Healing for every heart,

Expertise for every matter.

What Our Core Values Mean to Us

Integrity

We uphold the highest ethical standards in all we do, ensuring honesty, transparency, and trustworthiness in our practice.

Curiosity

We remain curious in all situations, approaching each session with openness and humility. We recognize that our clients are the true experts in their own lives, and together we collaborate to move toward healing, health, and wholeness.

Growth

We are committed to continuous personal and professional development, empowering our team and clients to thrive. All clinicians at Matters of the Heart are either licensed or pursuing licensure under approved supervision, adhering to Tennessee State ethical guidelines. We prioritize ongoing education to stay aligned with the most current and relevant treatment methods and laws, ensuring the highest standard of care.

These values shape who we are as a group and guide how we care for our clients, support each other, and serve our community.

We value deep, meaningful relationships—with our clients, within our team, and in our community—knowing that connection is essential for healing and growth.

Connection

Warmth

From our inviting spaces to our compassionate approach, we strive to create an atmosphere of comfort, kindness, and acceptance where clients can feel safe to explore and heal.

We believe that our ability to empathize with and nurture our clients comes from acknowledging and learning from the pain we have seen in the world or experienced ourselves. By practicing our own self-compassion and nurturing our own growth, we create the space for true authenticity to emerge. This allows us to bring our whole selves into the counseling office and offer genuine, compassionate care.

Authenticity

Our core values were thoughtfully developed, as a team. Together, we reflected on our individual values and align them with the mission of our group practice. Through collaboration and honest conversations, we identified the principles that define how we care for our clients, support one another, and serve our community.

A Little About Us

At Matters of the Heart Counseling, we believe healing begins in a space that feels like home. Since 2010, our practice has been driven by a vision to create a warm, inviting, and restorative environment where individuals, couples, and families can find hope, growth, and connection. Founded by Joanna, who began her work in community mental health in 2005, our practice was born out of a desire to break free from sterile, isolating clinical settings and instead foster a space that nurtures trust, safety, and genuine connection.

Nestled in charming 100+ year-old homes, each of our offices provide more than a therapeutic experience—they offer a sanctuary. Whether it’s curling up with tea in a cozy corner or settling into a serene space before your session, our thoughtfully designed environments make every visit feel like stepping into a comforting retreat.

We are proud to house a diverse team of master’s-level clinicians, pre-licensed professionals, and graduate interns, working collaboratively to ensure each client is paired with the counselor who best meets their unique needs. Our team remains attuned to the latest developments in mental health care through ongoing education, training, and certifications to provide expert, compassionate care.

Beyond individual sessions, we are deeply invested in supporting the mental health community. We offer clinical supervision, continuing education, and mentorship to empower our clinicians to excel in their careers, whether through public speaking, teaching, writing, or even launching their own practices. Additionally, we are committed to serving the broader community by providing tailored training and speaking engagements for schools, churches, first responders, businesses, and more.

At Matters of the Heart Counseling, our mission extends beyond therapy. We’ve created an ecosystem where collaboration thrives, growth is encouraged, and healing is supported. We believe every client and clinician is here on purpose, and no one finds their way to our couches by accident.

Welcome to a place where healing feels like home.

At Matters of the Heart, we humbly acknowledge that our businesses in Goodlettsville, Hendersonville, and Gallatin stand on the ancestral homelands of the Muscogee-Creek, Yuchi, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Cherokee peoples. These nations cared for and cultivated this land for generations before colonization, and their forced removal—most tragically through the Trail of Tears—brought immense suffering and loss that still reverberates today.

We also recognize the generations of enslaved African Americans whose labor, strength, and resilience profoundly shaped this region. Plantations throughout Sumner County, including those near Rock Castle in Hendersonville, relied heavily on enslaved labor. In Gallatin, many enslaved people sought refuge during the Civil War, and from this place of hardship and courage, men and women helped build new communities and served in the United States Colored Troops in the fight for freedom.

To name these truths is not simply to look back, but an effort to better honor those who came before us.
We are indebted to the Indigenous peoples and enslaved Africans who endured displacement, oppression, and violence, and yet left behind legacies of perseverance, wisdom, and community. We acknowledge that our presence and work here today is possible only because of their sacrifices.

With reverence and gratitude, we commit ourselves to building workplaces and communities that strive toward equity, inclusion, and justice—seeking to honor the resilience of those whose lives and labor made this land’s story possible.