Grace & Truth: Mental Health and the Church
Church services, conferences, leadership gatherings
Why mental health belongs in the life of the church, how to replace stigma with compassion, and what every congregation can do this year.
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Speaking & TrainingTalks and trainings that bring clinical depth, cultural insight, and hope to the room
Keynotes, workshops, seminar weekends, and training series led by Dr. Nancy Thomas, PhD, LPC-S, for churches, ministry leaders, organizations, and counseling professionals. Research-informed, practical, culturally responsive, and tailored to your audience, with CE for Texas LPCs.
The Grace & Truth Framework
Four commitments behind every talk and training
Dr. Thomas's signature approach holds together what are too often pulled apart: compassion and honesty, clinical care and lived values, culture and growth.
Grace
Every audience is met with safety, compassion, and dignity, especially people carrying pain they have never named.
Truth
Honest, research-grounded content and sound clinical practice, with no clichés or quick fixes.
Culture
Mental health is always lived inside a culture, a family, and a set of values. Honoring that story is where change begins.
Growth
People leave with practical tools, clear next steps, and hope they can carry into Monday morning.
Signature talks
Popular keynotes and workshops
Each talk can be delivered as a keynote, an extended workshop, or part of a seminar weekend, and is tailored to your event.
Trauma and the Church: Becoming a Safe Place to Heal
Pastors, ministry staff, care teams
How trauma affects the body, relationships, and faith, and practical ways ministries can create safety and avoid retraumatizing.
Honoring Roots: Culture, Family, and Mental Health in Immigrant Communities
South Asian and Asian American communities, multicultural churches, ERGs
Bicultural stress, family expectations, and help-seeking, drawn from Dr. Thomas's research and lived experience as an Indian American.
Keep Going: Hope for Anxiety and Depression
Congregations, women's conferences, young adults
An honest, hope-filled message on anxiety and depression, with coping tools and guidance on when to seek professional care.
Fearfully & Wonderfully Made: Talking With Kids About God's Design
Parents, family ministries
From Dr. Thomas's family sexuality education program: how parents can lead age-appropriate, faith-filled conversations at home.
Brave Spaces: Leading Teams Through Burnout and Conflict
Leaders, staff retreats, workplaces
Emotional regulation, repair, and team health for leaders who want people and mission to thrive together.
Training menu
Trainings for every audience
Choose a topic, combine several, or ask for something custom.
For Churches, pastors, ministry leaders, small groups
Faith & Mental Health
Biblically grounded, clinically sound trainings that help congregations talk about mental health, respond well to people who are hurting, and know when and how to refer.
Mental Health and the Church
A foundational training for congregations and leaders on recognizing distress, reducing stigma, and building a culture where people can ask for help without shame.
Trauma and the Church: Becoming a Trauma-Informed Faith Community
How trauma shapes the body, relationships, and faith, and practical ways ministries can create safety, avoid retraumatizing, and walk alongside survivors.
Facilitating Healing Through a Faith Community: Multicultural Considerations
Presented at Christian Counselors of Texas. How culture, family systems, and faith traditions influence help-seeking, and how churches can serve diverse members well.
Culture and God's Design
Drawn from Dr. Thomas's chapter in The Mental Health Handbook for Ministry: holding cultural identity and Christian identity together with grace and truth.
Keep Going: Faith, Depression, and Anxiety
An honest, hope-filled look at depression and anxiety for congregations, with practical coping tools and guidance on seeking professional care.
Gospel Identity and Emotional Health
A multi-session seminar on finding identity in Christ while doing the real work of emotional and relational growth.
Marriage That Lasts
Research-informed marriage seminars (Gottman Level 1 trained) that integrate faith, communication, conflict repair, and connection.
Parenting in a Digital World
Helping parents understand how social media affects children and teens, with conversation starters and healthy family boundaries.
Youth Crisis and Mental Health Awareness
Equipping youth leaders and parents to recognize warning signs, respond in a crisis, and connect young people to care.
Mental Health During College and Young Adulthood
For students and young adults navigating stress, transition, identity, and faith in college and early career.
