He has nine years of clinical experience in the United States and Canada and ten years as a psychology professor in the Middle East, giving him deep understanding of the challenges of living and communicating in ultra-sensitive environments. He has contributed to Middle East-focused human rights initiatives and church-based efforts to address abuse.

As a Christian, Dr. Van Dyken cultivates relationships across diverse world views—including Christians, atheists, LGBTQ individuals, ex-Christians, Hindus, Muslims, and Buddhists—reflecting the Pathways Counseling value that a worldview should be partially measured by how it facilitates respectful communication across differences. Dr. Van Dyken has also advocated within conservative Christian groups for the rights of those who have left Christianity.

Dr. Van Dyken emphasizes that trust opens worlds, and worlds beyond those worlds. Many clients have experienced fragile or conditional trust due to relationships, families, workplaces, or belief systems. Pathways Counseling fosters trust gradually and respectfully, creating space for clients to reconnect with their voice, explore growth, and rebuild connection and belonging. Trust becomes both the foundation for counseling and the doorway to a new life of possibilities.