The Four Processes
of Counseling:
Counseling that Transforms

Counseling Toolkit for
September 2025

If you’re walking with someone through pain, whether you’re a pastor, counselor, or caregiver, the four subprocesses of the GIFT (the Gospel-centered Integrative Framework for Therapy)—Building Alliance, Reducing Symptoms, Grieving and Accepting, and Facilitating Heart Change—offer more than clinical insight. They invite us into a deeper way of seeing people, caring for them, and pointing them toward Christ. In this final article of the series, we’ll reflect on the journey so far and look more closely at how we can partner with the Holy Spirit as hearts change not only through what we do, but through who Christ is. We pray that as we revisit these themes, you will be better equipped and drawn deeper into the transformational work of Gospel-centered mental health care.

Sharon Richards Alcendor, LCSW
Senior Counselor & Supervisor