Christian Counseling
Trauma-Informed, Non-Medical
Virtual Support Via Phone or Video Chat
Is it important to you that you work with someone who shares your Biblical, Christ-centered worldview?
These days, many coaching and counseling services look to New Age, Eastern Mysticism, or Humanistic philosophies as the keys to healing.
As a follower of Jesus Christ, I believe He is the Ultimate Healer, and He alone can fill our deepest needs. Following Him and His teachings leads to lasting healing and freedom, and following anything other than Him ultimately leads to pain and bondage.
Specialties
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A Word About Spiritual Abuse
I work with many clients who have experienced spiritual abuse. The Bible and spiritual disciplines (prayer, fasting, confession, etc.) were weaponized and used to manipulate and control them. Spiritual abuse often causes victims to experience significant distress around spiritual issues and question everything they once believed. The meaning of love, forgiveness, grace, trust, and other core aspects of the faith is often tangled with the abuse.
My goal is to provide a safe, supportive space where you are free to explore spiritual issues at your own pace. As with any solid coach, counselor, mentor, etc., my role is not to tell you what to believe, set rules for you, or use the Bible to manipulate you.
Jesus not only provided a path to freedom, but He reveals even the deepest parts of us that need healing. God doesn’t need me to try to do that work for Him; He has it covered!
So, I leave the job of deciding what you want to focus on to you and Jesus. I trust His work in your life and believe He knows your heart, hurts, and needs far better than I. I trust Him to be the Ultimate Guide in your healing.
Important!
Willow Life Coaching and Counseling, LLC does NOT provide medical services. Please see a licensed medical provider if you need medical and mental health services.
About Me
Bonnie Ronstrom
I’m a certified life coach, victim’s advocate, and pastoral counselor. I specialize in walking toward healing with those harmed by toxicity, narcissism, and spiritual abuse.
My passion is to provide the validation, support, training, and resources individuals and organizations need to overcome the devastating impacts of toxicity and abuse.
Whether you need a one-time consult or a place to heal, I look forward to meeting you and exploring how we can best work together. I work with clients from all over the world through virtual, trauma-informed coaching, Christian counseling (non-medical), groups, training, and consulting services.
My Thoughts on Counterfeit Healing Arts
Many spiritual coaching and counseling models teach that we either have the answers inside ourselves, or we need to open ourselves up to a higher, collective energy to be enlightened and healed. In contrast, the Bible teaches us that our hearts are drawn to wickedness, and we are easily deceived. God calls us to look to Him as the power source for our growth and healing.
Satan takes the things of God and produces very convincing counterfeits. A counterfeit work of art can fool most people (I wouldn’t have a clue.) Only the individuals who intimately know the original can spot the fraudulent pieces. Satan’s “counterfeit healing arts” wouldn’t be convincing unless they were effective and closely resembled the original.
Matthew 24:24 – For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.
It’s a mistake to think Satan’s counterfeit healing arts don’t produce results.
They most certainly do!
Exodus 7: 10b-12 Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. 11 Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts. 12 For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.
However, these results come at a high price with chains attached (not just strings). Jesus Christ tells us that His intentions are for us to be healed and set free but that Satan intends to leave us in bondage and ultimately destroy us.
That said, it’s a mistake to throw out every aspect of that which Satan has twisted and used for evil.
Satan quoted Scripture to Jesus. When he did, he misapplied and misused God’s truths and laws and added subtle yet destructive twists. Since Satan is relentlessly in his mission to trick us, harm us, and turn us away from God, we must constantly test which spirit is fueling all methods, healing practices, and miracles.
I John 4:1
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
It’s essential to recognize that not everything that is helpful and true is spelled out in Scripture. For example, at birth, most people have 270 bones. We didn’t learn this from the Bible but from the people who counted the bones. However, no truth found outside of Scripture should contradict anything in Scripture, or we can be sure it’s not true.
For this reason, I don’t toss out all of psychology, physiology, reflexology, or most of the “ologies” simply because Scripture didn’t reveal a truth that is operating in the natural world. There are helpful and wise insights to be gleaned from them. Some of these natural world healing principles that I draw from are neuroscience, somatic processing (the mind/body connection), the polyvagal theory, and internal family systems.
Contact Me
Frequently Asked Questions
Who do you work with?
I work with English speaking adults from diverse cultures, countries, and backgrounds.
What forms of payment do you take?
Do you take insurance?
My services are not medical, so they are not covered by medical insurance.
If you didn’t see an answer to your question, the link below will take you to more frequently asked questions.
What does working together look like?
The various parts of us (body, mind, soul, spirit, emotions, personality, abilities, etc.) are so intricately woven together that all aspects of us are impacted when we experience hardships and trauma. For this reason, I believe the most profound growth and healing occur when all parts of us are part of the process.
When we first meet, I’ll ask about your goals and what you hope to gain from working together. Some people have a clear picture of what they want, while others are overwhelmed and focused on surviving today (an expected impact of abuse and trauma). If this is your situation, we can start with your immediate needs, such as helpful information, clarity, a safety plan, or strategies to calm the chaos and anxiety.
I let each person decide how often they want to meet (permitting time in my schedule) and if they prefer to meet via phone or video chat.
As we talk, I discover your personality, experiences, preferences, and abilities. Getting to know you is an essential part of helping me present options and strategies that will be effective for you. I don’t believe a one-size-fits-all approach works.
Part of being trauma-sensitive is that I’m always listening for potential triggers and roadblocks so that together we can develop creative ways to help you keep moving forward and avoid being retraumatized.
Trauma alters how our brain and nervous systems function. Even when we are no longer in a harmful environment, having “trauma brain” causes physical problems and makes everyday tasks and interactions difficult. An essential part of healing is helping your brain and nervous systems return to healthy functioning. Thankfully, our brains are capable of changing and developing new patterns. Even though trauma is devastating, healing is possible!
People are traumatized when they go through deeply distressing events. When these distressing events are ongoing (such as in the case of Narcissistic Abuse), the impacts are profound.
When there is stress, our brains temporarily change how they function to help us respond to the stressor and recover afterward. Prolonged trauma causes our brains to take on new patterns of functioning. Certain brain areas become overactive while others under-function. These changes are sometimes referred to as “trauma brain.”
Here are just a few of the signs of “trauma brain.”
Lack of focus
Memory issues, Forgetful
Fatigue, Unmotivated
Anxious, restless
Emotionally reactive
Difficulty feeling connected to anyone
Difficulty thinking through challenging topics
More impulsive
Drawn toward addictions (food, shopping, drugs, researching, etc.)
Sleep difficulties
Loss of hope or difficulty thinking about the future
Jumpy
Overthinking & obsessing
Headaches, stomach and intestinal issues, auto-immune disorders
Skeptical of everyone and everything