What will it cost? Well, what are you willing to surrender? Jesus is patient but He asks for surrender. This is contrary to popular belief that you have to “get over it”, “deal with it”, “pull yourself up by your own bootstraps”. To ask for help and commit to that is not to admit failure or weakness. It’s to choose the life of one who is determined to be healed in the name of Jesus.

What does healing look like? It’s not linear, it’s messy. It’s not glorifying “triggers” it’s an awareness of them. It’s not idolizing diagnosis, it’s realizing that this is only taking inventory to the symptoms. It’s not allowing the symptoms to become our identity. It’s a realization that our identity is not our pain or our past. It is not taking ownership of our symptoms “my anxiety” or “my disorder”. It is becoming firmly rooted in Christ and understanding who we are apart from those things. Who we were before the world got it’s hands on us, we are actually in the hands of the one who holds the world.

So are you ready?

Are you ready to heal?

To do the work, with help?

The services I offer are;

One on One counseling: Weekly meetings (on-line) scheduled mid-week phone call check ins (optional), text updates and email entries.

Sessions begin at: $35 an hour.

Pre-marital or Married couples counseling: Weekly meetings (on-line), scheduled mid week phone call check ins (optional).

Whether just beginning or experiencing areas in need of attention, these services are client specific and uniquely tailor made to the couple.

Sessions begin at: $70 an hour.

Tutoring and mentorship for those seeking to become counselors: This is an in depth look into what it means to be a counselor, social worker, case manager. How to have proper boundaries, how to effectively help, etc.

Sessions begin at: $35-70 an hour

Group sessions: Topic specific. (willing to travel to churches for speaking engagements)

Sessions begin at: $70 per hour.