Meet the Founders
Ashley Hampton, LPC-MHSP
“I am a Nashville native and first-generation college graduate who comes from a family of great love but also great wounding. I grew up attending arts schools and have always LOVED connecting, listening, and being a source of energy for folx around me. When acting didn't work out, therapy felt like the next best thing. During Covid and the experience of violence towards Black Folks, my personal practice was flooded with people needing access to a safe space with a therapist who just “got it”. In 2021, my wife Beth and I felt the need to create MORE pathways for folks who look, love, and move like us to practice and receive safe and skilled mental health care. Hampton House Counseling was born - a home for us all to Heal.
In addition to being a practicing therapist, I am also a Certified Clinical Supervisor, Adjunct Professor at Vanderbilt University, and the deeply proud Founder + Executive Director of our nonprofit, Healing in the Margins. Through Healing in the Margins, we continue our dedication to creating systemic change in mental health care by funding and providing advanced training for BIPOC and LGBTQIA2S+ therapists, providing a therapy fund that helps BIPOC and LGBTQA2S+ therapists have access to therapy themselves, and hosting community workshops and training that further support folx from marginalized identities.
I am committed to this work because I know so much more needs to be done for our community to have access to safe, inclusive, and accessible mental health care. It is my sincere hope that Hampton House can be a place for you, ALL of you, to show up, work hard, and begin to heal and live the life YOU DESERVE!”
Beth Hampton
“I have strong Appalachian roots and feel at home in direct proportion to the number of mountains and trees around me. I deeply value both solitude and community. My background is in education, program directing, holistic healing modalities, and artistic administration. My passion for educating, organizing, and healing fuel the love I have for this work at Hampton House.
At Hampton House it brings me so much joy to connect with our clients. I know how hard it can be to seek help and it is our hope that Hampton House can be a place where you feel seen, known, and deeply cared for. I am also the Co-Founder + Director of our nonprofit, Healing in the Margins. I love this work, I love this community, and am honored to get to create, hold, and develop this space for you and with you.
When I’m not working, you can find me spending time with my wife and daughter (Ashley and Wilder Eve), grabbing coffee, hiking, playing music, knitting, or watching scary movies.”
A NOTE TO YOU,
We have come from communities and environments where we have not always felt seen, understood or safe. We have experienced shame, fear, hopelessness and disconnection from our bodies and spirits. We have lived in a world of oppression, hatred, harm, and have had love withheld. We have been hurt by society, our communities, the church, our schools, families, and our places of work.
We have had moments of protesting and hating who we are, moments longing to be anyone other than who we are. We have harmed our bodies because we felt betrayed by them. Our minds have believed the narrative that we are not worthy of healing, belonging, community, safety and love.
We have been so tired of being tired.
One day not much different than today we decided to do what we have had to do our whole lives; we decided to keep going, to keep trying, in pursuit of our health. We decided to create change. We knew that before we could create change we had to first heal. That journey was not linear; it had many ups and downs and all arounds and we kept going anyway. Session after session, week after week, month after month, year after year, and then HAMPTON HOUSE was born. At Hampton House we know how hard it is to ask for help, we invite you to do it anyway. Healing and changing may not be easy and we do it anyway, because we believe that healing in the margins is how we will change the world!
Humbly + Bursting with Love, Respect and Gratitude,
Ashley Hampton, LPC-MHSP, NCC
House Founder + Clinical Director
Meet our Non-Profit
Healing in the Margins
Healing in the Margins was created as a response to yet another need - therapists who identify as part of the LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC communities often carry overwhelming caseloads while lacking the support and resources needed to pursue advanced training. In addition, they struggle to find affordable, safe, and affirming mental health care providers to address their own needs. All too often, these factors lead therapists to burn out and leave the field, resulting in a shortage of safe and representative care for clients seeking mental health care.
Healing in the Margins strives to target these challenges in order to create systemic change and healing for marginalized clinicians and the community members that so desperately need access to safe and affirming services.
Learn more about our mission and the impact we’re making in our community by clicking “Learn more”!