CLIENTS & RULES:

Know who your client is, and is not. You can do this by defining the boundaries you have as a counselor in regards to who you will take in for counseling.
- Will you counsel opposite gender by yourself? (Most biblical counselors would say no to that, unless in special situations, or scenarios)
- Will you counsel minors?
- Will you do mediation? (Counseling with two people)
- etc..
Set hours
- What days and times will you be available for counseling?
- How flexible are you with your availability?
- Can your counselees contact you via phone or text? If so when?
It is recommended to have a separate phone number & PO box so you aren’t using your personal number.
Remember that counseling happens during the appointment. It can be easy for people to end up receiving counsel outside of the designated time, which you have to decide what your boundaries are in giving “free counseling” to those you know or are in your community.
The individual should have an emergency person so you are not that person. It is recommended you communicate with them about safe people they can contact for emergency situations, since you should have a boundary as a counselor to not be their emergency contact.
Have policies you share with your counselees on your first session with them so they know what is expected, and what the boundaries are within the counselee/counselor relationship.

WHAT SHOULD YOU CHARGE:

Most biblical counseling ministries (parachurch organizations, outside of the church context) charge anywhere from $45-$100 per session (50-60 min). There are large variances in what you should charge, or even if you should charge. This particular topic is best left up to your personal convictions, and desires for having this be something that is supplemental income or if it is something where you are volunteering your time.
Biblical counseling, because it is unlicensed cannot take insurance. Because of this people are paying out of pocket for counseling services. Some ideas from biblical counselors that can help with offsetting costs for individuals:
- Consider starting a scholarship fund for those who are needing low-cost counseling. (you can write a letter and send it out annually to ask for support.
- Consider talking to the individuals church, or having the individual talk to their church to ask for financial support for biblical counseling if their church doesn’t currently have counselors who would be able to fill that need for the individual. Many churches have their own benevolence funds for things like this.

If you set your website up with squarespace you can take payment through squarespace if you have the commerce plan. This can be very helpful when setting up everything online to help streamline your process. For an example of what this look like you can check out my page where I take payment in a way where the individual is able to choose between a certain amount for their sessions. EXAMPLE HERE

An example of a release form can be found HERE (after the intake form you will see our release of liability form). We recommend you hire someone who can make sure all legal needs are met through your release.

HERE is a PDF option for you to print out and use that has both our intake outlines and session outlines.