The person who holds everyone else's pain needs somewhere to put their own.
Pastors, clergy, and ministry workers carry a specific and rarely acknowledged burden: the ongoing absorption of other people's suffering, the pressure of being held to an impossible standard, the isolation of a role that requires perpetual strength, and the moral complexity of navigating faith, doubt, institutional obligation, and personal conscience simultaneously.
Willow & Arbor offers therapy for pastors and clergy in Johnson City, TN and by telehealth across Tennessee. East Tennessee's deep faith culture makes this a relevant and underserved need in this community.
If this is urgent: if you or someone else may be in immediate danger, call 911 or call or text 988. See our crisis resources.
Pastors and clergy carry a set of burdens that few outside the role fully understand.
Ministry work involves sustained exposure to human suffering, the weight of moral and spiritual authority, and a professional culture that makes vulnerability difficult to acknowledge. The person called to care for others is often the last to receive care themselves.
What pastors and clergy carry
The concerns that bring clergy to therapy are shaped by the specific demands and vulnerabilities of ministry life.
Pastoral burnout
The depletion of energy, meaning, and capacity that accumulates when the demands of ministry consistently exceed what can be sustained.
Moral injury
When institutional decisions, congregational behavior, or the gap between the faith proclaimed and the reality experienced has wounded conscience.
Leadership isolation
The specific loneliness of a role that requires you to hold others but limits the depth of personal connection. Clergy often can't be fully known by those they serve.
Anxiety and doubt
The anxiety of perpetual responsibility, the weight of others' crises, and the spiritual and theological doubt that ministry experience sometimes produces.
Ministry culture often makes seeking help feel like a failure of faith.
The expectation that clergy should model spiritual resilience, that prayer and community should be sufficient support, and that seeking psychological help reflects inadequate faith creates significant barriers. Many pastors delay seeking support until they're in significant distress.
The confidentiality concerns are also real. Seeking therapy through an employer-connected EAP or from a therapist in the same community risks exposure. Private-pay therapy with a therapist outside the congregational community provides a level of confidentiality that many clergy require.
Providing what pastoral care can't provide for the pastor.
At Willow & Arbor, therapy for pastors and clergy provides a space that is outside the congregational system -- where the role doesn't have to be maintained and the full weight of the experience can be brought without concern for how it will affect the congregation or the ministry. The work addresses burnout, moral injury, isolation, anxiety, and the complex interplay of faith and doubt that ministry often produces.
When this fits, and what Willow & Arbor does and doesn't address.
Willow & Arbor provides outpatient therapy. For clergy in acute crisis, additional support may be needed. If the primary concern involves decisions about leaving ministry, career transition support may be a useful adjunct to therapy. If faith and doubt are central to what's happening, Dr. Barteck's background in depth-oriented work is relevant -- the practice can engage with theological and spiritual dimensions without either pathologizing or prescribing faith.
Self-pay protects confidentiality: no insurance billing means no diagnosis in a file, no insurer involvement. Private pay is how many people in this situation prefer to access therapy.
Telehealth available: therapy across Tennessee when telehealth is clinically appropriate.
Safety comes first: if there's immediate danger or crisis, call 911 or call or text 988.
Fees and consultation
The initial consultation is free. Sessions are self-pay and vary by therapist and type of appointment. Willow & Arbor doesn't bill insurance directly. Therapy is provided by associate-licensed therapists under the clinical supervision of Dr. Katherine Barteck.
View feesLocation
In person in Johnson City, TN and by telehealth across Tennessee when clinically appropriate.
Learn about telehealthCommon questions about therapy for pastors and clergy
Is the therapy confidential from my congregation?
Yes. Therapy at Willow & Arbor is confidential. You don't bill insurance -- you pay directly -- which means no claim is filed, no diagnosis is reported to an insurer, and no one outside the therapeutic relationship has access to what you discuss.
Can the therapist understand the specific experience of ministry?
The therapists at Willow & Arbor have experience working with people in high-responsibility, high-exposure care roles and with the intersection of faith, doubt, and mental health. The consultation is the place to assess whether the fit makes sense for your specific situation.
What if faith and doubt are part of what I need to work through?
Therapy at Willow & Arbor can engage honestly with faith and doubt as part of the clinical picture. The practice doesn't prescribe theological positions or treat doubt as pathology. If working through the theological and spiritual dimensions of what you're experiencing is part of what you need, that can be part of the work.
This page is provided for educational purposes only. The information here is not clinical advice about your particular situation, and reading it does not establish a therapeutic relationship with any Willow & Arbor therapist. Guidance that applies to your specific circumstances can only come from a direct professional relationship with a qualified provider.
Therapy for pastors and clergy at Willow & Arbor is provided through individual therapy with telehealth available across Tennessee. See the full therapy-by-concern list or all services.
The role requires giving everything. The person inside it has needs too.
The consultation can help sort out whether Willow & Arbor may be an appropriate fit.
If you're in crisis or immediate danger, call 911 or call or text 988. See our crisis resources.