About Us
Why We Exist
Hello, and welcome. I’m so glad you’re here.
Pastors and ministry leaders are often the first people to hear when someone is hurting. Yet the average wait between the first symptoms of a mental health concern and a visit with a professional is eleven years, and even after someone decides to seek care, a therapist’s waitlist can add weeks more. Much of the weight of that gap falls on pastors who were never trained or resourced to carry it.
I would like to change that by building Delware Christian Counseling Collective, an organization in formation. This organization would be a faith-based peer mental health coaching service for Dover and Kent County. Our aim is to bridge the gap between pastoral care and professional help, so no pastor carries a congregation’s mental health needs alone, and no one waits alone for support. We are starting with trained peer coaches, with a vision of adding licensed therapists, a psychologist, and a psychiatrist as we grow.
Our Mission
To provide compassionate, faith-based mental health support, from peer coaching to licensed clinical care, to individuals in Delaware and surrounding communities, so that every person can find timely help regardless of income.
Our Values
Dignity for every person. Everyone is welcome and treated with respect, without judgment.
Faith offered, never imposed. We are a Christian organization, and we offer spiritual encouragement to anyone who wants it. Clients choose whether faith is part of their support.
Partnership. We work alongside pastors, churches, and licensed professionals, not in their place.
Honesty about scope. Peer coaching is supportive care, not clinical treatment, and we are not licensed therapists, and we say so plainly.
Meet the Founder
I’m Melodi Kitzmiller. Twelve years ago, God placed a calling on my heart to advocate for mental health in our community. While I was standing in line at a local store, a cashier broke down in tears and told me her neighbor was in crisis and desperately needed a Christian counselor, but there simply wasn’t one available in Dover. That afternoon, I applied to Liberty University, and I have been preparing for this work ever since.
Since then, I have run One By One, LLC, where I offered faith-based counseling, and I served for a year as a spiritual counselor in hospice care, supporting patients and families through some of life’s hardest moments. I hold a B.S. in Psychology with a focus on Christian counseling, an M.A. in Human Services Counseling with a specialization in crisis and trauma response, and an M.Phil. in Psychology. Currently, I am a doctoral candidate in Psychology at Walden University.
I have completed more than 60 graduate credit hours in counseling and psychology, including 48 in a CACREP-accredited clinical mental health counseling program, and I have passed the National Counselor Examination. My training also includes narrative trauma therapy and spiritual formation through The Transforming Center, and I have been a member of the American Association of Christian Counselors since 2015.
I have designed a peer mental health coach training curriculum to help churches care well for their people. I am not currently licensed, and that is intentional because peer coaches serve as trained lay support in their own right, not under any clinician’s license. My approach blends psychological insight and spiritual care, grounded in research, empathy, and biblical wisdom. My goal is never to “fix” anyone, but to walk beside people until they feel strong, grounded, and supported.