John Pierce

John has been counseling and leading groups at The Barnabas Center since 1997. He earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from William Jennings Bryan College and a master’s degree in Biblical counseling from Colorado Christian University. John is a Nationally Certified Counselor (NCC), Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor in North Carolina (LCMHCS), a Certified Sexual Addiction Therapist (CSAT), and a Certified Multiple Addictions Therapist.

He serves as the Clinical Director for the Center and oversees the Honors Program, a multi-faceted group-based course for men seeking sexual health, freedom from addictions, and intimacy growth.

John sees men and couples recovering from:

• ADHD
• Affairs and Betrayal
• Betrayal trauma
• Complex relational trauma
• Depression / Anxiety
• Grief
• Impulse Control
• Internet, Pornography, and Sexual Addictions
• Marital and Relationship Conflict
• Unwanted attractions

Most of his professional attention has been given to understanding the issues men face over the lifespan, particularly in the realm of sexuality and addictions. He has extensive experience in helping individuals and couples wade through the complexities of addiction recovery. Ultimately, John is committed to helping men—and those they love—find God through their struggles and more fully understand His plan on the healing journey.

John works foundationally from a biblically-based relational Christian worldview which has been heavily influenced by the thought of authors and educators Dr. Lawrence Crabb, Dr. Dan Allender, Dr. Tim Keller, and many of their contemporaries.

He has studied widely and makes use of thinking and evidenced-based interventions from a variety of theoretical approaches to counseling, which include: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) originally developed by Aaron Beck, Task Based Addiction Recovery developed by Dr. Patrick Carnes, Cognitive Processing Therapy for PTSD as outlined by Patricia Resick, PhD, Gottman Theory For Making Relationships Work as laid out by John and Julie Gottman, Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) by Steven Hayes, Brief Psychodynamic Therapy as outlined by Hans Strupp, Family Systems Therapy as outlined by Murray Bowen, Emotion Focused Therapy as developed by Sue Johnson, Attachment Theory as outlined by John Bowlby, and Existential Psychotherapy by Irving Yalom.

John is married to Sandy and they enjoy their three adult children and one grandchild. He loves to learn, collect quotes, and create, particularly when it involves sculpting with clay.