The Barnabas Center

The Barnabas Center The Barnabas Center is a nonprofit, nondenominational, Christ-centered counseling, training and teaching ministry.

The Barnabas name, which means “son of encouragement,” communicates our desire to encourage people by coming alongside them, entering into their daily struggles and walking with them toward freedom. The Barnabas Center’s ministry is comprised of the three areas :

Counseling: Through individual and couple counseling sessions, our counselors are invited to walk alongside people in the midst of their most intimate struggles. Witnessing God use brokenness and heartache to move people toward redemption is one of our greatest privileges. Groups: Bringing your darkest struggles to light through the safety of confidential, counselor-facilitated groups is often an integral step toward healing and redemption. We currently offer group programs to address eating disorders, sexual addiction, and various forms of abuse. Training: Our counselors and staff facilitate various seminars, conferences and retreats that guide participants toward an authentic relationship with God and more meaningful relationships with people.

Triad counselor Emmett Richardson recounts the heartbreaking loss of his newborn boys and the grief that changed him: “I...
02/04/2026

Triad counselor Emmett Richardson recounts the heartbreaking loss of his newborn boys and the grief that changed him: “It’s now been six months since we’ve lost our boys, and the grief is very much still here. But I’m ok with that. I don’t think I’ll ever get over losing Everett and Lewis. I don’t believe there is such a thing as closure for something like this. Rather, I’m learning that grief is not about moving on but moving with. I’m not trying to get past my loss, instead I’m learning to integrate the loss into my life.”

In one of my previous blog posts, I wrote about my wife’s and my journey with infertility and what God was teaching us about waiting and hope. After that post we waited several months before receiving the amazing news that my wife was pregnant. A few weeks later we went for our first ultrasound an...

Counselor Laurie Hobbs reflects on the past year and all the ways that it left her feeling adrift, after months of disru...
01/13/2026

Counselor Laurie Hobbs reflects on the past year and all the ways that it left her feeling adrift, after months of disruptions and unrest: "I have searched for words to name how I feel. I have never been a sailor, but the word “unmoored” comes to mind. The definition is “to be no longer attached to a mooring (an anchor for boats)” or, when speaking of a person, to be insecure, confused, or disconnected. That is exactly the way I have felt this last year: lost, uneasy, uncomfortable, and adrift without stability."

As the year ends and a new one begins, I take time to review the past year and anticipate the one coming. I go through my calendar and photos and think about the events, highlights, and struggles. And every year a theme emerges as I contemplate the close of the year. The time is well spent, as it of...

Counselor Megan Erdmann contemplates the value of what we listen to and let fill our heads and hearts, and how it might ...
12/31/2025

Counselor Megan Erdmann contemplates the value of what we listen to and let fill our heads and hearts, and how it might be more important that we realize to our outlook and behavior: "As I’ve reflected, I’ve come to realize that I’m exhausted from all of the content I’m consuming via podcasts. When I arrive at home or work after my drive, I’m usually anxious or irritable, or even discouraged at times. God has shown me that my heart’s attitude as I consume this information is a desire for control (if I can just learn this next thing, then I’ll find peace or the secret to what I’ve been looking for or maybe someone will tell me that despite the political divisiveness in our country we’re going to be okay)."

What do you listen to during your commute? Like me, you most likely drive, unless you’re lucky enough to be able to walk or bike to work, school drop off, or errands.

Counselor Mary Patterson reflects on the paternal nature of God, and wonders how we might take a maternal view instead: ...
11/19/2025

Counselor Mary Patterson reflects on the paternal nature of God, and wonders how we might take a maternal view instead: "As a new mother, I’ve come to sense that my role is profoundly spiritual and reflects something of God’s own nature. My heart toward my daughter is one of pure delight and affection in every moment. There is something biological and sacred about the way I am wired to nurture her. During my pregnancy and now as a new mother, my body has literally been her source of life. When she smiles, my heart overflows with joy; when she cries, I am compelled to comfort and provide for her. All of this, I’ve realized, mirrors the heart of God, yet we rarely speak of God in maternal terms."

Ever since I became a Christian, I have heard God spoken of in Trinitarian form: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is for good reason, as God reveals Himself in this way throughout Scripture. The Trinity is a beautiful and mysterious reality that has captured my heart and imagination for years. Thr...

Counselor Caroline Chambers remembers a moment that forced a reckoning between viewpoints and brings up the idea that si...
11/05/2025

Counselor Caroline Chambers remembers a moment that forced a reckoning between viewpoints and brings up the idea that similar experiences can be interpreted very differently depending on the people involved: "How often do we enter a conversation with this posture of curiosity and humility? I confess I’m much more likely to rely on my own experience and expectation than to stay open and hopeful to what I could learn from another. The problem is that I commit to a narrative about the other person then only take in the information that confirms my bias."

When Matt and I were first married we had the chance to take a class together. I was getting my masters in counseling and he was studying for a masters in New Testament. I don’t remember now what the class was, but I do remember that we both enjoyed it and the professor was popular and sought afte...

Counselor Roger Edwards reflects on what it would be like if we could just wait before responding to the things that mak...
10/23/2025

Counselor Roger Edwards reflects on what it would be like if we could just wait before responding to the things that make us angry, uncomfortable, or that we just don't want to deal with at all. What difference could 20 minutes make?