Fearfully & Wonderfully Made: Family Sexuality Education
Created by Dr. Thomas: an age-level family sexuality education series for churches, with tracks for parents, boys, and girls, grounded in a biblical view of the body.
Counseling Issues & Crisis: Recorded Video Series
An 11-hour recorded series on common counseling issues and crisis care for churches, ministry training programs, and lay care teams. Available for group use at a set price based on need.
Starting a Mental Health Support Group in Your Church
Drawing on years of leading church-based mental health groups: structure, boundaries, leader care, and when to refer.
For Group practices, agencies, clinicians, counseling programs
Trauma-Informed & Culturally Responsive Practice
Evidence-informed training for counselors and helping professionals who want to serve trauma survivors and culturally diverse clients with greater skill and confidence.
Trauma-Informed Care in Practice
Moving trauma-informed care from a slogan to daily practice: intake, environment, language, boundaries, and team responses.
Core Competencies for Crisis Work
Based on Dr. Thomas's published research: fusing ethics, cultural competence, and cognitive flexibility when clients are in crisis.
Mandating Creativity: Advocacy and Multicultural Competence
Why culturally responsive care often requires creativity, and practical ways to adapt interventions for clients from minority communities.
Serving Asian and South Asian American Clients and Families
Grounded in Dr. Thomas's research on resilience, help-seeking, and faith communities among Indian and South Asian Americans.
Multicultural Competence in Telehealth
Building privacy, security, cultural sensitivity, and connection into virtual care, informed by research on BIPOC clients' telehealth experiences.
EMDR Overview for Trauma-Informed Professionals
An accessible orientation to EMDR for professionals who refer to or collaborate with EMDR clinicians.
Bolstering Counselor Resilience and Preventing Burnout
Trauma-informed self-practice, self-compassion, and wellness strategies for helpers carrying heavy caseloads.
For Counselors, play and expressive therapists, counselor educators
Creative & Expressive Interventions
Hands-on, experiential training that takes clinicians beyond talk therapy. No art background required.
Expressive Arts Training, Levels 1 and 2
A two-level, experiential series co-developed with Dr. Crystal Brashear for clinicians who want to integrate creative and expressive interventions with confidence.
Creative Strategies to Facilitate Posttraumatic Growth
Experiential interventions that help clients make meaning and move toward growth after trauma.
Beyond Talk Therapy: Practical Interventions On the Fly
Quick, low-prep creative interventions for when a session feels stuck.
Creativity From a Distance
Using experiential and creative approaches effectively in virtual sessions and online classrooms.
For Supervisors, practice owners, counselor educators, ministry teams
Supervision, Leadership & Team Health
Training for the people who develop, lead, and care for helpers, from new supervisors to program and ministry leaders.
Trauma-Informed Supervision
A mindfulness-based approach to supervision that bolsters supervisee resilience and models the care we want clients to receive.
GATES to Growth: Ethical and Effective Gatekeeping
Presented at ACES. Practical, multifaceted strategies for supervisors and educators addressing problems of professional competence with fairness and care.
Relationship Is Key: Mentorship That Bridges Divisions
How mentoring relationships foster resilience, belonging, and professional growth across differences.
Creating Brave Spaces and Navigating Conflict
Emotional regulation and peacemaking skills for teams that need to talk about hard things and stay connected.
Leading Healthy Teams
Assessing team health, strengthening communication, and building a culture where people and the mission both thrive.
Engaging Online Learning for Counselor Educators
Alternatives to the endless discussion thread: humanistic, culturally sensitive strategies for online counselor education.
Recorded video series
Counseling Issues & Crisis
An 11-hour recorded video series by Dr. Thomas on common counseling issues and crisis care, ideal for churches, ministry training programs, small groups, and lay care teams who want solid mental health education on their own schedule.
Available for group and organizational use at a set price based on your needs.
- 11 hours of video teaching
- Self-paced or group study
- Faith-informed and clinically grounded
- Pairs well with a live Q&A or workshop
Formats & investment
Flexible for every setting and budget
Trainings and keynotes typically range from $500 to $5,000+, depending on setting, length, audience, and travel. Custom packages are available.
