Hello dear friends!

We hope your New Year is off to a good start. You know, a “good start” in 2022 may look different than previous years. In fact, we bet it does. Maybe you’re grieving a loss from 2021, or even 2020. Maybe you rang in the New Year with an unwelcome guest they call Omicron. Maybe you’re facing some other challenges in 2022. When you’re feeling less than confident about what’s ahead of you, one way to encourage yourself is to look back on what went well or what you can be grateful for, even if it’s something small. Celebrating small wins can make a huge difference. Think about the ways you grew in 2021. Just making it to 2022 is something we can all be thankful for, right?

As we looked back on the previous year we were amazed at the growth that took place, not just in individual lives, but as an organization. Truly it was a pivotal year for Cumberland Counseling. Here are some highlights from 2021 that we are oh, so grateful for.

1. Cumberland Counseling became Cumberland Counseling Centers, a nonprofit designed to meet the mental health needs of the community, regardless of income, by partnering with local churches. These partnerships allow us to keep overhead low so our impact and financial support for quality mental health care for all can remain high.

2. We opened up an additional location in Lawrenceville, GA, out of Gate City Church, where we can now serve the surrounding Lawrenceville area's mental health needs as well as offer hope, counsel, restoration and education to Gate City Church and the surrounding community.

3. We had our first Online Mental Health Conference called "Addressing the Elephants," where we spoke to issues like Passing Down Generational Parenting, Raising a Teen with Big Emotions, Healthy Sexuality and a Panel Discussion with our Counselors on Family Mental Health. Due to the online nature of our gathering, we were able to serve and get to know members of both communities (surrounding Smyrna and surrounding Lawrenceville).

4. We got to lead Mental Health 101 classes in both church communitiesas well as publicly to Cobb County through the Cobb Collaborative, AND got to know several faith leaders in Cobb County as we welcomed them in for a Faith and Mental Health Luncheon hosted at our Smyrna campus. 

5. We had our first annual Fun Run Fundraiser Event and raised approximately $23,000 to go toward supplements for our clients who could not ordinarily afford the same high quality of mental health therapy. Can we hear an “Amen?!”

6. Through the slow, intimate work that happens in therapy sessions we've seen lives, families, and relationships restored. Amen, amen and amen! This is why we do this work. We are honored to sit with these incredibly resilient people who want to know and love themselves, their people and their God more so they can pass that healing on to future generations. This work is generational, transformative work.

Why don’t you take a few minutes to count your wins from 2021? Then congratulate yourself for the progress you made. 

After all it’s PROGRESS, not PERFECTION, that makes the difference. 

We celebrate alongside you and look forward to all the growth that will come in 2022!

Warmly,

Alexandra Thompson and the Cumberland Counseling Team