All Souls Counseling Center opened in 2000 offering mental health services to the uninsured and underinsured in Western North Carolina so they can live healthier, happier and hope-filled lives. They are located at a historic home, at 35 Arlington Street, Asheville.

“We provide counseling, education and outreach,” says Meredith Switzer, the executive director of All Souls Counseling Center. “The work we are doing is so important to the health and wellness of our community. I believe everyone deserves access to affordable mental health care.”

All Souls Counseling Center employs 18 therapists and seven permanent staff members in development, finance, operations and clinical. Pam Penland screens interested clients to determine which therapist in their network is the best fit for each person in need. All Souls Counseling focuses on short-term therapy three to six months for people “who need to move through a time or a chapter.” 

Their team of therapists treat trauma, depression, PTSD, anxiety, victims of crime and challenges in marriages or in close relationships. “Therapists talk through intended goals with clients and find out what they hope to accomplish. The goal is to do that in 24 sessions,” Meredith says. All Souls Counseling has a great relationship with MAHEC, and can refer clients to see a psychiatrist for diagnosis or medication.

“We provide our services on a sliding scale so it might be zero to $5-$15 per session. A government crime commission grant makes it possible for victims of crime not to pay anything,” she says.

All Souls Counseling seeks donations from individual, corporate and foundation donors. “Right after Hurricane Helene we waived all client fees and that’s because our donors were incredibly generous,” she says.

In response to the crisis, "our therapists have been out in the community offering compassionate care and mental health support to help individuals and families navigate the challenges of recovery and displacement."

All Souls Counseling had a clinician who went twice a day, every day to be mental health support at Bear Smokehouse BBQ. “Adam provided support to volunteers who were encountering devastation that was difficult to see,” Meredith says. “They were in acute crisis, encountering things they weren’t trained for and working long hours.”

All Souls Counseling also set up Comfort Care sites with therapists at FEMA sites including Reynolds High School, Swannanoa and Asheville Mall. “We did a lot of deescalation. People were just bereft, completely broken and felt like they didn’t have anything to get what they needed. We were strangers rushing in, there to say, ‘I know this is hard. I see you and how can I help in the moment?’”

Clients find All Souls Counseling through outreach and through their community partnerships with MAHEC. HelpMate, Our Voice, MANNA FoodBank and Haywood Street Congregation. “We have had clients tell us we have saved their lives.”

Learn more and donate at allsoulscounseling.org.