Guadalupe Valley Christian Counseling Center closes doors
(Seguin) – After almost 30 years of serving area residents, the Guadalupe Valley Christian Counseling Center (GVCCC) has closed its doors.
News of the Christian based non-profit’s decision to end affordable counseling services was recently announced to the community.
Explaining more behind the decision is Pastor Marcus Bigott of Emanuel’s Lutheran Church. Bigott, who serves as the board chairman for the organization, says the decision was not easy and agrees with the rest of the board members that it brings a level of grief to everyone.
“It was something that we had been watching for a while. COVID really took a toll on so many organizations as folks tried to figure out how to be who they needed to be to survive but also to continue the work that they are doing. We fore started in 1996 by a wonderful group of folks who saw the need to form a partnership and program that was no longer being filled by what was then called Lutheran Social Services and so the Christian Counseling Center was born out of that need. But indeed, following COVID, we continued to struggle with how we continue to meet the mental health needs of our community in a sustainable way and that was just not something that we could figure out in our current model of doing ministry and of doing work. And so, as the board looked at it finances and looked at the ways in which we were trying to operate, we realized that we needed to step back and strategically rethink how we were doing this and what we were going to do going forward because what we were doing is not sustainable,” said Bigott.
Although supported by area churches and committed to faith statements and understandings, the purpose according to the group’s mission statement was never to “preach to its clients.”
Instead, it was to ensure that “clinically trained and experienced professionals utilize the tools of the psychotherapeutic fields to help clients achieve optimal mental, emotional and spiritual health.”
In its announcement to the public, the group states, “what comes next for the counseling center is in the infancy phases of development. We want to maintain our legacy of care and our voice of advocacy regarding the ongoing mental health needs of our community.”
Bigott says although the physical doors to the center might be closed, the doors in the reshaping of the organization’s future remain wide open.
“The board has begun a process of strategic thinking. We first and foremost made sure that our priority, number one, was the clients and those folks who were seeking services from the Christian Counseling Center to make sure that they were cared for in the time of transition and nothing would hinder or cause any kind of a pause in their conversations with their clinicians and priority number two, was the clinicians themselves – the folks that were gifting us and our community with their skills so making sure that pattern of facilitated coverage for them was really priority number one and as we come to priority three and number four in our work is the now to begin that process of what did it look like going forward to be a Christian Counseling Center. What is it going to take for us to be the organization we want to be. Is it a change in structure? Is it a change in overhead? Is it a change in who we are? So, all those conversations are on the table and that’s what the board is committed to now — that we have been able to successfully see the transition of clients and clinicians,” said Bigott.
While its mission of excellence will always remain at the heart of who GVCCC is, board members say the expression of that work, again, must change. That’s because Bigott says the needs of the community are greater than ever.
“We had some of the most high-profile voices especially during the Olympics of this year who have shared how important mental health counseling, conversation, partners, therapy – whatever it happens to be – how important that is to the vitality of life but also to the success of folks especially when they are going through really difficult times. It’s an incredible tool and a vital tool and it is extremely important for us to find a way and to find a voice to not only be an advocate for mental health services and mental health providers in Seguin and the greater Guadalupe County but to maybe find a way that we can be that partner again in whether a renewed sense of a counseling center or a brand new something that we haven’t even begun to dream up yet. But it is vital to us as an organization to make sure we keep that conversation front and center not only for our faith organizations like churches and other places but as the community as a whole for school districts and universities to see the resources that are there or to be able to find the resources for those that might need it,” said Bigott.
The group especially extends its thanks to the many volunteers and donors who have contributed to the center’s operation over the years. Services of the Christian Counseling Center were provided at 200 N. River St.