Pastoral Counselors offer a variety of ways to alleviate mental and emotional problems and to move through life's crises and transitions. Based on psychosocial research, religious principles, and cultural understandings, the Pastoral Counselor, after careful assessment of the problem, recommends one or more particular ways of helping. For example: individual counseling/psychotherapy, group therapy, couples counseling, pre-marriage, marriage and family therapy, spiritual guidance, or short-term counseling. In some instances the Pastoral Counselor may feel that the help needed can best be provided by some other mental health professional or some other Pastoral Counselor. If that is the case, the Pastoral Counselor will assist the counselee in finding a more appropriate professional. Whether the Pastoral Counselor provides the needed treatment or makes the referral, the decision is always made in consultation with the counselee and will be based on what seems to be in the counselee's best interest.