Counseling the Soul
with Sven Erlandson
Counseling the Spirit and the Soul
When it comes to working with Badass Counseling and Sven Erlandson, you’ll quickly discover the meaning of Spiritual Counseling.
What is Spiritual Counseling?
Because Badass Counseling and Sven Erlandson specialize in ‘spiritual but not religious’ counseling, soul counseling may be a better way to describe what you can expect.
Soul/spiritual counseling is fundamentally about connecting the individual to their own spirit, the voice of their soul. It does not involve religion unless that is something that you, as a client want or need.
Sven often says, “Championships are won and lost in the off-season.” Growth, change, and the healing of the soul does not just happen in a counseling session. In fact, the most powerful, impactful happenings occur when a person is alone, especially if they have the courage to do the optional homework, which Sven always gives to clients.
But, because we have such a growing mental/soul health crisis in the US and across the globe, Sven has created many resources for those who cannot afford counseling or do not have access to it. Sven got himself out of a 12-year suicidal depression with no help from any therapist. So, he is a big believer in self-help, if you have the courage to do the hard work. For exactly this, Sven has created many resources:
1,000 FREE videos that cover a broad range of wellness topics, ranging from trauma to family wounds, motivation to dealing with an extreme taker/narcissist, parenting to grieving, cheating and marriage. All are free and all come with questions to further your own journaling and self-care work. Sven has over 2 million followers on TikTok, alone, as well as half a million on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram, who have their lives changed by these videos and the work he encourages you to do in them;
A FREE podcast, The Badass Counseling Show!, on which Sven and his team (Rob ‘the Rocket’ and KC in the booth) have two formats: Thursday shows are Sven counseling people with all types of issues for FREE (to get on the show, write one paragraph to production@badasscounseling.com); Sunday ‘Lightning Rounds’ are taped LIVE with Sven answering peoples life questions in a rapid-fire manner that is lively, spirited, and really gets you think.
FREE articles every month in the website newsletter, which address topics such as religious trauma, new love, mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, dealing with the Holidays, etc;
Several video courses that work in conjunction with his books, some of which include counseling with Sven;
7 books to help you in your self-care journey, including his international bestseller, There’s a Hole in My Love Cup! and his latest daily inspirational book, BADASS WISDOM.
Learn more about what you can expect from the Spiritual/Soul Counseling that Badass Counseling prides itself on by exploring the questions below.
Facebook Follower Allison R. sent this and wrote, “I love love love BadassCounseling.”
I've never heard of 'Badass Counseling'. What is it?
Unlike psychology and most other counseling, I'm not in the business of teaching you 'coping' skills or getting you out of your problems and diseases and getting you to a state of 'normal'. If you’re still coping, you’re not healed. I'm in the business of getting you out of all that stuff....and getting you to a place of JOY, ecstasy about life, clarity, and inner peace -- TRUE ALIVENESS!!
-- Sven Erlandson
High-Intensity Performance Coaching and Spiritual Counseling
'Badass Counseling' is a style of high-intensity performance coaching and spiritual counseling created by Sven Erlandson, over the course of three decades. Badass Counseling integrates the deep spiritual identity of each soul with the greater sense of strength, awareness, self-love, and vigor of a life lived in peace and power everyday.
All counseling is done online. There are Badass Counseling clients all around the United States and in many foreign countries.
Badass Counseling is based on one very core, simple belief: The deeper you go, the faster and more powerful the transformation. It is rooted in going into very deep questioning about the client's identity, past, and present to discern the areas of blockage and beliefs that are undermining his or her existence and, ultimately, ALIVENESS and performance. Though it is 'spiritual', it is not about God-stuff, unless the client wishes to go there. It is about helping each person become who they truly are by helping them remove that which they are not.
Become your true inner BADASS by having the courage to look at the deepest questions and problems vexing your soul
Contrary to what the name, Badass Counseling, may seem to imply, this is not some drill sergeant-type counseling, full of yelling, hard plans, and tough love. Instead, we become our true inner BADASS by having the courage to look at the deepest questions and problems vexing one's soul. This may sound trivial, even trite, but true Badass work is far from it and far from easy. It's profoundly challenging, often overwhelming, and profoundly rewarding. You may think you just need a kick in the ass to get you back on track. After literally thousands of clients, over the decades, Sven can definitively state that what you think you need and what you really need are two vastly different things. What you really need is to drill down to the root of your inertia, lack of clarity, and emptiness. And, that is no small thing.
