About Marty Dickinson

Marty Dickinson has been a member since July 23rd 2012, and has created 46 posts from scratch.

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Christian Counselor Suggests Don’t Say I Know How You Feel

Free tip from a Christian CounselorWhen we asked our newest counselor addition, Debbra Bronstad, what should be said to someone we might know that is going through grief, she replied with one of the best answers we’ve heard yet. She said: “Do NOT tell them ‘I know how you feel.’ At best, you know you felt when you experienced loss. Every loss is different and each person’s grief is unique.”

That’s a great reply, Debbra. I always cringe when I hear “I know how you feel” in movies and t.v. Can’t the writers come up with anything better than that?

Checkout Debbra’s complete profile here.

Rochester Hills Christian Counselor Debbra Bronstad, LMFT

Debbra Bronstad is a Christian counselor located in Rochester Hills, MI and serving the Metro Detroit area including Rochester Hills, Rochester, Oakland, Troy, Shelby Township, Auburn Hills, Lake Orion, Pontiac and Utica. Debbra helps her clients get to the root of anxiety, grief, trauma and relationship conflict to put an end to destructive patterns and find hope, peace and joy again. Debbra is also a Certified Grief Recovery Specialist equipped to help you take the specific steps necessary to move on after a death or relationship breakup has broken your heart.

Christian Counselor Websites

Not only do we feature Christian counselors on this website for the general public to view and contact, but we also assist those counselors when they have questions about the Internet. One of those questions that came into our email was, “How do I go about starting a website for my counseling practice?”

There are really three main types of websites for any business, counselors or otherwise. Those include websites that are free, those that cost a little, and those that cost a lot.

Which type is the best fit for you will be determined by money, of course, plus the level of involvement you want to have in the process of producing content for the website as well as your present versus your desired level of stature as a business.

Let’s look at each of the three website types.

Type 1 – FREE Websites for Counselors

The easiest and fastest website you can create completely for free (that also has high value) is still to this day a Blogger website. Blogger is owned by Google. So, you can read between the lines that the “having high value” part is achieved by using something Google owns.

Although the word “blogger” suggests you will be starting a “blog,” keep in mind that Blogger allows you to have “pages” too, not just blog posts. Once you have a live website on Blogger, your URL to promote becomes whateveryouchoose.blogspot.com. Notice how “blogger” changes to “blogspot.”

If you’re bit more adventurous, you can try WordPress.org (also popular blogging software) or Wix, which is also a free website provider.

Type 2 – Websites for Counselors that Cost a Little

The next step up from there is to “pay” for your own website hosting account ($50-$200 per year depending on your chosen website host) and then install and setup WordPress software on your private hosting account. If you go this route, I strongly urge you to do two things:

  1. Do NOT Use the One-Click Install – Just about every website hosting company out there like GoDaddy and Hostgator have WordPress already installed on their servers. So, you can just pop in there and register a domain name for yourself and then go through a couple of clicks to install WordPress. The problem with the one-click method is that it installs WordPress with a bunch of default settings that leave your website wide open to hackers! Always download the software from WordPress.com (free for downloading) and then install it on your website hosting account.

  2. Consider Here Next Year for Hosting – I’ve personally worked with more than 300 installations of WordPress websites over the years. Here Next Year has its own dedicated web servers that are specially configured to power WordPress websites. WordPress is a great software but has its quirks too.

Once you have WordPress installed as a live functioning website, you can choose one of the many included free design themes that come with the software as installed. Or, you can find a theme at ThemeForest.com or ElegantThemes.com or search google for “wordpress themes” and you’ll find many providers of pre-designed WordPress themes for sale between $10 and $200.

If you’re a person that describes himself or herself as a “technophobe” to friends and family, prepare yourself now that you will also need to find and pay someone to do that installation process for you of BOTH the WordPress software and the pre-designed theme. Expect that cost to be anywhere between $50 and $500. Just depends on what you want them to do in the setup process.