CE certificates for Texas LPCs are included. Ministry and nonprofit options are available, because finances should never keep a community from mental health education.
| Format | Investment |
|---|---|
| Keynotes45 to 90 minutes | Varies |
| Half-day and full-day workshopsInteractive and experiential | Varies |
| Seminar weekends and retreatsMulti-session | Varies |
| Training seriesMulti-week or multi-level | Varies |
| Virtual webinarsLive, anywhere | Varies |
| Recorded video seriesSelf-paced or group study | Varies |
| Something elseRetreats, conferences, multi-day events | Custom |
Where Dr. Thomas speaks: Church services and sermon series, women's and men's conferences, marriage and family seminars, youth and young adult events, leadership and staff retreats, counseling and professional conferences, employee resource group events, university and campus ministry events.
What participants say
Practical, engaging, and transformative
This training elevated my counseling skill set, particularly when feeling stuck with a client. The training is versatile for clients of different ages, cultures, and genders. Highly recommend!
They don't teach this stuff in grad school. Great training for established clinicians looking to expand their toolkit for helping clients integrate the whole person.
This is a fantastic training! The format kept me fully engaged and focused; the lectures, activities, and role-play definitely increased my competence as a counselor.
This training is practical for real-life counseling. After each training, I am encouraged in my ability to go deeper in a session with a client than before.
Selected speaking venues
- American Counseling Association
- Association for Counselor Education and Supervision
- Southern ACES
- Texas ACES
- Texas Counseling Association
- Christian Counselors of Texas
- Association for Humanistic Counseling
- Association for Creativity in Counseling
- ACA European Branch
- Texas Baptist Network
- Restoration Counseling Ministries
- Bloom Women's Conference
- Advance Initiative Conference
- Good Faith Media
Free download
Church Mental Health Readiness Checklist
18 quick questions to see where your church is strong and where to grow, from leadership and referral plans to crisis readiness and culture.
FAQ
Speaking and training questions
Do you offer faith-based mental health training for churches?
Yes. Dr. Thomas holds an MA in Biblical Counseling from Dallas Theological Seminary and a PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision. Her church trainings integrate Scripture and sound clinical practice on topics like trauma, depression and anxiety, marriage, parenting, youth crisis, and family sexuality education.
Do you also train secular organizations and clinical teams?
Yes. Trainings for workplaces, group practices, universities, and professional conferences are adapted to each setting. Faith content is included only when an organization requests it.
Can trainings and talks be customized?
Every training is tailored to your audience, setting, culture, and goals. Topics can be combined into a retreat, a seminar weekend, or a multi-week series.
What does it cost to book a training or speaker?
Trainings and keynotes typically range from $500 to $5,000+, depending on setting, length, audience, and travel. Custom packages are available. Travel is added for in-person events outside Dallas-Fort Worth.
What if our budget is limited?
Finances should not be a barrier to mental health education. Ministry, nonprofit, and small-group options are available, including the recorded video series and shorter virtual sessions. Share your budget on the request form and Dr. Thomas will work with you to find a good fit.
Are continuing education (CE) hours available?
Yes for Texas LPCs. As a Licensed Professional Counselor-Supervisor, Dr. Thomas provides CE certificates for qualifying trainings. If attendees hold other licenses or practice in other states, note that on your request so CE options can be confirmed in advance.
Do you travel, or are trainings virtual?
Both. Dr. Thomas is based in Dallas-Fort Worth, presents virtually nationwide, and travels for in-person events in Texas and across the U.S.
How far in advance should we book?
Two to four months ahead is ideal for in-person events, especially conferences and retreats. Virtual trainings can often be scheduled sooner.
Is Dr. Thomas available for podcasts and interviews?
Yes. Podcast, radio, and media requests on mental health, trauma, culture, and counseling are welcome through the request form. Bios and photos are in the media kit on the About page.
Bring Dr. Thomas to your church, team, or conference
Share a few details about your group, goals, and budget. You will hear back within a few business days.