Counselors
Jimmy Adkins
Jimmy holds a Master of Arts degree in Counseling from Westminster Theological Seminary, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Liberty University. Jimmy has spent the past six years working in the communications department at CCEF. He is married and has two young boys and a daughter. Jimmy enjoys coffee and reading, long walks outside with his wife, and chasing his little ones through the house.
Laura Andrews
Laura has a Master of Divinity degree in Counseling from Westminster Theological Seminary and a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Development and Family Studies from the University of Missouri. She completed the CCEF internship prior to beginning her work as a counselor and has participated in various ministries through her church. She is the Counseling Intern Coordinator and teaches the Counseling Observation Intensive class at CCEF. She enjoys cooking with her husband, Joel, photography, singing, playing games with friends and listening to movie scores.
Joel Bassett
Joel holds an M. Div. degree in Counseling from Westminster Theological Seminary, as well as a B.S in Psychology from Belhaven University. In addition to serving as a Counselor, Joel also works as the Events Administrator at CCEF. He has served as a community group leader at his church for many years, and has additional experience in college ministry as well as extensive experience in music ministry. He loves playing the piano, cooking meals for friends, Sacred Harp singing, Marilynne Robinson’s fiction, and Wendell Berry’s poetry.
Cecelia Bernhardt
Cecelia is the director of counseling and is a faculty member at CCEF where she has served for more than 10 years. She holds an MDiv from Westminster Theological Seminary and has earned the advanced counseling certificate through CCEF. She has worked in various Christian ministries for many years, including women’s ministries at her church. She enjoys her large family, reading, music, and flowers—live and in watercolor.
Wendy Budnick
Wendy is a counselor at CCEF. She has a Masters of Arts in Counseling from Biblical Theological Seminary. She has been counseling at CCEF for over a decade. She has also worked in ministry with her church, including teaching, leading small groups, in addition to working with youth and young adults. Wendy is married to her husband David and they have four children. In her free time, she enjoys gardening, music, the beach, swimming, and spending time with friends and family.
Mike Emlet
Mike is a faculty member at CCEF where he has served for more than 15 years. He holds an MD from the University of Pennsylvania and an MDiv degree from Westminster Theological Seminary. He worked as a family physician for twelve years before joining CCEF. Mike has counseled for many years and is the author of CrossTalk: Where Life and Scripture Meet, which explores the use of Scripture in counseling. Mike is married to Jody, and they have two children. He is active in his urban church and enjoys gardening, camping, and creating wheel-thrown pottery.
Monica Kim
Monica teaches Essential Qualities of a Biblical Counselor at CCEF. She has worked in church ministry for more than fifteen years and is currently a part of the pastoral staff at her local church. As a part of the staff she speaks, teaches Bible studies, leads women's groups and counsels youth and families. Monica has a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of Toronto, Canada and a Master of Arts in Religion from Westminster Theological Seminary. She is married to Danny, an ordained Pastor, and they have three boys.
Katie Leander
Katie has a Master of Arts degree in Counseling from Westminster Theological Seminary and a Bachelor of Arts in French and Spanish from Dartmouth College. She completed an internship at CCEF and has counseled in partnership with CCEF and her church, New Life Philadelphia, in the northern Philadelphia community where she and her husband, Chris, live and work. Katie has lived and worked cross-culturally and has experience working with children and youth ministries both locally and in Honduras. She and her husband have three children and enjoy playing outside, exploring parks and cities, gardening and reading.
Esther Liu
Esther graduated from Westminster Theological Seminary with a M.A.R. in Biblical Studies and a M.A. in Counseling. She holds two B.A. degrees in Political Science and Chinese, with a minor in Psychology. Esther has been involved with campus ministry and youth group ministry in the past, and has also completed counseling internships with Philadelphia Renewal Network (PRN) and CCEF. In addition to serving as a counselor, Esther also works as the executive assistant and faculty administrator at CCEF. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with family, reading, music, and being outside in nature.
Gregory F. Lowe
Greg has a depth of training with a Master of Divinity degree from Westminster Theological Seminary, a Master of Social Work from the University of South Florida and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Florida Institute of Technology. His many years of counseling experience include formal counseling and counseling the severely mentally ill. He also has work experience in hospice and end of life issues. Greg and his wife, Julie, have five children and serve as foster and adoptive parents. He enjoys hiking and outdoor activities, weight lifting and keeping up on health issues.
Julie Smith Lowe
Julie is a faculty member at CCEF where she has served for more than 15 years. She holds an MA in counseling from Biblical Theological Seminary. She is a licensed professional counselor with over fifteen years of counseling experience. She has extensive experience with women’s issues, sexual abuse, body image issues, parenting, and child maltreatment issues, and regularly speaks at events on these topics. Julie is also a registered play therapist and has developed a play therapy office at CCEF to better serve families, teens and children. Julie has trained a therapy dog that she works with both professionally and on a volunteer basis. Julie and her husband, Greg, have five children and serve as foster and adoptive parents.
