For therapists
CE talks on integrating faith in therapy: CBT, ACT, Logotherapy, and marriage work held under the gospel, so your tools serve Christ's work instead of replacing it.
For Christian counselors and pastors
You don’t have to get better before you are loved.
Gospel Centered Therapy (GCT) is a model for integrating faith in therapy and pastoral care. Jesus Christ is the one who heals; good clinical tools serve his work instead of replacing it. Grant Stenzel teaches it through CE talks for therapists and training for pastors and church care teams.
Referring someone? Refer to a Christian counselor →
Start here
For counselors and pastors
For pastors
Pastoral care with a clear center: when care is enough, when and how to refer, and training for the care team that carries it with you.
A key text for GCT
Philippians 4:4–9, 11–13
This passage sits near the heart of Gospel Centered Therapy: rejoicing, honest petition, peace that guards, renewed thinking, contentment in every circumstance, and strength that isn't performance. It's life in Christ.
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.
I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
Verses 4–7 invite honest petition and peace that guards. Verses 8–9 train renewed thinking. Verses 11–12 name contentment in every circumstance. Verse 13 names strength in Christ, not performance. GCT can use good clinical tools under that gospel without making the tools the savior.
The paradox
More flawed than we dared believe. More loved than we dared hope.
The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.
Timothy Keller, The Meaning of Marriage
You're worse than you think, and way more loved than you think. That's how we see every person who walks in.
Core posture
How GCT works in the room
Jesus heals, and he meets people as they actually are. We take trauma, anxiety, addiction, and marriage seriously enough to use good clinical tools, and we take the cross seriously enough not to make those tools the savior. Read how the gospel-centered counseling model works.
Renewed mind
What we believe and rehearse matters (Philippians 4:8–9). Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) helps put thoughts under the truth.
Renewed heart
Honest prayer, gratitude, and trust (Philippians 4:4–7). Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps you tell the truth about what's broken without demanding perfection first.
Renewed life
Meaning, purpose, and contentment (Philippians 4:11–13). Logotherapy helps people find real hope, the kind that holds up.
CE talks · Pastoral care training
Continuing education for those who care for others
If you sit with clients, Grant Stenzel’s four CE talks show how good clinical care serves Christ's healing work in the room: anxiety, addiction, codependence and anger, and marriage.
If you shepherd a congregation, the same talks give you and your care team a theologically serious, psychologically literate frame, and a clearer sense of when to refer.
Where GCT comes from
A pastor’s heart and a therapist’s training
Grant Stenzel is the founder of Gospel Centered Therapy and owner and clinical director of Stenzel Clinical Services.
These credentials aren’t the point. They’re here so you know where this teaching comes from: a former pastor and a practicing therapist who wants to point people to Jesus.
Founder of GCT
Grant Stenzel, MS, LCPC
- Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor
- Owner and clinical director of Stenzel Clinical Services, which he founded in 2003
- Former pastor at three churches
- Counselor and consultant for private practice
Peace Guard
Something to hand someone between sessions
Peace Guard is a companion app from Stenzel Clinical that therapists share with clients and pastors share with parishioners. It helps people bring anxiety, intrusive thoughts, and shame under the care of Christ between conversations, alongside counseling and pastoral care, not instead of them.
Status: early-access web app. Features are still growing.
Named from Philippians 4:7
The peace of God that guards heart and mind in Christ Jesus: grace over performance, not generic mindfulness.
Bring GCT to your practice or church
Watch the CE talks with your team, or invite Grant to train your church. Referring someone? Connect them with a counselor who shares their faith →