Meet Jason Hughes of ChangePoint Counseling in Forney

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jason Hughes.

Jason, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My wife and I chose East Dallas (Forney) because of the hometown feel and great school system. We were looking for something that was close to Dallas, but far enough removed that we could feel close to the community. I have been a licensed therapist for 17 years and wanted to create a business that would show my own vision of how we should treat mental health. Mental health often gets a bad rap in healthcare. Our mission is to change the way people feel and think about mental health because it affects just about every person in our culture. I started ChangePoint in January of 2013 and had only 16 patients to see that month. I was discouraged, but my wife kept encouraging me to keep on going. The next month, I had over 100 patients and I had to hire a therapist to help me out. We moved to bigger offices in March of 2013 and I hired more therapists. By August of 2013 we had to move again to a 5000-sq. foot facility to house 7 therapists, support staff, and a nurse practitioner. By the end of 2013 we were seeing over 1000 patients in a month. Today we have 10 providers and we are in repurposed facilities (We used repurposed and reused building materials, eco-friendly lighting, and eco-friendly toilets to name a few) and see an average of 2000 patients a month. We have grown because we provide a much needed service to our community and we listen to our patients and the needs of the community. Since 2013, we have opened a state licensed substance abuse day treatment program for adolescents, an after-school program, massage therapy, medication management and a lot more services that our community needs.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There is good and bad in business. The difference is being able to take on the bad and make it better. Attitude is everything. I don’t have an MBA, so there was a learning curve when it came to business terms and accounting. I taught myself along the way but if I had to do it over again, I’d probably take some business courses.

Please tell us about ChangePoint Counseling.
We are a mental health clinic. We provide many services to help people with mental health issues. We provide therapy, medication management, substance abuse treatment, massage therapy, and many other services. After a couple of years in practice, we started hearing form our patients that they tell other people that ChangePoint smells really good and that we provide a relaxing environment. I did some research in smells being part of a brand and was surprised to find that people will connect memories with smells, much like cookies baking brings back memories of childhood for me. We started working with a candle company and created our signature scent. After using the candles we sold out in a month. People heal at ChangePoint and they want to take that feeling home with them. Our signature scent has become part of our brand and our patients love it.

I am most proud of the change that we have made in our community. When we first opened, our community was not as accepting of us as a mental health clinic. But now, people recognize our logo and brand and welcome us to many events. We are chiseling away the stigma of mental health, one person at a time.

We are set apart from many counseling practices because we function like a doctor’s office. When you call our office, you will speak to a person that can answer just about any question you throw at them. A lot of times in my field when you find a therapist, they often work out of their home, or in an office in the local bank. This often times alienates the patient form attending that appointment. I mean who wants to make a deposit and walk into a therapists’ office in the same lobby.

Also, when people used to call our office, they would ask for me, or my wife who is our Nurse Practitioner, but now they call ChangePoint, the brand that they have come to trust.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
I love movies, and I remember going to see Star Wars, and Back To The Future, and ET as a child. I love that movies imitate life and I can learn things from them, feel things from them, and for two hours just escape from the stresses of my world. I still go to the movies just about every week. That is if I can drag any of my family along with me!

Contact Info:

• Address: 11803 Classic Lane Suite A
• Website: www.changepointcounseling.com
• Phone: 972-552-5559
• Email: jason@changepointcounseling.com
• Instagram: changepointcounseling
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChangePointCounseling
• Twitter: https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/ChangeCounselng

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