Olive Branch Counseling
5 Plano Christian Counselors Accepting New Clients
Therapy That Makes Space for Your Faith and Your Whole Story
Christian counseling in Plano, TX, with virtual sessions available across Texas.
Feel Seen Without Judgment
Explore Your Faith Alongside Your Mental Health
Find a Path Forward That Feels True to You
"You shouldn't have to leave an important part of who you are outside the therapy room."
Maybe your faith has always been a source of comfort. Maybe you’re wrestling with it right now. Or maybe you simply want a therapist who understands that your beliefs influence how you see yourself, your relationships, and the choices you make.
Christian counseling in Plano, TX gives you space to work through anxiety, trauma, relationship struggles, grief, self-worth, or major life questions without treating your spiritual life like it’s irrelevant.
At Olive Branch Counseling, faith can be part of therapy when you want it to be. Our Plano Christian counselors combine evidence-based mental health care with an understanding of Christian beliefs and values, creating room for both emotional healing and spiritual reflection.
You don’t need to have all the answers, or even feel completely certain about your faith, to begin.
Olive Branch Counseling
Meet Our Plano Christian Counselors
Finding a therapist who shares or understands your faith can make it easier to talk openly about the things that matter most to you. Our team includes counselors with different backgrounds, specialties, and ways of incorporating Christianity into therapy.
Available for in-person counseling in Plano and virtual therapy across Texas.
Jump to a Therapist
- Rickie Jacob: Good fit for men seeking faith-informed therapy
- Christine Lawrence: Good fit for women, couples, and parents
- Lexi Howard: Good fit for teens and adults balancing faith and everyday stress
- Gracie Brownell: Good fit for women navigating relationships and life transitions
- Katie Bailey: Good fit for gentle, faith-integrated therapy
Rickie Jacob, LPC-Associate
Good fit for men seeking faith-informed therapy
Sometimes being the dependable one leaves very little room to acknowledge when you’re struggling. I work especially well with men who have learned to stay strong, push through pain, or keep difficult emotions to themselves. Therapy can be a place where you don’t have to perform strength or have everything figured out.
For clients who want faith to be part of the process, I integrate faith-based counseling alongside approaches such as CBT and EMDR. My training also includes the Catholic Christian Meta-Model of the Person, which allows us to consider your emotional, relational, and spiritual life as interconnected rather than separate parts of you.
- Credentials: Licensed Professional Counselor Associate #96668
- Specialty Areas: Complex trauma, masculinity-related issues, OCD, anxiety, low self-worth
- Availability: Monday – Saturday; Virtual and in-person in Plano
Christine Lawrence, LPC-Associate
Good fit for women, couples, and parents
Faith and mental health don’t always fit into separate boxes. Relationships, motherhood, trauma, identity, and major life changes can bring up deeper questions about what you believe, what you expected life to look like, and where you find meaning when things feel difficult.
My background includes a master’s degree in Biblical Counseling from Dallas Theological Seminary as well as experience in nursing. That combination gives me a unique lens for working with the emotional, relational, physical, and spiritual parts of what you’re carrying.
My style is laid-back and collaborative. We can explore the patterns keeping you stuck while making room for your values, relationships, history, and faith as you decide what moving forward looks like.
- Credentials: Licensed Professional Counselor Associate #91695, Certified Prepare/Enrich Facilitator
- Specialty Areas: Postpartum depression, trauma and PTSD, women’s issues, intimacy issues, anxiety, couples and premarital counseling
- Availability: Monday-Friday; Virtual and in-person in Plano
Lexi Howard, LMSW
Good fit for teens and adults balancing faith and everyday stress
I work with teens and adults who want therapy to support both their mental health and their faith. You may be dealing with anxiety, depression, trauma, addiction, disordered eating, or relationship stress while also wondering how your beliefs fit into what you’re going through.
My approach is warm, practical, and collaborative. I use Christian counseling in Plano, Texas, alongside CBT and DBT, which means we can make room for faith while also building concrete skills for managing emotions, challenging unhelpful thoughts, and coping with everyday stress.
For some clients, that may include talking about values, identity, purpose, or their relationship with God. For others, it may simply mean having a therapist who understands that faith matters and can respect that throughout the process.
- Credentials: Licensed Master Social Worker #116098
- Specialty Areas: Anxiety, depression, trauma, addictions, and disordered eating
- Availability: Virtual and in-person in Plano
Dr. Gracie Brownell, LMSW
Good fit for women navigating relationships and life transitions
I work with clients who want a therapist who can understand both the emotional side of what they’re facing and the role faith may play in how they make sense of it.
