A place where faith and mental health meet, offering virtual counseling and coaching for individuals, teens, and couples.
Welcome to Sanctuary
Who We Are
Sanctuary Counseling & Wellness Center is a virtual practice founded by Diallo and Janessa Smith with a vision to create a space where both mental health and faith are honored. More than a therapy practice, Sanctuary offers counseling, coaching, and wellness resources to support healing both inside and outside of sessions, with a special focus on serving individuals within the Black diaspora and faith communities.
Our Services
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Individual therapy for adults navigating anxiety, trauma, stress, burnout, and life transitions. Our trauma-informed, integrative approach includes EMDR, CBT, ACT, and attachment-based care. Christian counseling is available for clients who desire faith integration, while remaining clinically grounded and client-centered.
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Faith-based coaching for individuals seeking clarity, growth, and emotional wellness outside of therapy. Coaching focuses on goal-setting, skill-building, and reflective practices to support everyday challenges and purposeful living.
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We offer couples therapy to support relationships at different stages of their relationship. Our services include pre-engagement therapy for couples seriously considering the next step, premarital counseling for engaged couples preparing for marriage, and newlywed support (within the first year of marriage) to help guide you through the transition into married life.
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Therapy for teens and emerging adults addressing anxiety, emotional regulation, identity development, parental conflict, family stress, and life transitions. Care is trauma-informed and developmentally appropriate, supporting teens as they navigate growing independence and relational challenges.
Check your benefits here
Our Client Focus
What sets us apart is our intentional, holistic approach to care—rooted in four client focus pillars that guide how we support your healing, growth, faith, and relationships.
1. Spirituality
& Mental Health
Are you trying to understand how God meets you in your anxiety or grief, while also learning coping skills?
For clients who desire it, we integrate faith-based reflection with evidence-based tools, so you don’t have to choose between them.
2. Family Wounds
Trying to honor your family while also healing from what hurt?
You can love your family and still break cycles. We help you unpack family dynamics with compassion, clarity, and healthier patterns that don’t require you to lose yourself.
3. Church Hurt
Have you been hurt by the church and are still processing it?
Church hurt deserves language and care. This is a space to grieve, question, rebuild, and rediscover faith in a way that feels honest and whole.
4. Hustle & Heal
Are you always moving, achieving, producing, but still exhausted inside?
Productivity became identity. Strength became silence. Together, we look beneath the grind, and expectations shaping you. You don’t have to sacrifice wholeness to succeed.
Wellness Shop
Our Wellness center, we are more than a therapy practice.
There is Healing in the Sanctuary
Healing is Holy Hat
About the Founders/Team
Diallo Smith
Diallo Smith is a licensed therapist who works with men, teen boys, and couples navigating trauma, stress, identity, and faith. His approach is trauma-informed, relational, and client-centered, drawing from CBT, EMDR, and Emotionally Focused Therapy. He integrates faith into the therapeutic process for clients who desire it, while remaining grounded in evidence-based care. Diallo offers virtual counseling in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and North Carolina, and provides coaching for individuals seeking support outside of counseling. He is committed to creating an emotionally safe, culturally responsive space for healing and growth.
License #208.011613, AMF000126, 3775 (Under Supervision)
Counseling: $150
Coaching: $135
Founder & Licensed Therapist
Co-founder, Operations Director & Clinical Mental Health Coach
Janessa Smith
Janessa Smith is a clinical mental health coach who supports women and teen girls navigating anxiety, trauma, and the intersection of faith and emotional well-being. She is currently completing her graduate training at Liberty University toward becoming a licensed therapist. Janessa provides coaching services for Black and Caribbean women, with a particular focus on culturally responsive and faith-informed care. She has a deep passion for serving individuals within immigrant communities, informed by her lived experience as a Bahamas native with Jamaican family roots. This cultural foundation deeply shapes her approach, allowing her to offer coaching that is compassionate, affirming, and grounded in both faith and emotional understanding.
Coaching: $75 (not accepting clients)
Book your Session Today
Lets work, heal, and journey with one another. Schedule a consultation today and receive personalized, faith-informed, and culturally responsive support designed for your life and season.
