On Wednesday, Solid Ground Counseling Center hosted a ribbon cutting at its office at 290 NW Pinehurst Drive in Madison to celebrate its growth and increasing influence as a resource in the Huntsville and Madison communities.

Although Solid Ground is housed in the front portion of Hornsby Tire Distributors building, the interior doesn’t match the outward appearance of the building: visitors are welcomed with peaceful artwork, a host of houseplants, and cozy private offices where clients and counselors can leave the outside world behind. Although the entryway features the Solid Ground logo, the façade presents an additional sense of privacy for visitors, appearing from the street to be nothing more than a simple warehouse.

As she addressed the audience, Solid Ground owner and therapist Rachel Sullivan, LMFT, CFLE-P recalled the modest beginnings of her practice, which began as a single-person operation in an 800 square foot office space. Solid Ground now has four therapists and three student interns.

In addition to individual, family, and couples therapy, Solid Ground offers Mental Wellness workshops for businesses either on site or at employers’ places of business. Its mission is to change perceptions in mental health while helping people take control of their mental wellbeing.

“Looking back…there’s something about this day. Originally our thing here was supposed to be yesterday and it got moved,” Sullivan said. “I felt like there was something significant about that date and so when I went back and looked I actually received all my paperwork for forming a business, sort of getting the original go-ahead on this day four years ago.”

Sullivan recognized Larry and Deborah Ward of Inside-Out Ministries for their role in helping her launch her business, noting that during grad school in 2015 or 2016 she had difficulty finding a counseling internship position in the Madison area.

“Everywhere I went into said ‘talk to us after you graduate’ – I was like ‘I’m never going to graduate if I can’t get my hours done!’”

Inside-Out Ministry, which had a physical location at that time, came through with an opportunity for Sullivan by allowing her to launch the mental health portion of their existing support program.

Sullivan said that her time there made her realize that there were a lot of barriers to mental health care, ultimately helping her to form the foundation of what would later become Solid Ground.

“When I got ready to graduate, I just knew that there wasn’t anywhere else in town doing what I knew what I was supposed to be doing in this particular field.”

About a year and a half after launching her practice, Hannah Ruggles (LMFT) joined Sullivan’s practice. Last year, Solid Ground moved into its current location, and according to Sullivan, this year has brought tremendous growth, including the addition of two more therapists and three new student interns.

Sullivan expressed deep appreciation for the support system that helped her to grow her practice, including business partners, the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce, her family, and her neighbors “for just rooting me on and making sure my kids are taken care of while we’re working late nights and touching the community. Everybody’s support here is incredible and I’m so thankful for each of you. We’re going to keep changing the stigma around mental health. We’re not done with that work yet.”

Eventually, Sullivan envisions building a freestanding facility or renovating a larger existing space to make room for further expansion.