Relationship strain, infertility, parenting stress, trauma, and major life transitions can bring up questions about identity, trust, purpose, and what you believe. In therapy, we can explore those concerns without separating your spiritual life from the rest of your experience.
My approach is warm, collaborative, and faith-sensitive. If Christianity is important to you, we can include your beliefs and values in the work while also using practical, evidence-based strategies to support emotional health and healthier relationships. My goal is to create a space where you can be honest about both your struggles and your faith, including the parts that feel uncertain, complicated, or hard to put into words.
- Credentials: Licensed Master Social Worker #53115
- Specialty Areas: Infidelity, infertility, addictions, anxiety, depression, parenting, and trauma
- Availability: Virtual and in-person in Plano
Katie Bailey, Practicum Student
Good fit for gentle, faith-integrated therapy
You may know you want faith to be available in therapy without wanting every conversation to become a spiritual lesson. That’s okay. I work in a trauma-informed, person-centered way that gives you time to slow down, understand what you’ve been carrying, and reconnect with parts of yourself that may have gotten lost in survival mode.
If your Christian faith is important to your healing, we can bring it into our work together. If there are sessions where something else needs more attention, we can honor that too. The goal is not to push an agenda. It’s to create a safe, reflective space where your beliefs can be one meaningful part of understanding your whole story.
- Credentials: Practicum Student
- Specialty Areas: Anxiety, trauma, grief and loss, relationship concerns
- Availability: Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays; virtual and in-person in Plano
What Is Christian Counseling?
Christian counseling brings your mental health and your spiritual life into the same conversation. What that actually looks like can be different for every person.
For some clients, faith may come up naturally while talking about identity, marriage, parenting, grief, forgiveness, purpose, or difficult decisions. Others may want to discuss prayer, Scripture, their relationship with God, or spiritual questions more directly. And sometimes, you may simply want the reassurance that you don’t have to explain or defend why Christianity matters to you.
At Olive Branch Counseling, Plano Christian counseling can still include established therapeutic approaches such as CBT, DBT, EMDR, ERP, trauma-informed care, and relationship-focused therapy. Faith integration doesn’t replace mental health treatment. Instead, it can become another meaningful part of understanding who you are and what healing looks like for you.
Olive Branch Counseling
What Can Christian Counseling Help With?
Christian counseling in Plano can support many of the same concerns as traditional therapy while also making room for the role faith plays in how you understand what you’re going through. It may help with:
- Anxiety that makes it difficult to feel grounded or trust what comes next
- Depression, hopelessness, or feeling spiritually disconnected
- Trauma that has affected your sense of safety, identity, or faith
- Shame, guilt, or feeling like you are falling short
- Grief, loss, and questions about meaning or God during painful seasons
- Relationship or marriage struggles shaped by shared values, expectations, or beliefs
- Boundaries, people-pleasing, and the pressure to always put others first
- Major life decisions when you want your choices to reflect your faith and values
- Burnout, perfectionism, or feeling like you always need to be strong
- Questions about identity, purpose, calling, or direction
- Doubt, spiritual frustration, or changes in what you believe
- Hurtful experiences within churches or other faith communities
You don’t need to decide beforehand whether an issue is “mental,” “emotional,” or “spiritual.” Often, those parts of life overlap.
Christian Counseling in Plano & Online In Texas
Benefits of Christian Counseling
Bring Your Whole Self to Therapy
You can talk openly about your mental health, relationships, beliefs, and spiritual life without feeling like you need to leave part of yourself outside the counseling room.
Explore Challenges Through Your Values
Therapy can help you consider how your faith and personal values relate to decisions, boundaries, relationships, identity, and the changes you want to make.
Make Space for Spiritual Questions
Christian counseling can provide room for doubt, grief, anger, uncertainty, or changes in your faith without expecting you to have simple answers.
Combine Faith With Clinical Support
You can receive evidence-based mental health care while also incorporating Christian beliefs and practices when they are meaningful to you.
Christian Counseling in Plano & Online In Texas
Therapeutic Approaches Used in Christian Counseling
Christian counseling doesn’t rely on one specific therapy method. Instead, faith can be thoughtfully integrated into evidence-based approaches based on your needs, goals, and preferences. At Olive Branch Counseling, Plano Christian counselors may use approaches such as:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT helps you identify unhelpful thought patterns and develop healthier ways of responding to stress, anxiety, or self-criticism.
EMDR Therapy
EMDR can support the processing of trauma and distressing experiences that may continue to shape how you feel, think, or relate to others.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
We use DBT to build practical skills for managing intense emotions, strengthening relationships, and coping with difficult situations.
Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)
ERP is often used for OCD to help reduce the cycle of intrusive thoughts, fear, and compulsive behaviors.
