For a long time, I thought seeking therapy might mean I wasn’t trusting God enough.
And as a woman of faith, that was difficult for me to reconcile.
In 2019, I went through a life-changing traumatic experience. It’s something I choose to keep private, and I don’t think I need to share the details of what happened to talk about what came afterward.
What I can say is that it changed my life.
For the next couple of years, I tried to process everything I had experienced. I prayed. I meditated. I leaned into my faith.
But eventually, I realized there were things I was carrying that I didn’t quite know how to work through on my own.
In 2021, two years after everything happened, I began considering therapy for the first time in my life.
And surprisingly, one of the biggest things holding me back wasn’t embarrassment.
It was my faith.
I Wondered If Seeking Therapy Meant I Had Little Faith
I believed in prayer.
I believed God could heal.
I believed I could bring everything I was carrying directly to Him.
So there was a part of me that wondered:
If I seek therapy, am I saying prayer isn’t enough?
That question weighed heavily on me.
I didn’t want seeking professional help to become a reflection of how much—or how little—I trusted God.
So naturally, I did the very thing I knew how to do.
I prayed about it.
And ironically, prayer became part of what gave me the confidence to seek therapy.
Through prayer, I felt confirmation that getting help was okay.
I didn’t feel like God was telling me that I had failed because I needed another person to help me process what I’d experienced.
Instead, I trusted that He would guide me toward someone who could give me the support I needed.
That completely changed the way I looked at therapy.
It didn’t have to be faith or therapy.
For me, there was room for both.
I Kept My Decision to Myself
When I finally decided to find a therapist, I didn’t tell my family.
Not because I was embarrassed.
Not because I thought there was something wrong with going to therapy.
And not because I believed they wouldn’t support me.
I kept it private because, for once, I wanted this decision to be completely mine.
This was my first experience with therapy, and I didn’t want anyone else’s thoughts—even thoughts shared with the best intentions—to cloud my judgment about what I needed.
Sometimes people who love us want to protect us.
They give advice.
They ask questions.
They share opinions because they care.
But I knew I needed space to figure this out without outside voices influencing the process.
So I gave myself that space.
Looking back, I’m glad I did.
Then I Had My First Therapy Session
I remember leaving that first session knowing:
God handled this.
😂
I felt heard.
I felt comfortable.
And somehow, this person who had just met me seemed to understand what I needed in a way that made me feel safe enough to continue.
That first session changed so much of what I thought therapy would be.
I didn’t walk into a room and suddenly have someone “fix” me.
I had someone who could listen, help me process what I was experiencing, ask questions I hadn’t necessarily asked myself, and give me a space that existed specifically for me.
And apparently we were a pretty good match, because years later…
She’s still my therapist. 😂
I continue to see her weekly to this day.
Therapy Isn’t Only for When Everything Is Falling Apart
I think one of the biggest misconceptions about therapy is the idea that you need to be in some kind of crisis to go.
That hasn’t been my experience.
Yes, a traumatic experience eventually led me there.
But therapy has become something much bigger in my life than processing one event.
Life keeps happening.
Motherhood happens.
Marriage happens.
Work happens.
Relationships happen.
Change happens.
Sometimes you need somewhere to sort through all of it.
There have been seasons when I’ve had something major to work through and other weeks when I simply needed a safe place to talk.
Both matter.
Personally, I think so many people could benefit from experiencing therapy at least once—not because something has to be “wrong,” but because having intentional space to understand yourself can be incredibly valuable.
Finding the Right Therapist Matters
This might be one of the biggest things I’ve learned from my experience:
Who you choose as your therapist matters.
A therapist can have credentials, experience and education and still not necessarily be the right therapist for you.
And that’s okay.
Therapy is personal.
You need to feel comfortable enough to be honest.
You need to feel heard.
You need to feel like the relationship is helping you move toward what you came there for.
My first therapist happened to be the right fit for me, which I’m incredibly grateful for.
But if she hadn’t been?
I would want to give myself permission to keep looking.
I don’t believe anyone should feel obligated to stay with a particular therapist simply because that person is a professional.
If something doesn’t feel right, you’re allowed to pay attention to that.
Ask questions.
Communicate.
And if necessary, find someone who is a better fit for you.
Therapy is about you, so be sure to give yourself priority.
Faith and Therapy Don’t Compete in My Life Anymore
This may be the most important thing therapy taught me outside of therapy itself.
I don’t see my relationship with my therapist as competing with my relationship with God.
I still pray.
I still seek God’s guidance.
I still bring my worries, fears, decisions and struggles to Him.
Therapy didn’t replace any of that.
For me, seeking help actually became part of walking in faith.
I prayed about whether I should go.
I prayed about finding the right person.
And when I walked away from that first appointment feeling heard and understood, I genuinely believed God had answered that prayer.
Now I can look back at the hesitation I had in the beginning with so much compassion.
I understand why I felt conflicted.
But today I don’t believe asking for help means my faith is weak.
Sometimes asking for help requires faith too.
Seeking Therapy Was Something I Did for Me
There are so many roles I carry.
I’m a wife.
I’m a mother.
I’m a homeschool mom.
I’m a business owner and content creator.
I’m someone’s daughter, sister and friend.
There are always people and responsibilities requiring something from me.
Therapy became one place where I could walk in and simply be Gaby.
Not the person who needed to solve something for everyone else.
Not the person responsible for keeping everything moving.
Just me.
And I think there’s something incredibly important about having space like that.
It’s been years since I nervously considered making that first appointment.
Now therapy is part of my weekly life.
And I’m incredibly grateful that I didn’t allow the fear that seeking help somehow meant I lacked faith to stop me from receiving help that has been meaningful to me.
My faith didn’t disappear when I walked into therapy.
It walked in there with me.
Personal note: This post shares my individual experience with therapy and faith. It isn’t mental-health or medical advice, and everyone’s needs and experiences are different. If you’re considering therapy or other mental-health support, a qualified professional can help you explore what may be appropriate for your situation.
