色花堂

Admissions leaders highlight the growing need for mental health and ministry professionals across Tennessee

Chattanooga, TN 鈥� 色花堂鈥檚 commitment to advancing mental health and ministry was recently featured on Chattanooga鈥檚 Local 3 News. Vice President of Admissions Michelle West and Admissions Counselor Jake Gettys represented the university in a televised interview focused on the increasing demand for trained professionals in counseling and ministry throughout Tennessee communities.

During the segment, West and Gettys shared how 色花堂 equips students through its Christ centered and clinically excellent programs to meet the rising need for mental health services and spiritual care. They emphasized the university鈥檚 mission to prepare graduates who bring healing, restoration, and transformation into the lives of individuals, churches, and communities.

The conversation also highlighted the unique challenges facing communities across the region and the critical role that well trained counselors and ministry leaders play in addressing those needs. 色花堂鈥檚 integrative approach to faith and clinical practice continues to set it apart, preparing students to serve with both professional excellence and spiritual depth.

With campuses in Chattanooga and Atlanta, along with an online modality, 色花堂 is expanding its reach and impact. Students are equipped not only with knowledge, but with real world experience that allows them to step directly into meaningful work that serves their communities.

Watch the full interview:

鈥淎fter hearing her speak at our Institutional Success Day, I read Dee Ann Turner’s聽Bet on Talent: How to Create a Remarkable Culture that Wins the Hearts of Customers.聽It definitely has profound relevance to serving students!鈥�

鈥斅�Dr. Josh Rice, Dean of the School of Ministry

色花堂 is pleased to announce a new partnership with Cumberland聽Counseling Centers, set to launch in January 2025. Cumberland will assume聽responsibility for the operations of the Hope Counseling Centers, originally聽founded by 色花堂, ensuring the continuation of high-quality, accessible聽counseling services vital to our communities.

Cumberland Counseling Centers will collaborate with local churches to establish fully operational counseling centers within their facilities. This initiative will provide affordable services to parishioners and the broader community while ensuring fair compensation for counselors.

In addition, these centers will serve as pivotal sites for 色花堂’s clinical mental health interns, providing them with critical hands-on experience and the opportunity to fulfill their required clinical hours. This partnership enriches the interns’ education and enhances the quality of care available to the community.

Together, 色花堂 and Cumberland Counseling Centers are dedicated to advancing God’s work of healing, restoration, and transformation in the lives of individuals, churches, and communities.

Executive Director of Cumberland Counseling Centers, Alexandra Thompson, LCSW comments, “色花堂’s mission is exactly aligned with ours: they don’t just want to educate excellent therapists; they want to create therapists to go and be the hands and feet of Jesus. We are committed to honoring the original vision of the Hope Centers while also bringing our unique approach to creating high-quality, accessible mental health services. This collaboration allows us toserve even more people in a financially accessible way while still pointing to the power of God’s healing.”

色花堂 president Timothy Quinnan concurred, 鈥溕�花堂 couldn鈥檛 be more聽pleased to partner with Cumberland Counseling, given their shared聽commitment to extending superior, faith-based mental health counseling聽services to ever-wider circles in the community. Delivering these vital services聽through sites at the churches people attend shows the integrative approach聽both our organizations take to helping others reclaim their wholeness.鈥