Daystar Counseling Ministries

What Daystar Counseling Ministries does

Daystar Counseling Ministries, Inc. is a private nonprofit faith-based counseling organization founded in 1985 by Melissa Trevathan and headquartered at 2801 Azalea Place, Nashville, Tennessee, where it operates from a distinctive property known as 'the little yellow house.' The organization provides mental health and emotional support services to children and adolescents ages 7-18 and their families, grounded in a Christian theological framework and delivered through 13 on-staff licensed counselors trained in specialized modalities including EMDR, Brainspotting, TBRI, Experiential Therapy, and Psychodrama. Its proprietary clinical framework — the 'Softening-Shaping-Strengthening Model' — anchors a service portfolio spanning individual counseling (50-minute sessions), age- and gender-segregated group therapy, parent consultations, and short-term parent groups.

The organization's service portfolio also includes two seasonal experiential programs: Summer Experiences day camps at the Nashville house (priced at ~$500/week) and Hopetown overnight retreats at a lake house in Kentucky (priced $450-$1,200 depending on age and length), the latter requiring approximately $160,000 in annual fundraising to cover operating shortfalls. Daystar does not accept insurance and operates exclusively on a sliding-scale fee structure, supplemented by charitable donations that constitute a significant revenue stream alongside counseling fees, group tuition billed per semester, and camp fees. Distribution is direct and Tennessee-gated for clinical services, with parent consultations available virtually regardless of location.

Beyond clinical services, Daystar has built a national thought-leadership platform through the co-hosted 'Raising Boys & Girls' podcast, 10+ books authored by senior staff (notably David Thomas and Sissy Goff), external articles in faith-based and mainstream outlets, and recurring speaking engagements at parenting conferences. The organization serves a base of 1,700+ school-age clients cumulatively and maintains active community partnerships with Nashville-area schools (including The Covenant School) and faith organizations, using community events (Soup Night, Evening in December, Hopetown Night) to reinforce its referral ecosystem and brand presence.

Name

Daystar Counseling Ministries

Legal name

Daystar Counseling Ministries, Inc.

Website

https://daystarcounseling.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1985

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Daystar Counseling Ministries is a Nashville-based nonprofit founded in 1985 that provides faith-based mental health counseling, group therapy, parent consultations, and summer retreats to children and adolescents ages 7-18 and their families, serving over 1,700 clients through 13 licensed counselors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth and Family Counseling Services

NAICS

Offices of Mental Health Practitioners (except Physicians) (621330), Outpatient Mental Health and Substance Abuse Centers (621420), Child and Youth Services (62411)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAGADAK

Youth Mental Health, Counseling & Wellbeing (Education-Linked) Nonprofits

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Education & Youth Development Nonprofits

SECONDARYBPAGACAD

Mental Health & Crisis Support Services

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Health & Medical Nonprofits

Keywords

• Christian counseling services
• Youth mental health
• Family therapy
• Trauma counseling
• Summer camp retreats

Headquarters

HQ city

Nashville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Counseling Services: Fees for one-on-one counseling sessions with children and adolescents (ages 7-18). Sessions are 50 minutes. Daystar does not accept insurance; families pay directly and may submit claims themselves. Sliding scale pricing is available based on ability to pay.
2. Group Counseling Services: Weekly group therapy sessions organized by age/gender. Billed per semester with commitment required. Group tuition is charged per semester rather than week-to-week.
3. Parent Consultations: Consultation services for parents seeking parenting advice. Available in-person or virtually regardless of location.
4. Summer Experiences Day Camp: Week-long day camp programs at the Daystar house focusing on social skills, self-regulation, and relationship building. Priced at $450-500 per week-long intensive.
5. Hopetown Summer Retreats: Week-long overnight camp programs at Hopetown in Kentucky. Fees range from $450-$1,200 depending on session length and age group. Running costs exceed camp fees, requiring $160,000 annual fundraising to support.
6. Donations and Fundraising: Daystar relies on charitable donations to support operations and provide scholarships. The organization operates on a sliding scale system for counseling fees based on family ability to pay. Donations support the gap between fees and actual costs, particularly for Hopetown.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Daystar Counseling Ministries provides faith-based mental health counseling services to children and adolescents (ages 7-18) and their families from its Nashville office. Core offerings include individual counseling (50-minute sessions), weekly group counseling by age and gender, parent consultations, and short-term parent groups, supplemented by seasonal Summer Experiences day camps and Hopetown overnight summer retreats in Kentucky. The organization uses a sliding-scale fee model, does not accept insurance, and supplements service revenue with charitable donations.

