Erin Hinz, Melanie Childers and Sara Lovelady, Lifeline Solutions
If you need to talk with someone, Erin Hinz said she and the others at Lifeline Solutions want to make that happen — right now.
“We have an urgency about wanting to respond to people’s mental health needs,” said Hinz, a licensed professional counselor and co-owner of Lifeline Solutions. “Many mental health providers have wait lists, and it can be hard to schedule an appointment. Individuals may have multiple failed attempts with finding a provider.”
Hinz said people have come to rely on her staff because if for some reason “we aren’t able to see a client quickly, we’ll try to help them find someone who can.”
“With the mental health crisis in our country being what it is, we want to do everything we can to facilitate meeting with an individual seeking help as soon as possible,” she said.
That concern was the heart behind why she and her partner, Chuck Wint, decided to open their first Lifeline Solutions office in Tuscaloosa a few years ago after almost 20 years of working together for another counseling and crisis center. They quickly discovered that Lifeline Solutions provided a much-needed resource for the community and eventually decided to open a second office in the Birmingham area in 2019.
“We have been able to facilitate care for people seeking outpatient therapy by providing creative, responsive, customized care targeted to each individual need,” Hinz said.
Lifeline’s counselors are all trained to treat trauma and utilize a variety of modalities including EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapy and Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction. They see clients who are experiencing a variety of life’s challenges ranging from marital and family stressors, to depression, anxiety, and addiction and recovery.
“We only hire people we believe share the same passion for connecting with others that we do,” Hinz said. “When someone feels heard, loved and supported, that’s when life change can happen. We want every one of our clients to walk out of session with the sense that they are valued and have the support they need to work through life’s many challenges.”
Melanie Childers, who along with Sara Lovelady serves as a counselor in the Birmingham office, said the most rewarding aspect of what they do is “seeing clients thrive and find the peace they thought was impossible to reach amid the chaos life throws at us.”
“I hope to build genuine connections with unconditional acceptance for each of my clients so they know they always have someone in their corner,” Childers said. Lovelady said for her it’s an honor to play a part in her clients’ stories of strength and perseverance.
“To walk alongside someone as they navigate the intricacies of what makes each of us human, and then to get to bear witness to the moment where someone’s light comes through as they finally realize their own greatness — it’s such a privilege,” she said. “I hope to empower my clients to achieve a sense of purpose and acceptance of their worth as an individual. We are all capable and worthy of healing, and my goal as a therapist is to help each and every one of my clients realize their full potential to do so.”
Click here for more information about Lifeline Solutions.
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