Are you carrying the weight of anxiety, grief, or relationship issues, but don’t want to choose between your faith and professional mental health care? Maybe you even feel embarrassed or ashamed because you believe in God, yet still find yourself struggling. You know God loves you—shouldn't that be enough?
Perhaps you've thought, "If I just pray more or read Scripture enough, this pain will go away." But you're still feeling stuck, hopeless, or lost—and now you feel guilty on top of everything else.
If this resonates, know that you’re not alone. At Steady Hope, our team deeply understands the intersection of faith and mental health. Our approach integrates Christian beliefs alongside evidence-based care, creating a safe space for people who don’t want to choose between religion and therapy—as well as for those who are questioning or deconstructing.
Whether you want prayer woven into sessions or just need a therapist who won't judge your spiritual questions, we're here to walk alongside you toward wholeness.
Meet the therapists
Keep in mind that all of our providers have multiple specialty areas. This is meant to be a tool to help you start finding a match—not an exhaustive list. You can learn more about our team here or contact us so we can help connect you with a therapist who meets your needs.
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Recommended for teens & perinatal mental health: Brenley Wiley
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Recommended for young adults & new moms: Kim DeRamus Lareau
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Recommended for couples & unpacking purity culture: Angie Hartley
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Recommended for ministry leaders & ADHD: Jessica Pentsil
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Recommended for third-culture experiences & generational patterns: Amanda Peters
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Recommended for people-pleasing & grief: Fern Lima
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Recommended for trauma & anxiety: Phylicia Clemons
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Recommended for trauma & new moms: Sam Merrill
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Recommended for family conflict & self-harm behaviors: Lauren Jarrell
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Recommended for grief & women's issues: Jenny Romano
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Recommended for OCD & expressive arts: McCayla Berry
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Recommended for teens and young adults: Leila Digregorio
Why trust us?
Steady Hope has been serving the Atlanta area since 2021, built on 14+ years of clinical experience from our founder. Our diverse team of clinicians brings specialized training in EMDR, trauma-informed care, perinatal mental health, and somatic work—all while honoring your faith and spirituality.
How we selected
These eight therapists represent our entire clinical team. Each clinician was chosen for their unique background and speciality areas, commitment to ongoing training, and ability to integrate faith-based principles when appropriate and requested. Whether you’re seeking services for relationship challenges, stress and anxiety, or something else entirely, all of our therapists can blend Christian counseling into sessions.
Meet the therapists
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Brenley Wiley
Recommended for teens & perinatal mental health
Key logistics:
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Good fit for: Adolescents, women, pregnancy & postpartum, new mothers, in-person sessions
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Offers Christian counseling ✓
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Clientele: Children, teens, young adults, adults, couples, families
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Location: Decatur, GA
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Virtual therapy?: Yes (GA, FL, SC)
Brenley weaves faith into her work with young people and their families, helping parents understand how their spiritual values can guide their parenting while addressing challenges like ADHD, anxiety, and family transitions. She creates space for families to grow in both emotional health and spiritual connection.
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Kim DeRamus Lareau
Recommended for young adults & new moms
Key logistics:
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Good fit for: Maternal mental health, helping professionals, athletes, couples navigating new parenthood, in-person sessions
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Offers Christian counseling ✓
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Clientele: Young adults, adults, couples
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Location: Decatur, GA
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Virtual therapy?: Yes (GA, FL, SC)
Kim seamlessly blends faith into therapy for those who desire it, believing that spiritual wellness is part of overall healing. With specialized training in perinatal mental health, she helps clients understand how their relationship with God can be a source of strength during life's most challenging transitions and seasons of growth.
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Angie Hartley
Recommended for couples & unpacking purity culture
Key logistics:
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Good fit for: Women, premarital & marriage counseling, missionaries & re-entry care, examining purity culture, in-person sessions
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Offers Christian counseling ✓
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Clientele: Adolescents, young adults, adults, couples, families
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Location: Decatur, GA
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Virtual therapy?: Yes (GA)
Angie brings a unique understanding of the role of faith in relationships, having worked extensively with missionaries and ministry families. She helps couples strengthen their spiritual connection alongside their emotional bond, using Emotionally Focused Therapy and Prepare Enrich to create deeper intimacy among engaged and married couples.
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Jessica Pentsil
Recommended for ministry leaders & ADHD
Key logistics:
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Good fit for: Women, stress management, ministry leaders, adult ADHD, virtual sessions
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Offers Christian counseling ✓
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Clientele: Adults
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Location: Decatur, GA
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Virtual therapy?: Yes (GA)
Jessica understands the unique pressures of ministry life and helps leaders find balance between serving others and caring for themselves. She integrates faith naturally into therapy, helping clients see how spiritual practices can support mental health and prevent burnout while honoring their calling.
