Today we’d like to introduce you to Lianne Johnson, LPC, NCC.
Hi Lianne, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
In 2011, I founded Avenues Counseling Center, a nonprofit, with two primary hopes: first, to bring quality mental health services to our community in truly accessible ways; and second, to cultivate a psychologically safe workplace where counselor and staff care are genuinely prioritized.
Looking back 15 years later, I am amazed by our growth. What started with just myself and three other counselors has expanded into a team of 31 across two locations and three buildings, all while maintaining remarkably low turnover.
For years, I stubbornly told my team I never wanted to expand. My refrain was always, “Let’s just do what we do best right here from this single location. I don’t want to become one of those counseling centers with multiple locations.” That mindset held firm for a decade. But in 2021, something shifted within our leadership team and me, leading to a new strategic vision and an expanded mission.
What changed? Plainly speaking, I grew up.
I started paying closer attention to the disparities all around me, having deeper conversations across St. Louis, and reading about the massive gaps in equitable mental health care throughout our region. I began calling these neglected pockets “mental health deserts.” Once I truly understood the surrounding mental health inequities and realized we actually had the capacity to do something about them, our focus broadened dramatically.
Our mission evolved: Avenues Counseling provides vital mental health services to all who need them, regardless of their ability to pay, while expanding geographical accessibility within targeted and underserved areas across St. Louis.
Today, we operate out of two buildings in Richmond Heights and a third in Ferguson, MO, which has been identified as a mental health provider shortage area (Health Resources and Services Administration, 2026, https://data.hrsa.gov/topics/health-workforce/shortage-areas).
We began by offering individual and couples counseling for teens and adults, and our services have grown substantially. We now provide individual, couples, and family counseling for clients as young as five. We host group therapy for tweens and teens, offer community workshops, participate heavily in local events, train the next generation of counselors, and recently launched an Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) for teens.
And we aren’t done yet. On the horizon, we are working to expand the age range for our IOP services and introduce medication management services for our clients.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
While there have certainly been pockets of smooth roads, they rarely last long.
I founded Avenues Counseling with a Bachelor’s in Psychology and a Master’s in Counseling. To this day, I have no formal business training or nonprofit management certifications. While I am a Licensed Professional Counselor and a National Board Certified Counselor, neither credential prepared me to run an organization. I’ve had to learn almost everything on the fly, and more often than not, that learning came through making mistakes. Many mistakes! And that is strictly on the business operational side; it doesn’t even touch on the leadership skills required to cultivate a healthy work environment for our team.
After years of falling on my face, choosing to get back up, and brushing off the dirt, I’ve learned a few key things.
1. Ask questions and be curious. Never be afraid to admit when you don’t know something.
2. Mistakes happen. The mistake itself should not be the focus, but rather how I choose to own it, fix it, and respond to others afterward is what truly matters.
3. Befriend your fears. As a leader, I have to keep my own fears in check. That means being willing to intimately face them, understand them, and sit with them. To lead well, I cannot fear my fears; I must learn from them so I don’t project them onto my team or let them cause harm.
We’ve been impressed with Avenues Counseling Center, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
At Avenues Counseling, we provide comprehensive mental health services to children, adolescents, and adults across the 16-county St. Louis metropolitan area in both Missouri and Illinois. Our core commitment is simple yet profound: to deliver vital mental health counseling to anyone who needs it, regardless of their ability to pay.
Avenues functions as a complete “hub” where clients access a full continuum of care in a warm, family-centered, and trauma-informed environment. Our year-round services include:
General Counseling: Individual, couples, and family therapy tailored to all stages of life starting as young as age 5.
Specialized Programs: Youth-focused Intensive Outpatient Programs (IOP) and structured therapeutic groups for tweens and teens.
Community & Professional Growth: Educational workshops for the public and an immersive intern training program equipping the next generation of counselors.
What Sets Us Apart
Geographical accessibility and unwavering financial commitment.
Meeting People Where They Are: We strategically position our physical locations in both Richmond Heights and Ferguson, MO, directly addressing regional “mental health deserts” while also offering virtual appointments to reach anyone across Missouri and Illinois.
Removing Limits on Care: We accept major insurance plans, including Medicare and Medicaid, alongside private pay. For those facing financial hardships, we offer partial and full scholarships. Ultimately, as long as clinical need and financial hardship remain, we never limit the number of sessions or duration of care a client can receive.
What We Are Most Proud Of
As a brand, we are most proud of building an ecosystem where high-quality, specialized care and accessibility coexist without compromise. We want readers to know that when they or their loved ones step through our doors, they are entering a safe, trauma-informed space where financial barriers will never stand between them and long-term well-being.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
I am more of a dog person now, but when I was a child, I liked cats. Moonlight was my safe companion. Growing up in a chaotic family system did not provide much safety, but Moonlight was my safe place.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://avenuescounselingcenter.org/
- Instagram: @AvenuesSTL
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AvenuesSTL/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avenues-counseling/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@liannejohnson6486
