LDS Family Services is a nonprofit group operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, otherwise known as the LDS or Mormon church. They offer a range of social services including Mormon unplanned pregnancy counseling, LDS adoptions, addiction recovery programs, and private counseling. Mormons can seek out help from LDS Family Services
History of LDS Family Services
Established in 1919 as the Relief Society Social Service Department and renamed LDS Social Services in 1973, LDS Family Services is a nonprofit corporation owned and operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
As of the time of this writing, there are 62 LDS Family Service offices throughout the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan.
LDS Family Services Adoption and Pregnancy Counseling
LDS Family Services offers free pregnancy counseling to women (plus their partners and parents) who are facing unplanned pregnancies, regardless of their religious affiliation. Counselors will explore all options with clients, but advocate adoption rather than abortion in the case of an unwanted pregnancy. Those interested in this arm of LDS Family Services can learn more at their website It's About Love.
All babies adopted through LDS family services go to a Mormon family to be sealed in the temple. Birth mothers can opt for open adoptions (where they select the adoptive couple and continue to exchange information after the adoption is complete) through LDS Family Services.
LDS Addiction Recovery through Family Services
Free addiction recovery groups through LDS Family Services are also available at participating support group locations. Meetings are open to those who are trying to overcome addictions and the loved ones of those struggling with addictions such as:
- Alcohol;
- Drugs;
- Tobacco;
- Coffee and tea;
- Pornography;
- Inappropriate sexual behavior;
- Gambling;
- Codependency; and
- Eating disorders.
Alternatively, people working to overcome their addictions can download LDS Family Services' A Guide to Addiction Recovery and Healing, which adapts the twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) into a framework of Mormon principles and beliefs.
LDS Counseling through Family Services
LDS Family Services also offers professional counseling for a variety of issues, from eating disorders to marital counseling to grief management. To receive counseling services, Latter-day Saints may be referred by their bishop of branch president or they may contact the agency directly.
There is a fee for receiving one-on-one counseling with LDS Family Services. Not all counselors are Mormon, but have been trained to help patients confidentially within an LDS framework of belief and behavior.
LDS Family Services makes itself available to help members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints deal with situations that may not be exactly ideal, in ways that are in line with LDS beliefs and doctrines.
Jenny Evans - Jenny Evans is a freelance writer and editor specializing in parenting and the family. She is also the Mormonism Topic Editor for ...
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