Richmont develops the counselor from the inside out. It’s a transformational experience.

Jarrod Justice never planned to become a counselor. While at Baylor University, he majored in International Studies and dreamed of ministering overseas. However, God’s plans were different. In 2004, Jarrod and his family moved from Texas to Tennessee, where he and his wife helped plant a nondenominational church in Knoxville. He worked for several years as College Pastor and Worship Pastor before transitioning to Lead Pastor, a role in which he has served for the last four years. But then, God “switched things around again,” in Jarrod’s words, and gave him “a narrower call.” Passing the pastoral role on to the Associate Pastor, his best friend Greg, Jarrod began the M.A. program in Marriage and Family Therapy at Richmont.

Marriages are Jarrod’s great passion. “When husbands and wives learn to walk together, to become healthy and whole, it trickles down into the rest of the family and even into the community.” When Jarrod’s own marriage went through a difficult transitional period, he and his wife sought the support of a marital therapist, and over the next year they saw dramatic changes in their relationship. “Going to counseling, and approaching our marriage differently because of it, impacted our boys, the way we did life, even my preaching,” Jarrod explains. “Healthy marriages impact everyone. You can feel it and see it.”

With that experience bolstering his belief in therapy and his desire to spread the wisdom that was shared with him and his wife, Jarrod now has a God-given dream of working in Knoxville as a marriage counselor with a nonprofit organization. In his first year at Richmont, he already recognizes how God is preparing his heart for this next phase of life. “It’s like Dr. [Stephen] Bradshaw keeps telling us, we’re all discovering our ‘unique Kingdom voices.’ We’re not these cookie-cutter counselors. We’re us, we’re a community, and we’re becoming something really unique together.” Jarrod says even his Introduction to Counseling course was a “worshipful, God-centered, hope-filled experience” that allowed students “space to discover who we are and who God is.”

Jarrod considered other programs before sending in his application, but he was never able to get Richmont out of his mind. A few months into the semester, he could not be more pleased with his decision. Citing the “caring, knowledgeable professors” as one of his favorite aspects of the university, he particularly loved his Personal and Spiritual Life of the Counselor course with Dr. Ryan Thompson. “Dr. Thompson has this amazing ability to facilitate class discussion; it’s so engaging. He allows people to share and discover.” In addition to the professors, Jarrod is grateful for the Richmont approach to counselor education: “Richmont develops the counselor from the inside out. It’s a transformational experience.” Thinking of all the marriages that will be strengthened as a result of Jarrod’s response and openness to the call of God on his life is exciting. Jarrod will not be the only one transformed.