Our History
Refinery Counseling Services LLC was birthed in January 2020 as the answer to a sacred invitation—one our founder, Qiana Toy-Ellis, had carried for years. Long before the world changed, the call to healing had already been placed on her life. Since 2004, she sensed God drawing her toward restoration work that would honor both the spiritual and emotional needs of His people, and by 2012, that calling became her professional vocation through clinical mental health counseling and psychotherapy. Then, at the end of 2019 moving into 2020, our nation entered a season that would shift how we live, communicate, and heal—physically, spiritually, and emotionally—through COVID-19. While many were still minimizing what was coming, Qiana felt something different: a clear, faith-filled direction to take a leap and establish a practice providing professional counseling in Columbus, GA and virtual therapy across Georgia that would be both clinically excellent and spiritually safe—a place where people could be seen, supported, and strengthened without shame, fear, or performative “strength.” Refinery Counseling Services was created to protect dignity and cultivate growth—safe spiritually, emotionally, and physically—and to inspire clients to become active participants in their healing journey through evidence-based psychotherapy, compassionate accountability, and hope-centered care.
From the beginning, the mission of Refinery Counseling Services LLC has been more than helping people “feel better.” Our heartbeat is transformational and restorative counseling—the kind that helps individuals break free from trauma, crisis, and the lies that distort identity, so they can live the life God intended. We are grounded in Christian and biblical precepts: to reintroduce and remind God’s people of His relentless love and pursuit through the Gospel and the redemptive work of Christ; to challenge the lies that trauma and adversity can plant in the mind and spirit; to build up and encourage hearts through truth, grace, and God’s presence; and to help individuals discover their identity in Him—no longer defined by rejection, but accepted through love. Refinery Counseling Services exists to guide people into deeper wholeness through therapy and counseling in Columbus, GA (and online counseling across Georgia)—supporting strengthened relationships, renewed purpose, healthier boundaries, emotional regulation, and a restored capacity to trust, connect, and worship from a place of freedom. We believe healing is not denial of pain; it is the courageous decision to confront what happened, to let God meet you there, and to learn new ways to live that reflect His truth.
This vision is personal. Our founder understands the weight of trauma because she has walked through it. She spent years carrying negative core beliefs that didn’t originate in her—beliefs rooted through childhood, adult, and spiritual trauma. Over time, she learned a life-changing truth: trauma happened to her, but it did not have to keep happening to her. She could choose. She didn’t have to carry it. She chose to listen to God, to believe what He said about her, and to pursue a calling that would reflect the beauty of His healing power while honestly acknowledging the reality of living in a fallen world—where harm, imperfect choices, and broken systems can wound people deeply. That is why Refinery Counseling Services LLC in Columbus, GA exists today: to provide clinically sound psychotherapy and mental health counseling that addresses real psychological pain while offering, upon request, faith-integrated Christian counseling grounded in faith, hope, and love. Refinery Counseling Services is the result of yielding to God’s invitation, and we remain committed to helping every client experience Hope Refined. Healing Restored.