Amanda Peters
Recommended for third-culture experiences & generational patterns
Key logistics:
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Good fit for: Third-Culture-Kids (TCKs) & Third-Culture Adults, those who grew up as a “third parent,” generational trauma, in-person sessions
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Offers Christian counseling ✓
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Clientele: Adolescents, young adults, adults
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Location: Decatur, GA
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Virtual therapy?: Yes (GA)
Amanda approaches Christian counseling with cultural sensitivity and deep respect for diverse faith backgrounds. She helps teens and young adults explore how their spiritual journey intersects with identity formation, particularly for those who've lived between cultures.
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Fern Lima
Recommended for people-pleasing & grief
Key logistics:
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Good fit for: Young people, grief & loss, major life changes, emotional regulation, people-pleasing, in-person sessions
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Offers Christian counseling ✓
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Clientele: Adolescents, young adults
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Location: Decatur, GA
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Virtual therapy?: Yes (GA)
Fern is passionate about helping people draw on their faith during difficult seasons of grief, anxiety, and major life changes. She takes a laid-back, person-centered approach to counseling, and she’s committed to making the therapy room a soft space to land in times of turmoil or transition.
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Phylicia Clemons
Recommended for trauma & anxiety
Key logistics:
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Good fit for: High-achievers, young people, perfectionism, self-doubt, trauma, EMDR, anxiety, in-person sessions
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Offers Christian counseling ✓
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Clientele: Adolescents, young adults
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Location: Decatur, GA
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Virtual therapy?: Yes (GA)
Phylicia specializes in blending faith-based approaches with evidence-based treatments to help teens and young adults struggling with stress, anxiety, and perfectionism. She is passionate about creating a safe space where young people can examine how past experiences can contribute to current problems and how faith can support their healing.
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Sam Merrill
Recommended for trauma & new moms
Key logistics:
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Good fit for: Trauma & PTSD, EMDR, IFS, couples, new moms, in-person sessions
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Offers Christian counseling ✓
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Clientele: Adolescents, young adults, adults, couples
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Location: Decatur, GA
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Virtual therapy?: Yes (GA)
Sam integrates spirituality with trauma-informed methods like Eye Movement Desensitization (EMDR) and Internal Family Systems (IFS), helping clients understand how their religion can be part of their trauma recovery. She is passionate about helping clients tap into their mind-body-spirit connection to support holistic healing.
Lauren Jarrell
Recommended for family conflict & self-harm behaviors
Key logistics:
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Good fit for: Adolescents & young adults, social skills development, trauma
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Offers Christian counseling ✓
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Clientele: Adolescents, young adults, adults
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Location: Decatur, GA
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Virtual therapy?: Yes GA)
Lauren believes everyone makes sense and specializes in helping families navigate difficult dynamics while addressing dangerous behaviors. She integrates faith sensitively when discussing intense topics, helping families understand how their spiritual beliefs can provide hope and healing pathways even during the most challenging seasons of family conflict and mental health crises.
Jenny Romano
Recommended for grief & women's issues
Key logistics:
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Good fit for: Maternal mental health, life transitions, trauma recovery
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Offers Christian counseling ✓
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Clientele: Young adults, adults
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Location: Decatur, GA
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Virtual therapy?: Yes (GA)
Jenny cultivates warmth, compassion, and curiosity in therapy, understanding deeply the emotions that come with being human in this world. She integrates faith naturally into her work with women, helping them explore how their spiritual life connects to grief, loss, and life transitions while providing both clinical expertise and the sacred space to experience groundedness and healing.
McCayla Berry
Recommended for OCD & expressive arts
Key logistics:
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Good fit for: Children & teens, OCD & anxiety, trauma & dissociation, creative arts
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Offers Christian counseling ✓
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Clientele: Children 5+, teens, young adults
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Location: Decatur, GA
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Virtual therapy?: Yes (GA & TX)
McCayla brings a unique blend of play therapy and deep trauma work, creating space for healing through creative expression. She integrates faith gently into her practice, helping clients of all ages—from young children to adults—understand how spiritual beliefs can provide comfort and meaning while working through OCD, trauma, and emotional dysregulation using art, sand tray, and other expressive modalities.
Leila Digregorio
Recommended for OCD & expressive arts
Key logistics:
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Good fit for: Teens and young adults
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Offers Christian counseling ✓
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Clientele: Children 5+, teens, young adults
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Location: Decatur, GA
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Virtual therapy?: Yes (GA)
Leila thoughtfully integrates faith into the therapeutic process for clients who desire it, creating a space where your spiritual beliefs and mental health goals naturally align. Her compassionate, strengths-based approach allows you to explore life's challenges and restore hope while keeping your core values and faith at the center of your healing.