Bev Gerlitz runs Kingdom Alignment Coaching and offers Meeting Jesus in the Broken Places, a 12-week inner healing coaching program for Christian women. Her work was recently included in a roundup of Christian women's inner healing coaching programs, and she agreed to answer five questions by email about how the process actually works.
Her answers are direct about the limits of coaching, the pace of change, and the kind of woman who tends to reach out. Here is that conversation, edited only for clarity.
Question 1: What usually brings a woman to your 12-week coaching journey, and what has she already tried before she reaches out?
Bev describes a specific kind of woman: someone whose faith is intact but whose sense of closeness to Jesus is not.
"Often, she's a woman who genuinely loves Jesus but has walked through so much pain, loss, extended grief or disappointment that somewhere along the way, she's lost that sense of closeness with Jesus."
She notes that these women have usually already done the obvious things. "She's prayed, read her Bible, tried to stay strong and done everything she knows to do, yet something still feels disconnected."
What she is not seeing, Bev says, is a crisis of belief. "She's not necessarily questioning her faith. She's longing to experience the intimacy with Jesus she once knew, or perhaps discover a depth of relationship with Him she's never experienced before."
That distinction matters for anyone trying to understand spiritual formation as a lifelong process rather than a single decision. Resources like InterVarsity's conversation with spiritual director Jan Johnson explore similar territory for women who want to grow deeper without pretending the growth is effortless.
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Question 2: How do you tell the difference between a spiritual struggle and something that needs professional mental health care, and what do you do when it is the latter?
This is where Bev is most careful. She does not claim to sort every struggle into a clean category.
"I believe spiritual and emotional struggles can overlap and it's important to recognize that not everything can or should be addressed through coaching alone."
She is explicit about her scope. "I'm not a licensed mental health professional and I don't diagnose or treat mental health conditions. When a woman's needs go beyond the scope of coaching, I encourage her to seek support from a qualified mental health professional."
Her framing of that referral is theological, not clinical. "I believe God works through many avenues of healing and seeking professional care is never a failure of faith. Nor should a woman ever feel ashamed because she needs additional guidance and support."
For readers weighing whether to pursue coaching or counseling, that boundary is worth holding onto. Coaching and therapy are not competing goods, and a coach who names her limits is generally a safer guide than one who does not.
Question 3: What does a typical session look like, and how much of the work happens between sessions?
Bev begins with atmosphere before content. "Each session begins with creating a safe, peaceful space where a woman can simply be honest about what's happening in her heart."
From there, the work is collaborative and explicitly prayerful. "We invite the Holy Spirit into the conversation, explore the places where pain may have shaped what she believes about herself or God and gently bring those beliefs into the light of Scripture."
The between-session work is not framed as a checklist. "It's not about giving her more spiritual homework, although that is available for accountability with daily practice if desired." Bev says she uses written resources grounded in Scripture, tailored to each woman's situation.
The goal, as she describes it, is relational rather than performative. "Our time together is about her cultivating a deeper relationship with God because of the depth of healing that she is experiencing and the truth she is receiving in her heart throughout the sessions."
Question 4: What changes do clients notice first, and what tends to take longer?
Bev is honest that the first shift is often internal and unglamorous.
"One of the first things I hope she experiences is the freedom to stop pretending she's okay when she's not. There's something powerful about realizing she can bring her whole heart to Jesus, including the painful and messy places, without fear of rejection."
The slower work is the deeper work. "Learning to recognize the lies she's believed and replacing them with God's truth is a process. Restoring trust, renewing the mind and rediscovering her identity in Christ often take time, but that's why I love walking alongside women through their journey."
That language of renewing the mind and identity in Christ echoes a long tradition of Christian spiritual formation, including work collected by InterVarsity Press's spiritual formation media experts.
Question 5: What would you tell a woman who feels drawn to this kind of coaching but is afraid of being judged or told she is not praying enough?
Bev answers this one with a scriptural image rather than a reassurance.
"I would tell her that Jesus is not intimidated by her questions, her pain or even her disappointment. She doesn't have to clean herself up spiritually before coming to Him."
She points to the woman at the well. "He knew her story, every painful detail and yet He didn't turn away from her. He engaged her, spoke truth to her and offered her living water. That's the heart behind my coaching."
And she names what she is not doing. "I'm not here to measure or judge someone's spiritual or religious performance. I'm here to come alongside her as we invite Jesus into the places that need His presence, His truth, His compassion and His restoring love."
A Practical Takeaway
If you recognize yourself in Bev's description, a few things may help. First, name what you have already tried, because it clarifies what you are actually looking for. Second, ask any coach directly about their scope of practice and how they handle referrals to licensed professionals. Third, expect the first change to be honesty rather than relief, and give the slower work of renewing the mind the time it takes.
You can learn more about Bev's work at Kingdom Alignment Coaching.