Janet Nygren
Janet has a Master of Arts degree in Counseling from Westminster Theological Seminary and a BA in Anthropology from Stanford University. She has many years of experience in ministry through the local church, particularly with women’s ministry and small groups. Besides completing the CCEF internship, she has counseled at a crisis pregnancy center, and through referrals by local pastors, both in the US and in Malaysia, where she served for a number of years with her husband, Tom. She is the mother of two adult children, whom she loves to visit. She also loves learning about other cultures (and their food), enjoying the outdoors, watching movies, and playing Scrabble.
Darby Strickland
Darby has a Master of Divinity degree in Counseling from Westminster Theological Seminary and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Bio-psychology from the University of Chicago. She has been doing formal counseling for over a decade. In addition to serving as a missionary to Northern Ireland for two years, she has also supported the ministry of the church as a speaker at women's retreats, bible study teacher, and support group leader. While focused on marriage and family counseling, Darby has a special interest in working with abused and developmentally delayed children. She and her husband, John, have three young children. Her hobbies include photography, swimming, reading, and word games.
Todd Stryd
Todd is the counseling coordinator and a faculty member at CCEF where he has served for more than 10 years. He holds a PsyD from Immaculata University and an MDiv from Westminster Theological Seminary. His dissertation work explored the relationship between a reformed Christian narrative and the experience of schizophrenia. He has experience as a hospital chaplain, crisis worker, and university counselor. Todd is married with three children. He considers himself a coffee connoisseur and fills his off days with reading Winnie the Pooh and making Lego creations.
Ed Welch
Ed, M.Div., Ph.D. is a counselor and faculty member at CCEF where he has served for more than 35 years. He earned a Ph.D. in counseling (neuropsychology) from the University of Utah and has a Master of Divinity degree from Biblical Theological Seminary. Ed has been counseling for over thirty years and has written many books and articles on biblical counseling, including When People Are Big and God Is Small; Addictions: A Banquet in the Grave; Blame It on the Brain?; Depression; Running Scared; Shame, Interrupted; and Side by Side: Walking with Others in Wisdom and Love. He and his wife, Sheri, have two married daughters and eight grandchildren. In his spare time, Ed enjoys spending time with his wife and extended family and playing his guitar.
Lauren Whitman
Lauren holds a Master of Arts degree in Counseling from Westminster Theological Seminary. Before beginning her work as a counselor, Lauren was a high school English teacher. In addition to serving as a counselor, Lauren also works as an editor for the Journal of Biblical Counseling. Lauren is married and has two children. She enjoys reading and writing, book clubs, cooking, and big cities.
Counselors in Training
Counselors-in-training are counselors at CCEF who have graduated from our intern program and are now operating in the capacity of first year counselor.
Matthew Marshall
Matt is working on his Master of Arts in Counseling at Westminster Theological Seminary. He has four years of experience working with people with physical and mental disabilities, and has also served as a youth minister for two years with his wife Sarah. Matt loves to spend time with his wife and young son, and also likes to read, play board games, and to pretend that he’s a tea snob.
Raja Paulraj
Raja Paulraj is an MDiv Counseling student from Westminster Theological Seminary. He is trained and certified as a Medical Doctor and Psychiatrist in India. After graduating medical school, Raja worked in rural medical mission hospitals throughout India to promote community based health care programs. He is a non-resident scholar at the Center for Spirituality, Theology, and Health, Duke School of Medicine, NC. His special interests are spirituality and mental health research and church and mental health with the special focus of encouraging church to be a healing community. Raja and his wife, Jessica, have 4 sons who fill their days with joy and endless energy. When Raja is not studying, he enjoys exploring new places with his family, cricket matches with sons, and always has a cup of chai or coffee in hand.
Counseling Interns
Paige Poole
Paige has a Master of Counseling degree from Westminster Theological Seminary and a Bachelor’s degree from The University of North Texas in International Studies focusing in Peace Studies. Prior to coming to Philadelphia, Paige lived in Dallas, Texas and helped teach a counseling course at her church titled Equipped to Counsel. Paige prays the internship will not only grow her counseling experience, but, through the mentorship she will receive from Julie Lowe, will also challenge and sharpen her counseling skills as she seeks to walk alongside people well. Paige currently works full-time as the Events Manager at Westminster Theological Seminary, but, in her free time, she loves cooking for her friends, playing volleyball, singing loudly in the car, and Facetiming with her niece and nephew.
Elenne Ford
Elenne has a Bachelor of Laws with Honors from the University of Buckingham, England and a Bachelor of Laws with Honors from the University of Queensland, Australia where she practiced as a trial attorney for over twenty eight years. She, additionally, plans to complete a Master of Arts in Counseling at Westminster Theological Seminary this year. After mediation training at Bond University Dispute Resolution Centre, Elenne became a nationally accredited mediator certified by the Council of the Bar Association of Queensland, Australia in 2009. She also completed mediation training with Peacemakers USA and PeaceWise in Australia, becoming a Certified Christian Conciliator with Peacemakers USA in 2011. Elenne has been coaching, mediating, and counseling since 2010. When she’s not counseling or studying, Elenne enjoys swimming in the ocean and walking with her husband, Peter. She looks forward to being supervised by Ed Welch and exploring helpful ways of caring for those she counsels during her internship.