The distinctive feature of the app is that it won’t let you reply to an upsetting text until you’ve waited 20 minutes. Then you have to reply. I’ll market it to three different types of people: 1) The Reactionaries – those who fire off angry replies, which they later regret, 2) The People-Pl...

Senior Counselor Kurt Zuiderveen examines the struggle of forgiveness and how we can achieve such healing: "This prayer ...
08/28/2025

Senior Counselor Kurt Zuiderveen examines the struggle of forgiveness and how we can achieve such healing: "This prayer about the struggle to forgive leapt off the page and it is too good not share. It is such an honest prayer, such an intimate and vulnerable prayer, that needs to be honored."

Recently, while reading The Book of Forgiving: The Fourfold Path for Healing Ourselves and Our World by Desmond Tutu, this prayer about the struggle to forgive leapt off the page and it is too good not share. It is such an honest prayer, such an intimate and vulnerable prayer, that needs to be honor...

Triad counselor Hannah Van Patter summarizes a powerful fable written by Edwin Friedman and looks at how we might use th...
08/12/2025

Triad counselor Hannah Van Patter summarizes a powerful fable written by Edwin Friedman and looks at how we might use the power of such stories to read into our life and experiences: "As a counselor, I’ve found that stories can take on a therapeutic dimension, offering a unique pathway to self-discovery and introspection. In the counseling room, I’ve recommended the exploration of well-crafted stories as a means of gaining insight into one's own emotions, thoughts, and life experiences. By digging into these narratives we can begin to externalize our internal struggles, making it easier to examine and process our own experiences."

I’ve always loved stories: books, one-on-one conversations in coffee shops, podcasts, movies, theater productions. As a counselor, I’ve found that stories can take on a therapeutic dimension, offering a unique pathway to self-discovery and introspection. In the counseling room, I’ve recommende...

Counselor Roger Edwards explores the courage required to truly expose our vulnerabilities in a conversation and how it h...
07/30/2025

Counselor Roger Edwards explores the courage required to truly expose our vulnerabilities in a conversation and how it helps us engage more fully: "But if you will allow me a strange retort; talk is never mere talk. There is more to this strange gift of language. Whenever we express ourselves, we engage in a process that involves the whole person. I’ll repeat that: all talk involves the whole person. Contrast this to keeping things bottled up inside. Rumination, stewing, and stuffing down do the exact opposite of involving our whole selves. They are designed to shut out certain emotions, shield ourselves from conviction, and deny our weaknesses or needs (especially the need for grace)."

I am, what people might call, a talk therapist. So, I am often asked, “How does talking help?” Sometimes the undertone of the question is, “How does merely talking help? Talk is just talk, isn’t it? Don’t you need more than just talk?”

Clinical Director John Pierce reflects on the healing power of art and creation and their ability to sustain us in times...
07/10/2025

Clinical Director John Pierce reflects on the healing power of art and creation and their ability to sustain us in times of hopelessness and grief: "That moment lingered in my mind. It got me thinking about how art, poetry, music, writing, storytelling, and even metaphor-making have been a part of the healing and mending ebb and flow throughout my life. There’s something about the act of creating, especially in seasons of transition, sorrow, and loss, that has brought God’s balm of comfort and transformation to my heart. It’s as if, in creating, I am partnering with Him in the quiet, unseen work of repair."

The other day, I found myself lying in my garage after a walk, stretching beside shelves of old tools and forgotten projects. My gaze wandered upward until I noticed the one unfinished sculpture that I had started five years ago. Layers of dust and plastic clung to its surface, and the project—tho...

Founder Palmer Trice takes an honest look at how we insert our own stories, feelings, and opinions into our relationship...
06/19/2025

Founder Palmer Trice takes an honest look at how we insert our own stories, feelings, and opinions into our relationships with others, and how that usually leads to hurt feelings and miscommunication: "The truth is, I don’t really know how anyone feels. I may think I know how I would feel if I were in their circumstances. But I’m not them. And for years, my working assumption without knowing it was that everyone did or should react like me. I want to call that self-centeredness. I see the world through the only set of eyes that I have. That is my experience of the world. So intuitively I assume you do too. And I assume that my experience of it is accurate, the correct experience."

“Nobody knows how I feel!” It was a scene from a sitcom. One brother was struggling with an alcohol addiction. His compassionate brother kept saying, “I know just how you feel!” But he didn’t, and it drove his drinking brother crazy.

Triad counselor Kristin Leathers reflects on how our perceptions of the past impact how we feel about now and how we ant...
06/05/2025

Triad counselor Kristin Leathers reflects on how our perceptions of the past impact how we feel about now and how we anticipate the future: "The stories and families that bore us do much to shape and contour how we move about the world. You are also likely to be familiar with the notion that to be present, here and now, is to be well and to know God. And that to wonder about the future is folly at best. Past, present, future. Three places we can be at any given moment."

My freshman year of college was a doozy. We’d moved cross-country five times in nine years, and just when I thought I was getting my footing and earned a scholarship to my dream North Carolina school, my family moved again; this time to Florida. My parents told me I needed to pick a Florida school...

Address

7615 Colony Road, Suite 200
Charlotte, NC
28226

Opening Hours

Monday 8:30am - 5pm
Tuesday 8:30am - 5pm
Wednesday 8:30am - 5pm
Thursday 8:30am - 5pm
Friday 8:30am - 5pm

Telephone

+17043654545

Website

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