I...might have made a decision solely on that basis, if I hadn't found my therapist.

My therapist in Philly had a dog in the office. (Portuguese water dog, same breed that the Obamas got.) It was a very chill doggo, and worked as a therapy dog in other settings too.

I'd regard having a dog as a plus - wouldn't outweigh other factors, but still a positive. Thought occurs to me that asking them why they decided to have a dog in the office might tell you something about therapist's approach to therapy too.

She says the dog often greets people at the door and is known for his calm demeanor and his love of treats. I don't know if it's explicitly a therapy dog in other settings, but it's definitely there for comfort.

and I have to decide how worried to be that she offers "Christian counseling" upon request.

My customers are all doctors and I have one practice that includes a "spiritual agreement" with their intake package. The group prays with the patients and even holds weekly healing prayer meetings. If you don't want that part of their services that is fine; he is still a great cancer surgeon and will treat you with awesome medical skills. The waiting room at the practice is filled with Jesus pictures and bibles and prayer books instead of People magazines. It is really super freaky. BUT, they are my favorite customers. The book shelves have the anatomy books right next to the spiritual books and divinity degrees next to the medical ones on the walls.

Early on they relieved my concerns. Doing the initial installation we were running behind, of course, and I expected they were going to be nasty and pushy like most of my doctors. I received the sweetest email ever, and the first of now hundreds of sweet emails. They said they understood that we must be encountering some type of obstacles in the installation and they wanted to be able to help. They didn't understand tech, but if I could give them a few key words or phrases related to the holdup they would be able to pray for our wisdom and resolution to the problems. No pressure ever from this group, only kind words and gratitude in every encounter I have with them. Trust me, that is not the case with all my doctors!

Anyway, they made me get past my natural skepticism of openly religious people. They have plenty of non-Christian patients, although they must be freaked out by the decor. Still one of my highest rated doctors as far as outcomes and patient grades. And if I had the kind of cancer he treats I would be on his doorstep for sure.

Yeah, like I said, it is Texas. If I automatically excluded vocal Christians from things, I wouldn't have a lot of options. I'm just not sure about mental health.

I would be *very* put off by someone offering "Christian" services, Dana. On the other hand, hard yes on having a dog for therapy!

Anytime my customers hear my dog barking in the background they always respond with jealousy that I get to work with him. When I had the store the dog was there too, but kept her in the back so people with issues didn't get the sniff treatment.

Lovely story, Laura!

I received the sweetest email ever, and the first of now hundreds of sweet emails. They said they understood that we must be encountering some type of obstacles in the installation and they wanted to be able to help. They didn't understand tech, but if I could give them a few key words or phrases related to the holdup they would be able to pray for our wisdom and resolution to the problems.

We're switching to a new library information system tomorrow (the dread!). I'm the technical person of my department (for wrangling all things data, not for actual programming and such). Half of my department is religious people, so I've been asking them to pray because I don't and at this point I would like to.

I'm not into praying myself either, but hey, not going to turn it down if anyone wants to pray for me!

I always feel mildly uncomfortable with public displays of religion ... probably from having been raised non-religious (I used to describe myself as a lapsed Unitarian).