The Joy House Counseling Center 148 Nations Road, Jasper, GA 30143

"This is a wonderful program and counseling center who truly cares about families in our community"

"Our family was devastated when we reached out to the JH. We had so little hope and what hope we had left was poured out to the staff at JH. Unfortunately, this is not a facility that can truly handle difficult kids. After four months, our child was discharged due to noncompliance. He wasn't kicked out for violence, drugs, sexual acting out, or destruction of property. He was kicked out because he was throwing a temper tantrum about having to leave the basketball court. This was so mild in our minds, after all that we had been through. To make matters worse, we were never invited to a meeting regarding his discharge. There was no phone call. There was no "contract" or plan to face his removal. We received a text message from the lead counselor to let us know our son was no longer allowed in this "program." It's also important to note that during these four months, we were never engaged in family therapy, all but 3 of the parent meetings we were supposed to attend were cancelled for various reasons and the few parent sessions we did attend were a powerpoint presentation with no interaction between the families. I had a difficult time getting anyone other than the house parents to communicate with me. I am a licensed mental health provider and there was no shred of real counseling or evidence-based treatment offered to my son. We are Christians, and we believe in the Bible, but offering one or two verses of scripture to a hurting and struggling teen once a week is not counseling. Believe me when I say our family was deeply hurting when we went through the lengthy process to apply to JH. We were praying for a lifeline. We were overjoyed when we believed this organization would "partner" with us to help our child. They did not have the skills, training or tools to handle a difficult child. This was a devastating blow to our family and I hope no one else has to experience what we have gone through."

"I almost went here but thank God my dad didn't send me I got my act together but when I had the interview the lady said they cook food and if u don't like it u don't eat, and you have to take out nose rings idk what thats about, but it was ridiculous how big a deal they make the little things like that but will let you go and not eat. People say good money to come here and you can even suggestions or options, this place is truly controlled, no leaving, no phones , no service maybe if they changed their policies people would actually wanna go their."

"Former resident who chose to be homeless than to live with these people. Genuinely unkind house parent. Traumatic experience. Severed the relationship with my family. Forced to eat collard greens out of a can ( or not eat ) for lunch and dinner until I was sick, as a punishment for stating I don’t believe in god. Terrible place to send struggling teens. I hope to see a consequence of the harm they have cause teens and families."

"The Councelor’s here are true Christian very tender hearted and never harsh or demanding. Good for adults and children. I’ve been to counseling in other places and felt like I needed a reprieve when I left. Or never wanted to go back. The Councelor’s here made me feel at peace and really helped my mind set."