Pathway Counseling Ministry Director Tyler Shannon helps people through the ups and downs of life's journey.
The 38-year-old Shannon and three other Pathway counselors meet with clients inside Hixson First Baptist Church and Dallas Bay Baptist Church weekly.
"We tend to see an influx of people in January," said Shannon. "People try in January to get their lives back on track. With a new year beginning, people are ready for a new beginning in their lives too."
This year holds a new beginning for Shannon. He said Pathway Counseling is launching the Something Good Ministry to pay for deserving families to go on all expenses paid trips to attractions in the South. The ministry is helping two local families go on vacation because of their local charitable work.
"Most of our calls are marriage related," said Shannon, adding that Pathway counselors try to counsel five people per day. "We get calls of individuals dealing with anxiety or depression or mental issues, whether it's divorce recovery, a marriage in crisis or a marriage that needs to get better."
He said Pathway counselors also help people cope with grief over the loss of a loved one, financial stress and depression. He said sessions typically last 50 minutes and charges are based on a sliding scale of household income.
"I ask people to tell me what brings them to counseling and to share their story," said Shannon. "We come up with a game plan to reach their goals. Everything they say is confidential."
He said he quotes 1 Timothy 4:7 to clients by simply saying, "Train yourself to be godly."
"The word train in Greek comes from the English word gymnasium," he said. "The more you walk in a gym or lift weights the easier it becomes. The more you do the right thing and the more you say no to the things you should say no to, the easier it becomes as well."
Shannon said he is happy to be counseling back in his hometown. The Hixson native and 1991 Hixson High School graduate obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Bible from Bryan College and a Master of Divinity from Beeson Divinity School at Samford University before returning home.
"For me the Lord just opened the door to counseling," he said. "I've always enjoyed talking to people and helping them out."
After ministering at Dallas Bay Baptist Church from 2000-2005, Shannon moved to Orlando to begin working for Pathway Counseling Ministry. Having been working locally again since 2010, he is now expanding the counseling ministry in Chattanooga.
"We want to bring counseling back to the church," he said. "We do individual, marital and family counseling."