Are you tired of making the same mistakes over & over again?

Are you trying to find your way back to God after a relationship breakup, divorce, death or trauma?

Do you dread family get togethers and make excuses not to go?

Hi! I’m Paula Clouse. I am a Licensed Professional Counselor and a member of the Christian Counseling & Family Services Team of Counselors. And we’re here to help!

Welcome to the podcast! I’d like to take a few minutes today to introduce you to our counseling services and give you a bit of an overview of what we’re about.

Christian Counseling and Family Services (of Southern Illinois) is an organization supported by Christian Churches and congregations. Our team of counselors is licensed, trained, and have years of face to face experience with clients.  

When you call or email, we will hear your story, and then prayerfully team you up with the counselor best suited for you and your  personal needs. Our staff varies widely in age, training, and experience, therefore we are able to see a wide range of folks who need help: children, adolescents, married couples and individuals. We offer in person therapy as well as e-counseling and teleconferencing. You can find out more on our website: or you can call our Central Office at 618-242-4185 ex. 31.

All of us here at CCFS are Christian Counselors who take an unapologetic stance for Biblical principles and practice from a distinctly Christian worldview.

We look at our method of counseling as a 3-legged stool…without all three legs, things are thrown out of balance.  We try to address issues in a mind/body/spirit counseling style. More than just a prayer at the beginning of each session, we seek to integrate Biblically sound principles, psychology and theology in order to better treat clients in a holistic manner.  

We address the mind by staying current with the latest research and treatments. We are on top of the latest “trends” in Christian counseling. We use an eclectic mix of sound, empirically proven methods which include cognitive behavioral, rational emotive, Rogerian, reality, and solution focused therapies.

As you probably know, our mind and thought processes can have a profound affect on our bodies. We believe God works through medical professionals and in medicine.  We have a belief that is full of faith, yet recognizes organic and chemical issues do exist and must be treated accordingly.  Many clients find they are better able to more fully cooperate with therapy when they are not compensating or trying to overcome the mental/physical distractions that untreated mental illness often brings.

We work with you to address spiritual issues as well. Perhaps you were raised in church and for whatever reason have gone your own way? Perhaps you’ve never known God but would like to ask some questions and be given some direction? At CCFS, you never have to worry about being made to feel “stupid” or “dumb” for asking questions! We see questions as an indicator of growth! We often see people who are on a spiritual journey and just need a friend and a helping hand to reach their emotional and spiritual goals.

We find we have great success when clients are motivated to do their best, find their purpose, become what they were intended to be, and live the life they are intended to live.

We hope to hear from you soon! Stay tuned for announcements about our web launch, and for more podcasts on relevant issues that effect YOU!


Until next time, this is Paula Clouse…may God bless your day!