Badass Counseling, as created and executed by Sven Erlandson:
A) Does NOT approach counseling from a medical model, as psychological counseling might. That is, the client is not viewed as sick. Badass Counseling is non-judgmental; only pushing the client to become him-/herself, not who the counselor thinks he or she 'should' be. Thus,
B) The client is viewed as disconnected from his, or her, truest self , which is innately good, beautiful, and strong;
C) The goal is not to treat, or remove, the depression or anxiety, but to reconnect the individual with her inner, deepest sense of self, which she may not even know exists. When that happens, anxiety and depression often effortlessly melt away. It's hard, but it's effortless;
D) Is absolutely rooted in the core belief that all people seek happiness; and the truest and most universal experience of happiness is a sense, or feeling, of ALIVENESS, clarity, lightness, and feeling energized. To be a Spiritual Badass is not a never-ending state of calm or balance, but instead an ebb and flow of peace and exuberance, joy and sorrow, intense passion and casual indifference. The goal of life is to experience it all, not just run from the pain, sorrow, and fear and try to exist in a constant state of fake-happy.
Yes, but still, just put it in the plain terms of the everyday guy: What is Badass Counseling and why the spiritual and soul thing?
Badass Counseling is based on the belief that the most powerful people -- the most vigorous, the most alive, those at the zenith of their creative output and life success, and the most on-fire people, as well as those who are really giving something back to life -- are those who have connected to their deepest inner self and are living with the balls to be authentic and pursue courageous paths, no matter how much the naysayers criticize. And that is no small thing! This is what it means to be spiritual -- to be intimately connected to, listening to, and courageously acting on one's true inner voice. It is to be, say, do, and become on the outside who you really are, deep down, on the inside. This is true spirituality.
Additionally, pre-session, it is vastly different, as Badass Counseling is the only counseling company we know of that requires all first-time clients to submit a full autobiography before the first session, which Sven spends two or more hours studying before session, at no cost to you! This accelerates the pace and depth of the counseling from the very first session!
Who is Badass Counseling for?
Sven is a bull-by-the-horns counselor. He’s compassionate but will work you hard. He has worked with all types of folks:
From ranchers working with bulls and cows to CEOs and CIOs in bull markets and bear;
Pro & Olympic athletes from bullpen throwers to bull riders and bullseye archers & shooters;
Business owners & military leaders who make bullish decisions every day;
Pro trainers handling bulldogs to horses;
Bully parents; as well as
Garden variety bullshitting spouses.
Many of them have one similarity – either traditional counseling hasn’t worked for them, or they wouldn’t be caught dead in a normal therapist office. Intense, ‘no BS’ people love working with Sven, but so do victims who know they’ll be protected by him, even has he guides them through change and growth.
It is true that Badass Counseling has effectively changed the lives of thousands of all types of people, over the last 25 years and can effect serious, big changes in your life.
But, yes, Sven Erlandson and Badass Counseling work best with a few types of people:
C-suite individuals and their families, including those from large companies and owners of medium and small companies.
People who have tried other therapies and counselors and had little or no success.
Individuals who yearn to go to the next level in life, as well as those who feel stuck.
Couples with the hardest problems, as well as successful, high-functioning women and men who hate therapy.
Families with unmotivated/depressed teens//young adults (20s).
Those looking for clarity in life, faster results, lasting impact, deeper peace, greater happiness, and real purpose.
What about Badass Counseling for couples, families, or groups?
The goal of Sven's marriage counseling is not to save the marriage. It’s not to destroy the marriage either.
The goal is to get to the truth – the truth of the relationship and the truths of who two people individually are. Sven’s goal is to save two individuals and take them beyond 'saving' and surviving to a state of thriving, as individuals. Only after each has begun to hear their own voice and thrive, as an individual living his/her truest self, can they then answer the question, “Is this the person I want to spend the rest of my life with?” This is done by working with each person individually for 1-4 sessions before bringing them together in session. Sven does not bring couples together immediately to counsel with him. He takes them separately, first.
