Frequently Asked Questions
What kind of counseling do you provide?
At MCCS, we provide professional faith-based counseling and psychotherapy to persons struggling with a variety of issues including stress, self-esteem, guilt, anger, depression, anxiety, grief, marital and family conflict, domestic violence and child abuse, peer pressure and parenting, life changes, illness, spirituality and more.
Whom do you see?
We work with individuals, couples, families and groups of all ages - adults, children and adolescents (depending on counselor training and experience). Since families come in all shapes and sizes, we work with single-parent families and step-families along with nuclear families.
Do you see only Methodists, or do you see others as well?
People come to us from all walks of life and from diverse faith traditions. We see them all. Pastors and laity, people who attend church regularly as well as people with no particular church affiliation. While MCCS serves as a ministry of the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church, we serve in cooperation with churches of various denominations.
What approach do you take to the problems people come in with?
We take a holistic approach to personal and family problems. We are available to help with the emotional, relational and spiritual dimensions of life’s challenges. We use resources of faith and the behavioral sciences in counseling. We draw upon a variety of psychotherapeutic theoretical models and methodologies including psychodynamic, cognitive, behavioral, gestalt, family systems and solution-focused.
What about your education, training and credentials?
We are professionally educated and trained counselors and therapists who have completed masters and doctoral level training programs in pastoral psychotherapy, marriage & family therapy, etc. We have undergone extensive post-masters and post-doctoral clinical supervision of our work. We are licensed by the state of North Carolina (i.e. Licensed Professional Counselors, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists, etc.) and certified by a variety of professional counseling associations (i.e. American Association of Pastoral Counselors, American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, National Board of Certified Counselors, etc.). To learn more about the credentials of our staff therapists, click here for our Staff Directory.
How does your faith inform the counseling you provide?
We are men and women of faith committed to honoring each person’s spiritual path and life process. We are trained to integrate the resources of faith and the behavioral sciences in counseling. This is what it means to take a holistic approach to personal and family problems. We accept people where they are and walk with them on a therapeutic journey to where they long to be. We recognize that while emotional and relational problems may have an underlying spiritual dimension to them, spiritual problems may also have underlying emotional and relational dimensions.
What organizations beyond the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church have blessed or endorsed the services of MCCS?
MCCS is an accredited service center of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors and the Samaritan Institute. In addition, a number of other church bodies have made contributions to the MCCS Samaritan Client Assistance Fund.
What is the American Association of Pastoral Counselors?
Organized in 1963, AAPC represents over 80 faith groups. AAPC provides standards and several levels of credentialing in mental health care and counseling. AAPC requires pastoral counselors to earn five to nine years of post-college education, including extensive clinical training and supervision in settings such as hospitals, mental health facilities and counseling centers. AAPC supports advanced teaching and learning processes which integrate the enduring wisdom of religious traditions with emerging insights and methodologies in the behavioral sciences.
What is the Samaritan Institute?
The Denver-based Samaritan Institute is an umbrella agency for pastoral counseling centers. Samaritan Centers are in operation in more than 340 cities across the nation.
Accreditation by the Samaritan Institute provides assurance that the highest professional standards are maintained in all areas of operation from the physical facilities to the qualifications of the therapists. It guarantees commitment to the healing of mind, body and spirit.
What are your fees?
In compliance with the Samaritan Institute and the American Association of Pastoral Counselors guidelines, we use a fee-adjusted scale based on household income. Click here for more information on our fees.
Do you accept insurance?
Insurance may reimburse for our services and is determined on a case-by-case basis. Prior authorization by the insurance carrier may be necessary. Speak to your counselor about eligibility.
How do you respond to people for whom insurance coverage is lacking, or who have insufficient financial resources to afford the “going rate” for professional counseling services?
The MCCS Samaritan Client Assistance Fund (“Samaritan Fund”) is designed to respond to this need. The Samaritan Fund works along with the MCCS fee-adjusted scale to offset the cost of counseling and psychotherapy services for individuals, couples and families who are otherwise not able to be reimbursed for, or to afford, the desired services. The Samaritan Fund is designed to help persons who cannot help themselves get the help they need, deserve and desire.
What can be done to ensure that the Samaritan Fund is adequately funded?
The Samaritan Fund is sustained by the donations of churches, businesses, families and individuals in the communities served by MCCS. Donors may designate the site to be funded. Donations to the Samaritan Client Assistance Fund may be sent to:
Methodist Counseling & Consultation Services
1801 East Fifth Street, Suite 110
Charlotte, NC 28204
Do you provide workshops to persons or congregations who are seeking enrichment or growth?
As consultants, we respond to educational needs within the church and community by presenting workshops and retreats designed to heal, inform and empower. MCCS therapists are available to churches in times of transition and crisis. To learn more about how to schedule a workshop or life enrichment event, click here and here.
Where are your offices located?
MCCS has offices in the five-district Charlotte area. For office sites or directions, click here for our Staff Directory or click here for our Site Directory.
How can I make an appointment?
You can make an appointment by calling the main office at (704) 375-5354 or (800) 832-3014. If you know which therapist you wish to see, you may, on the initial call, simply leave a message for that therapist on his or her private voice mail. Dial (704) 333-1730, then the extension listed for the therapist. Click here for our Staff Directory.
