Hey friends and welcome to our brand new MINISERIES: Navigating The Beginning Stages of Dating!

We decided to do these miniseries because y’all have so many amazing questions, and we want to be able to answer as many of them as we can in easy digestible ways. Outside of our main, full length HOD episodes which will mainly be interview style with some epic guests, and on occasion some solo episodes, we also wanted to be able to cover other topics with short, succinct thoughts and advice.

Each miniseries will be themed around a pointed and specific topic and will be about 4-6 episodes long. They will launch on Fridays and be no more than around 15 minutes.

Today y’all voted on instagram and by VERY LARGE majority you guys voted to have us cover “Navigating the beginning stages of dating”. SO we are kicking off this miniseries today talking about what Stage 1 Dating really is, as well as some best practices/ guidelines to keep in mind for stage 1 dating.

Also before we get into the content for the episode, we want to share with you that we are actually able to do these miniseries because of our amazing sponsor, Faithful Counseling. Faithful Counseling is a faith based online therapy network that falls under the incredible BetterHelp umbrella. We are HUGE fans of therapy, but especially love therapy that incorporates Christian principles, prayer, and spiritual practices.

Getting connected with an affordable christian therapist is SO easy through Faithful Counseling….you can fill out a form about yourself and your needs, and Faithful Counseling will connect you with a fellow believer online within their network of licensed professional counselors. Once you are connected to a therapist, you can start communicating in under 24 hours. You can also login to your account anytime and send a message to your counselor and get timely and thoughtful responses back. You can also schedule weekly video or phone sessions and do them from the comfort of your home, in your most comfy attire.

Another huge perk that comes with using Faithful counseling is that there is such a broad range of expertise in the Faithful Counselor network which may not be locally available in many areas.

The last cherry on top is that a lot of people do not do therapy because of the cost, but Faithful Counseling more affordable than traditional offline counseling and financial aid is available.

So you guys, if you’ve been looking to try out therapy but haven’t found someone for you, or it’s been too costly, or you just don’t want to make the trek to the office…. we encourage you to consider trying out Faithful Counseling. And For Heart of Dating listeners, you can get 10% off your first month! Go to https://getfaithful.com/heartofdating 

In today's episode we discuss the following:

• What is stage 1 dating?
• How we can and should take the pressure off
• How to create a new framework for dating
• General guidelines for a first date
• How to actually ENJOY and have FUN in this stage of dating

Stay tuned next Friday for the next episode in this MINISERIES: Navigating the Beginning Stages of Dating