Product overview

Daystar Counseling Ministries operates as a faith-based counseling center serving children, adolescents, and families in Nashville, TN. The organization offers a unified suite of counseling services centered around Individual Counseling, Group Counseling, Parent Consultations, EMDR & Brainspotting therapies, and Parent Groups — all delivered by 13 on-staff counselors. Seasonal programs include Summer Experiences (day camps at the yellow house) and Hopetown Retreats (overnight lake-house retreats in Kentucky). The ministry also extends its reach through the Raising Boys & Girls Podcast and a catalog of published books by its staff authors. Counseling is provided on a sliding-scale fee basis, and the organization does not accept insurance.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Hopetown: A summer retreat program for Daystar families held at a lake house in Kentucky, offering week-long therapeutic camping experiences for children and adolescents.
• Raising Boys & Girls

Products and services

• Individual Counseling One-on-one 50-minute counseling sessions for elementary through high school-aged clients (ages 7-18), focused on processing daily life and traumatic events with compassion, purpose, integrity, and hope. Sessions are delivered by licensed counselors at the Nashville office on a sliding-scale fee basis.
• Group Counseling Weekly gender- and age-grouped counseling sessions for children and adolescents, providing a platform for counseling within a social setting where kids process issues together in a confidential environment. Billed per semester with commitment required for regular attendance.
• Parent Consultations Consultations with Daystar directors available to one or both parents to offer advice on parenting kids of any age, including guidance for parents of young children not yet old enough to be seen at Daystar. Available in-person or virtually regardless of location.
• Parent Groups Short-term, focused parenting groups designed around specific topics such as raising teenagers or children with ADHD, providing support, education, and community for parents.
• Summer Experiences Day Camp Week-long day camps at the Daystar house offering fun and unique experiences from art therapy to adventuring, focused on relationship building, social skills, and adoption issues for elementary, middle, and high school students. Priced at $500 per week-long intensive. Grant funding available for female participants and needs-based scholarships.
• Hopetown Overnight Retreats Overnight summer retreat program at a lake house in Kentucky where kids spend a week with their age group engaging in boating, biking, cooking, fishing, and worship, discovering their identity and experiencing hope. Open to current Daystar clients approved by their counselors. Pricing varies by session: 2nd-3rd grade (2 nights): $450; 3rd-4th grade (5 nights): $850; 5th-6th grade (5 nights): $1,050; middle school and high school sessions (5-7 nights): $850-$1,200.

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Covenant SchoolminorOthersDaystar counselors work with students from The Covenant School in Nashville. Following the 2023 Covenant School shooting, Daystar supported affected families and students wrote encouragement cards for Asheville flood victims, demonstrating community partnership in times of crisis.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Mercy Multiplied: Nashville-based nonprofit offering faith-based residential and counseling programs for young women, with a similar Christian-integrated, donor-supported model targeting youth in the same metro.
• Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation (CCEF): Faith-based Christian counseling organization that trains counselors and delivers biblically-integrated therapy, sharing Daystar's Christian-counseling approach and target audience of Christian families.

Broad incumbents

• Focus on the Family: Large national Christian ministry producing parenting content, counseling referrals, and books — overlapping Daystar's content-and-parenting flywheel but operating at much greater scale across a broader ministry portfolio.
• Newport Healthcare: National residential and outpatient mental health provider for adolescents, with treatment modalities (trauma, experiential) that overlap with Daystar's clinical stack but at much greater scale and acuity level.
• Rogers Behavioral Health: Specialty behavioral health system with adolescent programs using evidence-based modalities (CBT, DBT, ERP) similar to Daystar's trauma-focused offerings, though operating as a multi-site system.

Others

• Saddleback Church Counseling Ministries: Large church-based counseling ministry that integrates Christian faith with professional therapy, comparable to Daystar's church-affiliated, faith-integrated counseling model though operating as part of a broader congregation.
• American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC): Professional association for Christian counselors that sets clinical standards and provides training in the same faith-integrated modalities Daystar uses; ecosystem-level peer rather than a service competitor.

Emerging players

• Brightside Health: Telehealth platform delivering outpatient mental health services to youth and adults via insurance, directly competing for adolescent mental health demand that Daystar currently serves in-person.
• Charlie Health: Virtual intensive outpatient program focused on adolescents and young adults, serving a comparable population to Daystar's middle/high school clients with insurance-accepted virtual delivery.

Regional players

• Timberline Knolls: Midwest residential treatment center for adolescents and adults with trauma and mental health conditions; overlaps with Daystar's trauma clinical stack but operates in a different geographic market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/daystarministry
• Facebookfacebook.com/DaystarCounselingMinistries
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/about

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Daystar Counseling Ministries