Many people ask us where we got the name Cypress for our center. We were inspired by the Cypress tree, once we discovered that Cypress trees actually grow stronger during harsh conditions. That symbolism was important to us as we work with clients, some of whom have come through harsh, troubling traumas. Finding their way through and discovering their own resilience reminds us of why we choose this counseling work as our life's passion.
“Cypress trees remind us of our heroic selves. They’re standing on the headlands, battling nature, and they survive. ”
Carla and Paul Babb's Story
Owners of the Cypress Counseling Group, PLLC
We first met each other in our graduate program for counseling psychology at James Madison University in 1995. Our relationship began as a friendship and we enjoyed getting to know one another while pursuing our respective masters’ degrees. It wasn’t until late in our second year that we got engaged, planned a wedding and moved to Nashville, TN once we graduated. In mid-1998, we settled into the Franklin, TN area and we began our personal and professional lives together.
Carla’s primary focus was working with children, adolescents and their families with Youth Villages. With the passage of time, Carla’s role expanded at Youth Villages where she became the Director of the State of Tennessee Crisis Team for children and adolescents. After a brief stint in the business world, Paul focused his attention on working with adults experiencing any type of mental health crisis that required crisis intervention. Later, Paul began working with Mental Health Cooperative providing mental health care to the Davidson County Jail population. Paul’s role expanded when he became the Mental Health Program Manager for the entire Davidson County Jail and subsequently assisted with the expansion of the correctional services team in Columbia, TN as well as Clarksville, TN. We both accrued almost 15 years a piece in providing direct mental health services in the most acute environments in the region. While employed at Youth Villages and the Mental Health Cooperative, we became licensed professional counselors in the State of Tennessee.
In 2011, Carla founded what is now known as Cypress Counseling Group in Brentwood, TN. Carla had a vision for creating a private practice that not only served the community, but also brought a community of counselors together to offer a variety of counseling services based on the needs of our clients. In early 2015, Paul started his full-time practice at Cypress and Carla and Paul began to expand the services offered both to the Brentwood/Nashville community and the counseling community. We are both Approved Clinical Supervisors (ACS) and a part of our mission is to help train and develop the next generation of counselors in addition to giving back to a community that supported us throughout our professional careers. Currently, there are over 20 counselors affiliated with the Cypress Counseling Group. We expanded because we believed that the Brentwood/Nashville community deserves a myriad of options when it comes to receiving exceptional therapeutic care. As a counseling community, we have the availability to offer counseling options 7 days a week as well as early, midday and late day/evening appointments. In addition, we have both experienced male and female counselors who specialize in a variety of different modalities and interventions in addressing most mental health issues (i.e. depression, anxiety, trauma, addiction, couples and grief).
We have now been married for 25 years and we have two wonderful children (despite some challenges from time to time), Sydney (19) and Jack (16). We are both firm believers in the counseling process and we have participated in our own marriage counseling as well as regular and ongoing individual therapy. As we have grown and changed through the years, we have recognized the inherent value of nurturing, building and maintaining connection whether it is in our own marriage or the professional lives we lead at Cypress.
If there is one thing that we have learned throughout our personal and professional lives it’s that you can only find success through community and that is why Cypress Counseling Group continues its efforts to live into our mission. In the same way that we hoped the name Cypress reflects the strength we see in our client’s stories, we also believe it challenges us as counselors to engage in deeply rooted connections with other counselors so that we can do the hard work of caring for our clients well.