Hello
Welcome
My name is Samantha Gasca and I am a Christian Pastoral Counselor and Life Coach.
In terms of qualifications, I have a Master of Divinity in Pastoral Studies from Moody Bible Institute, a Master of Science from Illinois State University, and I am ABD (All But Dissertation comple) for my PhD from Texas A&M University.
my company
My Journey
First and foremost, I am a servant of Jesus the Christ. That is the name of my game. God comes first and last: before anyone or anything in my life. Period.
A little background...
I am a 2021 Magna Cum Laude graduate of Moody Bible Institute/Moody Theological Seminary in Chicago, IL, with a Master of Divinity in Pastoral Studies. Interestingly, I was one of the first women from Moody to graduate with a Master of Divinity in Pastoral Studies and subsequently the first woman/minority to be awarded the Faculty Award for Excellence in Pastoral Studies. I am grateful, to put it lightly.
As far as my life as a child, I grew up in a home with verbal, mental, emotional, spiritual, physical, and sexual abuse. As a result, I made regrettably poor decisions as an adult including delving into psychedelic drugs, pills, alcohol, and promiscuity. While suffering internally, I felt the need to succeed professionally to be worthy of love, so I obtained a B.S. in Agriculture and an M.S. in Animal Science from Illinois State University. I also completed all requirements for my Ph.D. (apart from my dissertation) in Animal Science/Beef Cattle Nutrition from Texas A&M University. While in my Ph.D. program, God made His presence and love fully known to me. It was here that I realized I could no longer teach nutrition/biochemistry, and thus left to pursue a new career path.
I left Texas and came back home to Chicago where I began working at a home for sex trafficked children aged 10-21. It was while working here that I recognized my call was to be in ministry – counseling, coaching, teaching, speaking, and writing. I met my former husband during this time, who was a Christian radio DJ attending Bible School. We dated long distance, so many of the indicators of toxicity were hidden. There were many red flags, but I did not know how to articulate them, nor did I understand how to allow them to paint a picture. Thus I found out upon marriage that my former husband, who would leave me for days at at a time (without telling me he was leaving or when he would be home), was addicted to alcohol, methamphetamines, and crack-cocaine, was often intimate with both men and women, was prostituting himself for drug money, and was abusive verbally, mentally, emotionally, and physically. My journey through separation and divorce was what led me to Moody, as it is the times of affliction that cause us to produce our best fruit.
Since this experience, I have worked with: domestic violence, all kinds of abuse and addictions, sexuality, identity confusion, gang violence, homelessness, poverty, divorce, marriage/couples, mens prison ministry, children in abusive/traumatic situations and/or with behavioral issues, depression/anxiety, and all kinds of trauma. In 2020, at the height of Covid, I started a women’s ministry at my church (New Life Community Church Midway in Chicago, IL) called Soul Care, where I taught weekly to offer a new perspective on hope, healing, and freedom found in Christ. I taught women how to cultivate a deeper relationship with Christ, to employ spiritual discipline, and to live out faith practically.
I am a counselor, coach, teacher, speaker, and writer. I yearn to help others with the pain I have experienced, as it allows me to sow seeds of righteousness into an area where the enemy thought he had won. I would love to serve you with my gifts, partnering with you in your journey towards a healing that is found only in and through Christ.
I Believe
I profess that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. He is the God-man, who descended to earth in the form of a man, to demonstrate His deep love for us and to offer Himself up for the sake of our salvation (Matthew 26:28; John 1:1, 49; Luke 22:70; Mark 3:11; 1 Corinthians 15:2-4; Philippians 2:5-11). He lived a life that was perfect and without sin (Hebrews 4:15). He was crucified under Pontius Pilate, suffered, died, and was buried. He was resurrected from the dead, ascended into Heaven, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father.
God exists in triune nature as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. The Bible is the inspired, infallible, inerrant Word of God- breathed out by the Holy Spirit (Romans 10:17). The authors were not inspired, neither were the pens nor the parchment; only the words themselves were inspired.
I believe that salvation comes by faith through grace... by faith alone through grace alone through Christ alone- not by works lest anyone should boast (Ephesians 2:9). Good works are not required for salvation, but they always accompany it. Rather, good works do not ensure salvation, but they are evidence of it.
God is knowable, but He is not exhaustively knowable, which is why I can say I will always be searching for answers. I will never have it all together until I meet Him face-to-face. While I still have breath in my lungs, I will be working out my salvation with fear and trembling.
Pastoral Counseling
What is pastoral counseling?
Pastoral Counseling is a little different than clinical counseling. It is more like receiving counseling from your pastor. I am a pastor who focuses on counseling, as opposed to a pastor who focuses mostly on preaching/teaching. In pastoral counseling, we will dive deep into the traumas, painful circumstances, memories, and/or issues of the past in order to bring light into the dark places in our hearts. Mental health obstacles like anxiety or depression, for example, can be just surface indications of a deeper problem. We will incorporate prayer and the Word of God to ask Him to reveal the root and initial memories that caused these problems to spew to the surface, and to extinguish them at their root.
What are your counseling fees, and do you take insurance?
Currently, I am charging an introductory fee of $30/hour! My typical rate is $125/hour; however, I would like to grow my business exponentially at this time, so if you lock in your fee at $30/hour now, your fee will not increase for a minimum of a year.
As far goes insurance, I do not accept insurance for the following reasons:
- I am not a licensed clinical counselor; I am a pastoral counselor who offers at times, more successful, biblically-based services that rest apart from current limiting medical models.
- My goal is to provide high quality care that is most effective at meeting the needs of my clients. When we limit ourselves to only seeking help that is covered by insurance, we may miss the very thing that could provide joy, peace, and total freedom.
- To provide services that are acceptable to every state’s requirements (for insurance billing), it would take more time and resources than I am able to allocate at this time. I desire to utilize my resources to improve my level of care.
- The medical model that is promoted by insurance companies is limiting. In this model, people are compartmentalized and diagnosed. My philosophy is to exhibit warmth and approachability. I see you as an integrated whole individual and use the most appropriate approaches to guide you to healing- even if it doesn’t fit the curated medical models or fall under any specific diagnosis. In cases where services covered by insurance would be warranted and more helpful in your growth, I will make that recommendation as part of your healing journey.
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