GALION, Ohio — Life Changing Counseling Center was officially welcomed to the Galion community by city leaders Friday morning during a ribbon cutting ceremony.
The ceremony was held at the counseling center, which is located at 223 E. Atwood St. Those in attendance included owner and primary counselor Ja’Ree Ward, Galion Mayor Tom O’Leary, along with members of the Galion-Crestline Area Chamber of Commerce, including Joe Kleinknecht, president/CEO, and Judy Dyer, administrative assistant.
Ward was excited to have her business up and running. She started the process in September of last year and opened on May 11.
She currently works fulltime as a mental health counselor at an agency in Mt. Gilead and will continue to do so until her new operation is self-sustaining, she said.
Though that’s been a bit exhausting to juggle both jobs, she noted, “I tell people I love what I do so much I almost feel guilty for getting paid for it.”
Counseling is something she’s always been interested in, she said. Having suffered from several forms of abuse in the past, she added, “I can understand where people are coming from. I can also offer them hope.”
She earned her Master of Arts degree from Ashland Theological Seminary in December of 2005 and became a licensed mental health counselor in April of 2006. She has nine years of mental health counseling experience.
Life Changing Counseling Center offers family, couples, trauma survivors, domestic violence victims, grief, pastoral, individual mental health and adults and adolescents counseling. It also offers assessments/diagnosis and treatment of most mental health and emotional disorders.
Group counseling is also provided; topics include self esteem, inner child, thinking errors, anger management, grief processing, trauma survivors and women’s group.
O’Leary welcomed Ward’s counseling center to the area, noting, “Families who are in child welfare or in the court system have trouble getting access to [counseling] services, so having this resource will make a difference in the area.”
Ward agreed, saying she’s seen the need in Galion and hopes to reach as many people as possible. “And if clients can’t make it to me, I can go to them,” she said.
Call 419-989-8260 to learn more about Life Changing Counseling Center.
