About

ABOUT ME

Hi, I’m Aaron. I am a follower of Jesus, a husband, a dad, a pastor, a counselor, and a Michigan Wolverines fan. My wife and our three kids endure winters in the Twin Cities and delight in being outside in Minnesota summers. We make lots of music in our home and enjoy a good board game.

WHY I CARE

I too have felt stuck, overwhelmed, and confused on the journey.

Jesus Christ, the Great Shepherd, went on a rescue mission to save me during my doctoral studies to be a counselor. He spoke to me through the Bible and I began trusting him. Oh how sweet is the good news of salvation through Jesus death and resurrection!

Jesus transformed both my life and my mission. Since then, my passion has been to help people like you navigate your trials in order to grow stronger as a whole person, both in body and soul, and to live with hope in the midst of your present challenges.

WHAT I DO

I’ve walked alongside hundreds of other people when their journeys got tough, guiding them to navigate their trials and walk with Jesus through them. I’ve helped individuals, couples, churches, and counseling centers navigate challenges like marriage and family issues, fear and anxiety (including OCD), anger, relational conflicts, abuse/oppression, depression, guilt and shame, addictions (especially sexual), past regrets, and ministry-related struggles.

I am also a bi-vocational pastor at Mound Evangelical Free Church. I have studied biology and psychology (B.S. at U. of Illinois), counseling (M.A. at U. of Minnesota), and theology (M.Div. at Central Seminary). I have taught counseling in the local church and as an adjunct at Bethlehem College & Seminary. I’ve supervised and equipped dozens of counselors, in churches and counseling centers.

Certifications:

  • Christian Counseling and Education Foundation (CCEF):  Certificate levels 1, 2 and 3
  • PN1-NC:  Precision Nutrition Level 1 Nutrition Certified Coach
  • Prepare & Enrich:  Certified facilitator for pre-marital and marital assessment
  • DISC:  Administer and coach the Portrait Systems DISC personality assessment

My Passion

It’s a privilege to walk with people through the real and difficult struggles of life. As we dialogue (you talk more while I listen more!), we aim to:

(1) KNOW

We seek to know you well. We grow in understanding who you are, the world we live in, and the God over it all. Through questions, insights and spiritual reflection we gain a clearer understanding of your heart, your patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving, your relationships, your bodily experiences, your past and your interactions with God and the spiritual realm. These are the pieces of the puzzle that we lay out on the table.

(2) CONNECT

We connect your story to The Author of The Story, which is a story of salvation, reconciliation, freedom, and new life through Jesus Christ. We pray and have spiritual conversations about the puzzle pieces. 

(3) MEANING

We make sense of the story as truth in love is spoken. I speak. You speak and remind yourself. The Word speaks. And we speak to both sin and suffering, but most of all, we speak encouragement to saints. We are putting the pieces of the puzzle together in a coherent order, making sense of the story and looking ahead with hope.

(4) WALK

We take a next step of faith. So often we want to get from point A to point Z. Yet our lives with God are often described in the Bible as a walk…and walking is done one step at a time. So we discern together what the next step of faith is for you at this present time. Do something. Add the next puzzle piece to the picture of your story.

Jesus offers lasting hope and real change—something I’ve experienced personally and seen in countless others. I believe he can do the same for you.

FAQs about Biblical Counseling

In our conversations I seek to understand you — how you think, feel, and act. How do you live, both physically and spiritually? We explore your relationships with others — God, people, and creation. What is the heart of the matter — what do you believe, what really drives you, and what do you value? Together, we consider what is good, hard and bad. We connect your story to the Author’s story. We pray to the God who hears and knows you. He will be with us! We listen to his Word. We trust the Spirit to empower heart change. Step by step, we grow in wisdom and love. We do this with others who walk alongside you.

It can be a big step to admit you need some help. Yet facing our struggles is not something we can do alone. You don’t have to! Reaching out for help is an initial step in the journey to finding lasting hope.

You don’t have to be a Christian to meet with a pastoral counselor. If you’re open to considering who Jesus is and what he offers you in your struggles, we can talk.

I am grateful for the clinically-informed training I received in graduate school at the University of Minnesota. I have been greatly influenced, both personally and professionally, by the training I received through CCEF.

At LHPC, I ascribe to the confessional statement of the Biblical Counseling Coalition:

“Biblical counseling occurs whenever and wherever God’s people engage in conversations that are anchored in Scripture, centered on Christ and the Gospel, grounded in sound theology, dependent upon the Holy Spirit and prayer, directed toward sanctification, rooted in the life of the church, founded in love, attentive to heart issues, comprehensive in understanding, thorough in care, practical and relevant, and oriented toward outreach.”

Pastoral, biblical counseling is not the same as licensed counseling. I do not provide counsel as a registered, licensed or certified professional within the State of Minnesota (e.g. licensed professional counselor, psychologist, psychiatrist, marriage and family therapist, social worker) or any other jurisdiction.