Bio

Chris A. Matthews is the founder, owner and clinical director of Relationship Counseling Group, LLC and Behavioral Health Intervention Center, LLC, which are two private therapeutic and mental health practices based out of Charlotte, North Carolina. Chris is a licensed marriage and family therapist, (LMFT), licensed clinical addiction specialist, (LCAS), certified clinical supervisor (CCS) and approved supervisor for the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT). Chris holds both a Master of Science degree in Organizational Leadership and a Master of Arts degree in Marriage and Family Therapy. For more than a decade, Chris has worked in a variety of settings providing counseling and training to a diverse population of organizations, couples, and individuals. Download Resume

I completed my undergraduate studies in the field of public health in 2009 and joined my mother, father, and sister as the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC) alumni.  Furthermore, after graduation, I sustained a strong relationship with the university and served two terms on the Public Health Advisory Board. I also retained employment after graduation as a paid research assistant on two National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant funded projects.  Caring for Hypertension in African American Families Project (CHAAF) which was funded for $123,704 and Becoming a Responsible Teen (BART): An HIV Risk Reductions Program for Adolescents Text Message Project which received $396,000 in funding.

In the fall of 2009, I was hired as a full-time prevention specialist for Anuvia Prevention and Recovery Center, which is the largest substance abuse prevention and treatment center in Charlotte, North Carolina.  Within my role, I designed and implemented a four-stage marijuana prevention program that directly impacted over 3300 students across five schools and concluded with a media campaign entitled. Weed or Succeeds?  My talents took the agency by storm and within eleven months I was promoted to the role of prevention coordinator.  With additional responsibilities as a prevention coordinator, I managed the Focus program which is a 12-hour intervention course that caters to adjudicated youth.  During my time as the Focus Program manager, I established relationships with the Mecklenburg County district attorneys and public defenders’ offices and secured approval for my clients to have their criminal charges dismissed upon successful completion of the program.  Over the course of one year, I was able to help 360 young adults with getting their misdemeanor drug charges dismissed so they could re-enroll in school and secure employment.

In 2012, I graduated with my Masters’ of Science in Leadership and Organizational Change Management degree and was accepted into Leadership Charlotte which is a two-year program designated for emerging and existing community leaders.  During the first program day, I completed the DISc assessment which measures personality, teamwork, leadership and behavioral styles. My overall results illustrated that I have a D style, which stands for dominance.  The most validating finding was that the assessment narrative confirmed I am a pioneering leader.  Pioneering leaders bring people together in order to accomplish their goals, they are good at initiating change and they are most comfortable taking the lead.  The information I gained from this assessment influence my decision at the time to quit my job and commit all of my attention to the behavioral health company I founded a year prior in 2011.

For almost a decade, as the founder and owner of Behavioral Health Intervention Center, LLC, I have been privileged to provide substance abuse counseling and mental health services to more than 14,000 consumers in North and South Carolina. Currently, my business is comprised of three locations, fifteen staff, and two scholarship foundations.  We deliver direct care services 348 days a year and play a major role in keeping the public safe by providing specialized treatment interventions to impaired drivers, employees who test positive for alcohol and drugs and misdemeanor offenders seeking deferred prosecution.  We are one of the preferred treatment providers for the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office, Atrium Health’s Employee Assistant Program and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte Center for Wellness.

In 2013, I returned to graduate school to pursue a Master of Arts Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy, after evaluating the next steps for my business. From examining internal reviews from staff, it became evident I needed to obtain clinical supervisory credentials in order to better recruit, train and manage my team of clinicians.  At the conclusion of my second master’s program, I became a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Licensed Clinical Addictions Specialist, Certified Clinical Supervisor, and an approved supervisor for the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapist.  Currently, a large portion of my time in my business is delegated to grooming and developing clinical staff, so they can provide the highest quality of care to our clients.

When I became an entrepreneur, I adapted the belief that I have a responsibility to constantly grow myself personally and professionally,  to help as many people as possible.  In order for me to practice this principle, I challenged myself to start a second business, Relationship Counseling Group, which I founded in 2016. That year I also made a choice to predominantly treat couples. Since that time, I have accumulated thousands of hours delivering counseling to intimate partners seeking healing from a variety of relationship issues. Through this journey, I used the experience and training as a marriage and family therapist, to author my first book, Finding Your Relationship Fix: The Four Reasons Couples Seek Counseling.

