About Us

​Welcome! My name is Gregory Hasek and I am the director of SWFL Christian Counseling 360. We are an outreach of Southwest Florida Christian Counseling. We are a Christian non - profit counseling center serving all of Southwest Florida. We were incorporated as a non - profit in the state of Washington in 2001, and are a 501 (c)(3) organization. Donations to SWFL Christian Counseling 360 are tax deductible. ​We moved from the Pacific Northwest in 2015, where we served clients in Portland, Oregon since 2004. I would like to think we are taking what we learned about good coffee to Florida but not the rain!

We are a full service counseling center that provides integrative care in order to treat the whole person. Jesus was asked what was the greatest commandment in the Bible, he said, "To love the Lord God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind." He goes on to say that we should love our neighbor as ourself. Often times Christians who have experienced some form of trauma, have a very difficult time doing this because of the impact on their mind, emotions, body and spirit. Treating the whole person includes treating the mind, emotions, body and spirit. By treating all of these elements of you as a client at one time, you are more likely to be able to fullfill the greatest commandment, but also learn to love yourself as much as you love your neighbor.​ 

Recent research suggests that talking in counseling is often not enough to facilitate healing, especially for those that have experienced trauma. In fact, recent research shows that treating a person that has experienced trauma often has to start with treating the physical body, and how it has been affected by trauma first. That is why we work closely with a Licensed Massage Therapist, in order to target a treatment plan that addresses both emotional and physical healing at the same time. We often recommend clients to have a massage after or between counseling sessions. This is much better for the body to be able to relax prior to driving back to work or home. We believe there are times when it is not helpful for a client or couple to talk about trauma in a counseling session, and then afterwards drive home all alone. The nervous system is now on edge and the mind is at risk of flooding with emotions and thoughts. Having time to relax the body, mind and emotions after a hard counseling session is so much healthier. This kind of integrated care is becoming popular in other parts of the country but is hard to find in Southwest Florida. This is why we are offering this to our clients. 

​In addition to massage, our Licensed Counselors integrate psychology and theology to provide excellence in Christian Counseling. What also makes us unique is that we use state of the art music and video to help in the healing process with clients. This all takes place in an environment as comfortable as your favorite coffee shop.

Why do we employ only those with a Masters Degree or above by a CACREP accredited institution, and licensed/or working toward their license in Florida? 

We want to provide the highest level of care to our clients. We also believe that treating people with mental health issues need the same type of training as if one was treating a person with a physical health issue. One would not go to a doctor for a heart issue if the doctor didn't have the minimal amount of training to practice. Most Christians who had a heart problem would go to a doctor, ask others to pray for them, and ask God themselves for help. They most likely would not reject the help a doctor could give them though, and expect the Bible and prayer to heal their heart only. We believe the same standard should be held for those providing mental health care to those with emotionally wounded hearts. Without this minimal standard of education and training, clients could be put at risk of being harmed more than helped. 

What do we mean by the integration of Psychology and Theology?

We believe that the Bible is the ultimate judge of truth and all truth is from God. As a result, nothing we do in counseling would conflict with God's word. We also acknowledge there are many aspects of human life which are not directly addressed in the Bible. God gives us knowledge in the development of human sciences. The findings of these sciences may be useful to us in addressing human problems. As a result, we believe that God has given us the knowledge of human behavior through the study of Psychology in order to help people. We believe that God gives us this knowledge no different than the knowledge He gives a medical doctor in treating a physical disease of the body. It is through the integration of both the knowledge of theology and psychology, we can provide excellence in Christian Counseling to our clients. 

So what do we mean as comfortable as your favorite coffee shop and the use of music in counseling?

The idea began during graduate school as I worked as a barista in a coffee shop for three years. What I learned from that experience is that people tend to open up more in an environment that is safe, comfortable and casual, like your local coffee shop. I was amazed how people opened up to me in that type of environment versus a cold sterile office like setting of many of the medical or mental health establishments out there today. Thus the vision came to birth out of that experience. Several years ago the television show Cheers had a very similar idea. Even today you can see this happen in your local Starbucks coffee shop. 

In addition, about ten years ago I began to use music and video in my counseling sessions with clients. I was amazed at the effectiveness of these interventions over just a regular talk session. Later I found research that backed up what I was finding in counseling. I found research that showed music and it's ability to activate the right brain where memories and trauma from the past were stored. What I also found was that music encouraged the integration of left and right brain processing. This helps in the healing process, especially for clients who have had past trauma. Just talking in counseling alone often only activated the left brain or logical part of the brain. It is similar to talking about something that happened versus watching a movie about something that happened. You can read more about the research and the effectiveness of music to aid in the healing process on the Music Page or Areas of Focus Page of the website. ​​