Exploring Life & Business with Stephanie Simmons-Cole of Journeys Counseling Center

Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie Simmons-Cole.

Hi Stephanie, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
In January of 1988, I lost a childhood friend to suicide, and that was when I decided that I would “save” as many adolescents as possible. After working a series of unfulfilling corporate jobs in the airline and finance industries, I went back to school at age 30 and got my Master’s Degree in Clinical Counseling. After obtaining my license, I worked at Highland Rivers, a state-run Community Service Board, where I ran the adolescent unit. Then, I worked for Dr. Jack Miller at Developmental Pediatrics for 7 years, providing counseling for children and adolescents. A few years later, a business partner and I opened Journeys Counseling Center in Villa Rica, Georgia. We have been open at this location for almost 13 years. I was diagnosed with breast cancer in March of 2022, continued to work up until the fifth chemo treatment. I went through surgery and was able to return to work in January of 2023. After going back to work, I also obtained my CPCS license, which enables me to supervise other clinicians joining our profession. Therefore, after my business partner retired, I expanded Journeys Counseling Center with a full-time staff.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road since taking this journey down the road of counseling. Not only did we see an increase in anxiety and depression during Covid, but we also experienced families that presented with complicated grief. We provided services via telehealth, which comes with its own problems. Once the world reopened, and I thought life was going back to normal, in 24 hours, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. We shut down in March of 2020, and the world reopened in March 2022. The next hurdle was breast cancer for me, which happened at the end of Covid, which meant I had to do all my chemo alone. Doctor’s appointments, everything alone. On my last chemo treatment, they allowed us to take off our masks. My own anxiety and depression have been a hurdle, along with compassion fatigue, when you’re fighting a physical illness. After returning to the office, it became evident that my fight against cancer had long-lasting effects from chemotherapy. One of those effects is “chemo brain,” which means a person is slower to process information, and words get jumbled together. In addition, my memory has been affected by chemo treatment. Another obstacle that I have experienced during my 25 years of counseling has been dealing with survivor’s guilt after working with several clients with childhood cancer who are no longer with us.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Journeys Counseling Center?
One of the most unique aspects of our practice is that we see adolescents and children. With the new clinicians, we are expanding our services to adults, but we are primarily known for child and adolescent therapy. I have a background in classical ballet, and I have been able to implement movement therapy into our repertoire. Being in the small town of Villa Rica, Georgia, and being such a close-knit community, we are well known in the school system as well. I am proud of our reputation, and how we are involved with our community. I am proud of the newest clinicians who provide different types of therapy for different populations. I love how cozy and homey our offices feel. I’ve been blessed with a wonderful administrative team which are also involved in our community. I am very proud of the fact that our staff relate to each other and complement each other as a work family. We offer individual counseling for children, adolescents, and adults. We offer family therapy, group therapy, and parental education groups. We provide a family-oriented environment, and our clients feel like we are members of their family. In addition to our regular therapeutic services, I obtained additional grief certifications to provide therapy for our clients and our community after the advent of Covid, which presented complex grief on a massive scale.

So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
We already collaborate with the school systems. We collaborate with the community by sponsoring a “Rise and Shine” breakfast in December for all small businesses in Villa Rica. Our practice is included in our school system’s Career Day and crisis intervention. Our local inpatient facility, Willowbrooke, collaborates with us by providing a higher level of care for our clients and hospital discharges. In addition, Willowbrooke sends us new clients after hospital discharge. In the future, we would like to see increased collaboration with other counseling centers to provide additional community services.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.journeys-counseling-center.com