As the youngest of three kids born and raised in a two-parent household that eventually ended in divorce, I learned early in life that my purpose was to assist couples with their relationships. My mother and father were married for twenty-five years, and it only lasted that long because they had kids together. I thank them every chance I get for sacrificing their dreams, goals, and happiness for as long as they did in order to raise me and my siblings. I know for a fact that I would not be the person I am today without the stability of two parents who balanced each other out well enough to accommodate their individual pitfalls. As a child, I found myself operating as the glue that helped keep their marriage together. I’d do things like remind Dad to purchase a present for Mom’s birthday or sit beside mom at the kitchen table while tears rolled down her face as she contemplated whether she was going to leave my dad or stay in the marriage. I did my best for as long as I could, but during the winter of my sophomore year in high school, the day after Christmas, my efforts failed, and my parents filed for a divorce. I knew then and I know now it is irrational to think I could have kept my parents’ marriage together, but logic does not replace my feelings of failure.  This was a pivotal life experience that led me to become a licensed marriage and family therapist and assist couples with seeking counseling so they can work toward preserving their relationship or marriage before another kid gets to feel like they failed.

During my second year of undergraduate studies, I developed a strong desire to find an intimate partner with whom I could establish a committed relationship. At the time, my personal definition of commitment was to have a monogamous relationship with a woman I felt attracted to. Monogamy was important to me mainly because I was a public health major enrolled in several health-promotion courses, which induced a paranoia around contracting a sexually transmitted disease. I created a profile on an online dating website to facilitate my search. After a while, I finally came across a profile that really got my attention. The woman who I was pursuing messaged me her phone number and we began to talk. Our conversation was filled with endless laughter as I shared my stories about my dating failures. We also began talking about our families, childhood experiences, professional goals, and future dreams and aspirations. Later that night as we winded down the conversation, I asked her if she would be open to meeting me for dinner and a movie the following weekend, and she said yes. We attended different universities three hours apart, so we decided to meet at a halfway point in Spartanburg, South Carolina. I was the first to arrive at our meeting spot—a mall that offered several restaurant options and a movie theater. I remember sitting in my car waiting eagerly for her arrival, and her pulling up in a red Chrysler Sebring and getting out of her car. I was pleased to finally see the women I had begun to develop a relationship with over the phone. It was not like the fireworks people talk about when they describe love at first sight. Instead, I experienced a surge of peace and calm that could only be described as the hands of God resting upon my shoulders. We hugged and proceeded to head toward the mall entrance, and when we approached the crosswalk, we both instinctively reached out and held each other’s hands. To this day, I am happy to say we have never let each other go. The foundation for our marriage was built on a plot that was constructed not solely on physical attraction, but trust and the desire to get to know each other. After my first date with the woman who would eventually become my wife, we established four relationship principles that would define our commitment. We agreed if either person chose to break the commitment or decided they no longer wanted to abide by the code, we would simply go our separate ways. In retrospect, our commitment is rooted to ensure we both make the other feel safe, heard, understood, and cared for. I desire to author books that persuade couples to seek the same goals for their relationship—and, if need be, to use therapy in order to build or repair their intimate relationship foundation when they stop feeling safe, heard, understood, or cared for by each other.

In addition to my formal training, I incorporate my life experiences as a husband and father of three into my practice of therapy. In 2006, me and my girlfriend (current wife), unexpectedly became pregnant with our first child while dating and attending college. Getting pregnant instantly created an “us against the world” mentality and, at that moment, I took my first steps into manhood by choosing to put my relationship first. I had known other young men who had become teenage fathers. Many had said outright that they would do whatever it took to be there for their child, but this didn’t always include being present in the relationship with the child’s mom. I made the choice to love my son by first learning how to love his mother. This included leading by example—we both worked hard on ourselves by completing our degrees on time and worked even harder on building our intimate relationship. My wife made me earn her hand in marriage by committing to her through my actions. While in college, I worked two jobs from Monday through Thursday and attended classes during the day. Thursday nights when I got off work, I drove three hours to spend the weekend with her and my son until Monday morning when I had to wake up at 5 a.m. and drive three hours back to my school for classes that began at 9 a.m. I did this routine for two and a half years with no complaints, but instead with the hope that my efforts would build a solid family foundation. I recall my internship preceptor telling the story about how he witnessed me at a restaurant he visited, valeting cars and running back and forth with the passion that someone would only have if they were working for more than just tips. He was right—I was working to provide for my family. The focus and dedication I had for my wife and son were built on the hope that I would be a good husband and father. That hope can only be measured by my work. The same goes for the couples I treat-seeking to build or rebuild their intimate relationships in therapy.

I invest all my time and energy outside of the office into my family.  As a family we enjoy playing and watching sports, riding bikes, traveling, and trying new restaurants.  My wife and I work extremely hard daily to grow and build our marriage.  We do this by holding each other accountable for our own personal growth.  We are constantly trying to get better each day by focusing on our ability to serve humanity.  In 2019, my wife joined me as a business partner and the co-owner of the Behavioral Health Intervention Center.  She is responsible for the day to day operations and assuring the business strives to provide the highest quality of services to our consumers.