The great thing about WordPress is that its look and feel can be completely customized. Most designers are already familiar with WordPress to the point where they can customize pieces and parts of a pre-purchased design theme for $50-$100 or so. You might have to pay a bit more for a logo design or additional items. But, it’s pretty safe to say that you can keep a website at this level in the $300-$1,000 range.

So, the design themes that you pay for can be customized or you can even go so far as to customize the entire website. And, that’s where we get into the bigger bucks.

When I install WordPress and pre-purchased themes, I usually charge clients $350. Then we do customizations after that, to give you an idea.

Type 3 – High-End Websites for Christian Counselors

I’m really only thinking this level of website would be a logical consideration for Christian counselors that are banded together as a group to counsel people in a church or joint counseling location. I’m just not seeing that most individual Christian counselors would need this level of detail in their website design. And, that’s exactly what boosts this category of website into higher dollar numbers in the area of $2500-$10,000.

This type of website is much more involved on the design end. Heck, it takes a programmer usually 10 hours just to install the custom design into the website.

The big benefit, of course, to a high-end designed website is that there will be no other website in the world that will look just like yours. You will attract higher-end clients with a higher-end website. When people see your custom website, they immediately know you are not new in the counseling business. You very quickly receive an elevated stature with a custom website which turns into ROI that can be quantitatively measured for sure.

I serve many industries with website design and development and can handle working on several at a time. But, I only accept one custom website design project per MONTH because of the intensity and high level of involvement with the process. My package deal for any custom design website is $5,000. Yes, there’s the sticker shock. Like I said, this isn’t going to be the way to go for most individual Christian counselors, but it’s there if you would like to talk about it.

So, What Level of Website is ChristianCounselingUS.com?

CCUS is a pre-purchased theme that we customized along the way. In fact, we’re talking about changing the design now that the site has been around a while and we’ve attracted a very reputable core of counselor members. Most of our customizing has been spent in the programming side of things, which brings me to my last point.

Finding Your Technical Backbone

If you decide to go the free website route, you should be able to manage that entire process on your own or maybe with some basic help by an admin type of person or someone you know that already has a blogger, WordPress or Wix website. But, if you engage with either of the two other website types, you simply MUST connect with someone that will be your “technical backbone,” that person you can go to whenever something goes wrong with your website or when you need something new to be developed to enhance the website.

That person can be found through Craigslist ads or you might be able to find a local college kid. If you really know what you’re doing, you can even outsource some of the work to other countries to save a buck. But, I want to caution you….I’ve been doing this work for 18 years now. I’ve engaged with every type of helper you can imagine. You need to start a relationship with a developer that you will gain great trust in over the coming years.

Your website technical backbone will become just as intimate with you as your doctor! Be careful who you choose!

If you have any questions about a Christian counselor website, please contact me through the Contact Us page. I reply to all emails usually within the same day but at least within 24 hours.

Best of luck with your website!
Marty Dickinson

Bedford Texas Christian Counselor Christianne Young

Chrisitanne Young, MA, is a Christian counselor at SoulCare Counseling in Bedford, Texas. She joins with her clients to help them create healthy thoughts and behaviors for a life in line with the mind of Christ. If you feel trapped in a cycle of unwanted behaviors and painful emotions, Christianne can help you find the joy and hope you are looking for. Serving Euless, Hurst, Colleyville, Keller, Southlake, North Richland Hills, Fort Worth, Grapevine, Richland Hills areas.

Margate, Coral Springs Christian Counselor John E. N. Daniel

John Daniel is a visionary with a burning desire to coach, counsel, teach, empower, develop, and assist persons from all walks of life to attain their maximum potential and fulfill their life purpose and destiny. He coaches, counsels, consults, mentors, and ministers to many all over the globe weekly. John is a Certified Professional Coach and a Certified Clinical Christian Therapist CCCT#0404021013. His training extends from leadership theory and development, community development, business, to educational and organization psychology.