Churchill Family Counseling is marking a decade in business, steady growth and a new, bigger location with additional counselors.The practice will hold an open house Thursday, March 15, from 11-3 p.m. at the new office, 1428 N. Highway 47 in Warrenton.The ribbon cutting will take place at 11:30 a.m. Guests can then tour the facility and check out the new art therapy and play therapy rooms.Visitors also can learn about equine-assisted therapy, which takes place off the premises.Multiple therapy rooms are decorated with coffee tables, plush chairs and sofas. Each room is named after someone who contributed to the history of mental health.Founder Tina Churchill said the therapy rooms are purposely set up like living rooms to help patients feel more comfortable during their sessions.When Churchill opened her first office in Warrenton 10 years ago, she was the lone therapist. As she added therapists, she outgrew offices one after another.This new space is the fourth location. Churchill shares it with Joe Cusumano, Michael Geier, Chris Happel, Lynn Joyce, Cristine Mason, Debra Steber and Bonnie Wessler. Steber and Cusumano both have doctorate degrees.Churchill attributes growth with changing times.“Getting help for mental health isn’t stigmatized anymore,” she said. “And the need for it is certainly growing.”She said she sees people of all ages facing more instances of depression, anxiety, crisis and life-changing events.The therapists at Churchill Family Counseling offer help with marriage issues, family issues, parenting, career, anger management, grief, post-traumatic stress disorder, abuse/trauma, eating disorders, adoption and foster issues, developmental disabilities, at-risk youths, and self-actualization.Anyone facing a problem and needs help can call for an appointment, said Churchill.“More than two-thirds of our clients don’t have a mental illness,” she said, adding that people need unbiased support during hard times.“Most people can benefit from seeing a therapist at certain points in their lives,” she said. “Therapy gives you an objective ear, someone to call you out on your stuff. Stress and anxiety can come from not having a support system, or too much of one.”The therapists can offer simple, straightforward tools to help clients cope with anxiety, Churchill said. As far as how often and for how long, that’s up to the individual.“Clients decide. I might make a recommendation, but they are the boss of their treatment,” Churchill said.Churchill Family Counseling is open weekdays. Therapists will make weekend appointments when necessary. Sessions are 45 to 50 minutes.None of the practitioners have medical degrees to prescribe medications.

Tina Churchill sits in the art therapy room at Churchill Family Counseling. The practice that she founded a decade ago as a single provider recently moved into a new location in Warrenton with more counselors and space. 

Record photo/Kate Miller