Person-Centered Therapy
We use person-centered therapy to create a supportive, collaborative space where your experiences, values, and goals guide the work.
Jessica Russell, LCSW-S
Executive Director
about us
Why Work With
Olive Branch Counseling
At Olive Branch Counseling, we take time to understand the experiences, relationships, beliefs, and patterns that have shaped where you are today. That can include your emotional health, your family history, your relationships, and, when it matters to you, your faith.
Plano Christian counseling can help you look more closely at the patterns that may be keeping you stuck while also making space for the values and beliefs that guide your life. With compassion and curiosity, your therapist can help you better understand what you are carrying and begin building healthier ways of responding to it.
Our counselors use evidence-based approaches such as CBT, EMDR, DBT, ERP, and trauma-informed therapy, with faith integrated in ways that feel appropriate to you. Our goal is to help you feel more grounded, connected, and confident in how you move through your relationships, responsibilities, and spiritual life.
When you’re ready for therapy that respects both your mental health and your faith, we’re here to walk alongside you.
At Olive Branch Counseling, we guide each counseling session with:
Authenticity
We encourage and practice being true to yourself to create a safe and genuine environment for exploration and self-discovery.
Compassion
We approach each client with empathy and understanding, recognizing and validating their unique experiences and emotions.
Integrity
We believe in doing what's right, even when no one is watching, to foster trust and credibility in our relationships.
Our Approach
How Our Christian Counseling Works
At Olive Branch Counseling, Christian counseling in Texas gives you a supportive place to explore what’s happening emotionally while also making room for your beliefs, values, and spiritual life. Your therapist will work collaboratively with you so faith can be incorporated in a way that feels natural rather than forced.
Understanding Your Story
We begin by getting to know you beyond the symptoms that brought you to therapy. Together, we explore your current concerns, important relationships, past experiences, and the role faith plays in your life so your counselor can better understand what you need from the process.
Identifying What Feels Stuck
As patterns become clearer, you and your therapist can look at the areas creating the most stress or disconnection. This may include anxiety, trauma, guilt, relationship conflict, perfectionism, grief, or questions about faith and purpose. The goal is to understand what is getting in the way and what may need more support.
Creating a Path Forward
Your therapist will help shape a counseling plan around your needs, strengths, and goals. Depending on what you’re working through, sessions may include practical coping skills, trauma-focused therapy, relationship work, emotional processing, or faith-based reflection. Together, you can build toward changes that feel meaningful and sustainable.
Olive Branch Counseling
Frequently Asked Questions About Christian Counseling
Does Christian counseling use the Bible?
It can, but it doesn’t have to. Christian counseling is personalized to the client, so Scripture, prayer, or direct conversations about faith may be incorporated when that feels meaningful and appropriate to you. You and your therapist can discuss how you would like faith to show up in sessions.
Do I have to be Christian to see one of your Christian counselors?
No. A therapist who offers Christian counseling can still provide mental health support without requiring you to share a particular belief system. Your therapist’s role is to understand and respect your values, experiences, and goals.
What if I'm struggling with my faith?
You don’t have to come to Christian counseling feeling certain, faithful, or spiritually put together. Questions, doubts, anger, religious hurt, and changing beliefs can all be appropriate topics for therapy. The goal is to give you space to explore your experience rather than pressure you toward a predetermined conclusion.
Do your Plano Christian counselors accept insurance?
Insurance participation varies by provider. Many of our providers accept plans including Cigna, Aetna, and Curative, while others are self-pay or offer out-of-network billing. Because coverage depends on both the therapist and your specific plan, our intake team can help you determine your options before beginning therapy.
Christian Counseling in Plano & Online In Texas
What You Can Expect From Christian Counseling
- Feel more grounded in your emotions, values, and day-to-day life.
- Work through guilt, shame, perfectionism, or the pressure to always have it together.
- Understand how past relationships, family experiences, or spiritual messages may still be affecting you.
- Strengthen your ability to cope with anxiety, grief, trauma, or relationship stress.
- Build healthier boundaries and make choices that feel more aligned with your beliefs and needs.
- Explore questions about faith, purpose, identity, or your relationship with God without judgment.
We're here to support you as you make sense of what you're carrying and move toward greater clarity, connection, and peace.
Olive Branch Counseling
How To Get Started
Olive Branch Counseling offers in-person therapy in Plano, Texas serving surrounding cities of Dallas, Frisco, and McKinney. Online therapy sessions are available across Texas.
You can book a free phone consultation or appointment online using the form below. You can also send us a message or call us and we’ll book you in.
If you are a mental health professional that would like to send us a referral, please download the following Referral and Release of Information Form and fax the completed form to (469) 409-0544 or email it to our office
