How we vet
What vetted means here
The site says credentialed, background-checked, theologically reviewed. This page is where those words are defined: five rounds in order, and the named person who runs every one of them.
The process
Five rounds, in order
They have to clear the bar to apply
Graduate-level training in biblical counseling, pastoral counseling, or divinity, or equivalent pastoral experience. Active involvement in a local church. Applicants who do not meet this do not move forward.
Rounds of interviews with our team
Not one conversation. Multiple rounds with our team, covering how they counsel, how they handle a person whose theology differs from theirs, and what they do when someone brings them something they are not equipped for.
Theological review
A direct examination of what they believe and how it shows up in a session. We are looking for people who can sit with someone in a hard place without needing to win the conversation.
Credential verification and background check
The degree, the ordination, the certification, all checked rather than taken on faith. Plus a criminal background check. Whatever survives verification is what appears on their profile, and nothing else.
A signed contract, then training
Every guide signs a contract covering scope, confidentiality, mandatory reporting duties in their state, and a prohibition on recording sessions. Then they complete our training program before taking their first session.
Cole Bryant runs it
Co-Founder and Head of People
M.A. Clinical Mental Health, Liberty University
Cole spent over a decade in full-time ministry before earning his master’s in clinical mental health from Liberty University. He owns hiring end to end: who gets an interview, who moves to theological review, who signs, and who does not.
He also built the training every guide completes before a first session. Someone can be qualified on paper and still be the wrong person to trust with a stranger’s spiritual life. Cole is the one who makes that call.
Worth being clear about
What vetting establishes, and what it does not
Guides are not licensed therapists
Biblical counseling is pastoral care, not clinical treatment. A guide cannot diagnose you or treat a mental health condition. If that is what you need, your guide will tell you and we will help you find it.
Qualified is not the same as right for you
Vetting establishes that a guide is trained and safe. It cannot establish that they are the right person for your season. That is what the free rematch is for, and asking for one costs you nothing.
Common questions
Who decides which guides get in?
Cole Bryant, our co-founder and Head of People. He holds an M.A. in clinical mental health from Liberty University and spent over a decade in full-time ministry before that. He runs the interviews and the theological review, makes the final call, and built the training program every guide completes before a first session.
What disqualifies someone?
Failing the background check. Refusing one. Credentials that do not verify. A theological interview that shows someone will push their own agenda over the person in front of them. And the most common reason: they are qualified but cannot tell us what they would do when a session moves beyond spiritual care into something clinical.
Are guides licensed therapists?
No, and they are not presented as such. Biblical counseling is pastoral care. A guide cannot diagnose, treat a mental health condition, or prescribe. If what you bring calls for licensed therapy, your guide will say so and we will help you find it.
Does vetting continue after they join?
Yes. Guides stay on the platform based on how they actually work with people, and we act on what members tell us. A guide can be removed, and the contract every guide signs gives us the standing to do it.
What if something goes wrong in a session?
Email support@betterfaith.com. We investigate every report. Tell us the first time rather than waiting to see whether it happens again.
Every guide has a profile with their training, focus areas, and background. Browse the roster.
Ready to take the next step?
Get matched with someone who shares your faith, and start whenever you are ready.