When Sven works with families or groups, he requires each person to work with Sven individually before Sven brings all together for a group session, as that enables each person to be fully heard and understood.
But does Badass Counseling really get better results?
ABSOLUTELY!!
Often, the simplest way to determine the effectiveness of any counseling method is simply by seeing whether clients report experiencing greater happiness and greater energy. Badass Counseling clients, again and again, report increases in all these metrics. (See Testimonials page)
A second way to determine the caliber of counseling results is to see whether the client feels the need and/or desire to get more counseling/therapy. Badass Counseling clients regularly report that they don't feel the need for more and more and more counseling. The goal of Badass Counseling is to quickly wean the client off the counselor -- to help the client possess the courage and abilities to stand on one's own as a fully in-tune and truth-living person. Occasional 'check-ups' are common among Badass Counseling clients, particularly when new or significant roadblocks or hardships are encountered. But quickly the ship gets righted and the client is on his or her way, doing great. Excellence Unleashed! Greatness on fire!
Many Badass Counseling clients experience new insights or epiphanies in the very first session. Some experience actual change in the first extended session. For many others, significant change comes in the second or third week. But, nearly all who stick with it and keep opening up, see large life change in just a few months.
What is your rate?
Because Badass Counseling goes very deep and moves very quickly, and because it requires that the client submit an autobiography before the first session, in most cases, the overall amount of money spent on Badass Counseling is thousands of dollars lower than that spent on normal counseling with a mainstream therapist.
An hour means an hour. For most therapists and counselors, if you pay for an hour, you actually get 50 minutes, or even 45 minutes, of counseling. With Badass Counseling, if you pay for two hours, you get 120 minutes of counseling. So, because sessions are ten minutes longer, that means that basically, for every sixth session, YOU ARE GETTING ANOTHER FULL SESSION FOR FREE!
The core rate is $500/hour. *Badass Counseling does not take insurance*
Therefore, for example, a 6-hour session is $3,000; a 2-hour session is $1,000.
IMPORTANT: All first sessions are a mandatory minimum four hours, up to a maximum six hours. The 4-6 hour first session is required (5-6 hours is strongly recommended and the most popular, but not required) simply because it is usually at the end of the second or third hour that the client finally starts trusting and opening up more, and things start to really click. All follow-up sessions, which do NOT have to be every week, are a minimum of two (2) hours (because nothing significant gets accomplished in one hour) but can be as high as six (6), but that is up to the client. Most clients counsel with Sven for a few months, achieving massive results quickly, if they do the work.
Badass Counseling Requirements
AUTOBIOGRAPHY REQUIREMENT! - Additionally, Sven is the only counselor to require every client to submit a full autobiography (Max 10 pages, 1.5-spacing or double-spaced with 1" margins, and 12pt font), so that the client gets a counselor who walks into the first session with full fluency in his or her life story, rather than a therapist who spends 8-10 sessions learning the client's story...and all the while the therapist charges the client.
The criteria for the autobiography are simple:
Tell me as much as you can about your life from your perspective (10-page maximum for ongoing, weekly clients; 5-page maximum for clients meeting with Sven less).
Tell everything: family, geography, schooling, sports, spirituality, dreams, friendships, failures, screwups, finances, fears, college, vocation, girlfriends/boyfriends, career, adult relationships, children, now, future, and anything else pertinent or impertinent.
RECOMMENDATION TO READ “There’s a Hole in My Love Cup”
Sven requires every new client to either have read or be reading “There’s a Hole in My Love Cup” when beginning counseling with him. Because 70% of Sven’s counseling method is in this book, it enables you to move much more quickly in session, thereby saving time and money.
The book is available in multiple formats, and in Spanish. You’ll also find a companion guidebook.
Note that the autobiography, full payment for the first session, and the signed confidentiality agreement are all due one full week before the first session.
*Badass Counseling does not take insurance*
“Change will not occur until the pain gets bad enough.”
For more reviews of Sven’s counseling and books click here