Exploring Life & Business with Catherine Bates of 517 Counseling and Consulting

Today we’d like to introduce you to Catherine Bates.

Hi Catherine, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I always knew I wanted to help people. The first career I thought I wanted was to be a teacher. As a freshman in high school, I decided I wanted to be a psychologist. That desire to help others came from my parents.

Before my parents separated, all of my cousins and the neighborhood children loved coming to my house. Everyone loved my mom—she was warm, loving, and always gave the best advice. She made sure every child around her was respectful and kind. Seeing the way she cared for others made me want to do the same.

After my parents separated, I was raised by my single father, who built a village around me. I knew I wanted to be part of others’ village, as an adult to pay it forward.

My start as a therapist began when I became a single mom providing for my daughter. I got pregnant at 20, before I finished college. Before that, I had been going to school to become a teacher while working full-time as a daycare teacher. When I got pregnant, I needed a job with better pay and benefits, so I was hired as a school secretary.

While working as a secretary, students naturally gravitated toward me for support. As I helped them more and more, parents began to come to me as well. One day, the Director of Public Safety came into the high school office where I worked because a student had been sent down for being unruly. The director observed my interaction with the student and told me I was wasting my talent behind the desk—that I should become a counselor.

Not long after that, I started taking online classes so I could still be home with my daughter. After a few months, a professional I looked up to told me I should switch my major because there was no money in the helping professions. I took that advice and earned a bachelor’s degree in business management—but my heart wasn’t in it.

Later, a parent reached out to thank me for the support and positive influence I had on her child. She told me I had a gift. That moment reignited my passion, and I went back to school to become a school counselor. The program I enrolled in offered the opportunity to earn certifications in both school and clinical counseling.

I continued to work full time while earning my master’s degree in counseling. After I earned my degree, I worked for a community agency in another city. By then, my daughter was starting high school, and I didn’t want to miss out on any of her high school experience. When a school counselor position opened back up at the school where I had gotten my start, I took it.

I also worked part time as a clinical counselor. Over time, I developed some concerns and decided to leave the practice I was working under to focus on my school counseling role. In 2024, while serving as an assistant principal, a school counselor who had enrolled in the same university I attended to earn dual certifications asked me to supervise her. Completing that training reignited my passion for providing clinical counseling. With my husband’s encouragement, I decided to pursue my passion once again. I found an affordable office space, and he built it out to suit the needs of my practice.

I chose the location that I did because it is in an area where the underserved and those who are either underinsured or uninsured reside. I want to give back to the community that provided a village for me.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has not been a smooth road. Some of my struggles were having to figure out how to continue school while being my daughter’s biggest cheerleader in all of her school and extracurricular activities. I also had to stop shaming myself for not taking the traditional route. My first opportunity to provide services as a counselor was an hour away. The other opportunities I took to serve part time didn’t have ideal business management practices for me.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about 517 Counseling and Consulting?
517 Counseling and Consulting is located on the south side of Lansing where I lived for most of my life. The name comes from the community that raised and also 517 is my grandmother’s address. I wanted my business name to also capture where I could always tap into my village. At 517 I could always get food that nourished my body and my soul. I was also guaranteed to have an opportunity to connect with two or more of the members of my village. I believe what sets 517 Counseling and Consulting apart from others is I cater to the underinsured or uninsured and the underserved. Everyone deserves quality mental health care and they should not have to travel out of their community or be turned down because they don’t have insurance. We have a sliding scale fee for those who don’t have insurance. We center treatment around the client’s goal(s).

Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
My favorite book is One Day My Soul Just Opened Up by Iyanla Vanzant. I also read Psychology Today Journals. Because I still am employed at a school as an assistant principal I have little time for podcasts. One of my resources are the students, families, teachers, and other community members who pour into me everyday. My most valuable resource is my family, They are my biggest cheerleaders and the fuel that keeps me going.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://517counselingandconsulting.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61577390307002