Who We Are
About HigherChange
Executive Summary
HigherChange, LLC, is group practice of coaches and therapists who serve individuals, families, and organizations, and helps them to achieve their personal or professional goals. HigherChange seeks to create a “higher change” in your life by providing whole person counseling and coaching. This means that we care about all aspects of your wellness, in the context of your relationships.
The Founders
HigherChange was founded by Dr. Thomas Luttrell and his wife Hannah Luttrell. "Dr. Tom" is a Licensed Clinical Marriage and Family Therapist who has over 15 years of experience providing family therapy and coaching services. Dr. Tom is also a family life educator, former psychology professor, and a part-time pastor. The founders are followers of Jesus Christ, whose life was spent sharing healing love to everyone He met. As such, HigherChange serves people of all faiths or non-faith persuasion, and Christian counseling is available for those who seek it. HigherChange accepts people where they are, and welcomes those who hold different beliefs or lifestyles without imposing any.
Your Invitation
Life and the path to ultimate wholeness can be both challenging and rewarding at the same time, and we look forward to joining together with you in this journey towards HigherChange.
Our Motto: “Acceptance First”
Dr. Tom left a previous technology career so that he could make a difference in the world. Through his work as a therapist and pastor, he learned the importance of acceptance. After struggling as a therapist for the first decade, Dr. Tom realized that something had to change. When he tried to change others, it resulted in poor outcomes. When he decided to start from a place of acceptance, he felt that it radically transformed his work, and it became more fulfilling. Ironically, clients seem to grow more as a result. Thus, the motto for Dr. Tom and for HigherChange is “Acceptance First.”
Mission Statement
The mission of HigherChange grew out of Dr. Tom's personal life mission to “engage in deeper encounters that lead people to hope, worth, meaning, and healing.” Having gone through major career changes and overcoming anxiety, he went from “stress to success” by finding serenity and peace. This helped him to be more successful in his own life. He wants to use his passion to transform creative professionals by promoting “acceptance first” so that they can find peace and serenity in their own lives.
In 2022, we met with a group of founding coaches to clarify our group’s mission statement. Together, we came up with the following consensus.
Our mission is to be a safe space for people to be accepted and to grow into their life goals.
Identity Statement
Our mission is rooted in the belief that every person is uniquely created in the image of God and loved by God, deserving of our love, respect, and compassionate care. The founders, Dr. Thomas and Hannah Luttrell, identify as followers of Jesus Christ, who shared healing love to everyone he met. Likewise, HigherChange is designed to adopt a similar mindset and identity.
HigherChange is a diverse network of coaches and therapists, under the mentorship of a therapist, who model the love and inclusive acceptance of Jesus Christ.
Core Values
Our core values stem from this idea of seeing the precious treasure or beauty in others and ourselves, just as Christ would. Therefore, based on our discussions, we clarified the following core values, summarized with 5 A’s:
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Awareness – We want to understand what motivates and drives us without judgment.
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Acceptance & Belonging – We love and care about people and want them to feel like they belong somewhere and are included, and so they can accept themselves.
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Authenticity & Integrity – We help people to be authentic and who they are, as this is an important part of intimacy. Integrity is an integration of all parts of ourselves and alignment of who we show ourselves to be. We promote honesty through accountability.
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Appreciation & Valuing All People – We look past social labels and appreciate and empower all voices, especially those who tend to be shut out.
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Achievement (4 F’s) – We help people achieve their goals.
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Finding Purpose and Peace in our lives. How can we live intentionally?
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Fulfilling Goals – We want to help people meet their goals.
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Fun – We believe that healing can be fun sometimes too.
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Freedom – Freedom should bring us fun, joy, and excitement.
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Diversity Statement
As our motto is “Acceptance First,” the natural outgrowth of that is that we love and accept all people as they are, even when we may have different beliefs and standards for ourselves.
At HigherChange, we are proud to be a family therapy and coaching practice dedicated to serving individuals, couples, and families from all walks of life. We are passionate about advancing equal opportunity, human dignity, and diversity. The founders, Dr. Thomas and Hannah Luttrell, acknowledge the importance of embracing diversity in all its forms and recognize the richness it brings to our community and our work.
Vision Statement
Our vision for the future is what our organization will look like in a decade if we are to successfully fulfill our mission and remain aligned with our core values.
We will become an attractive and influential network of trusted coaches and therapists well-known in our local communities and the media for accepting people and creating the safety for change to occur.
Business Objectives
Our vision contains the following objectives.
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Mission Growth - Our clients will feel that we offered a safe space, that they were listened to and accepted. (>80%)
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Transformative Growth - Our clients will feel satisfied that they met their relationship goals and grew in a way that advanced their lives. Essentially, we will have made a difference in their lives. (>80%)
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Professional Growth - Our coaches and providers will have opportunities to advance their own careers and identity through training, development, and marketing. (>90%) We also will be able to complement our service with additional programs as part of what we offer.
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Community Growth - We will grow a community of caring coaches and providers with a reach both nationally and in our own local communities. (At least 4 regional groups, and 1 annual program in each of our local areas.)
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Financial & Customer Growth - We will increase our sources of revenue to sustain our coaches’ dream jobs, in a way that they can feel proud of and depend on. This means we will have a steady or residual source of customers and revenue.
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Market Growth - We will dominate in our local and national market spaces as the premier source for relationship and interpersonal wellness coaching and support (and especially among Adventist and evangelical Christian circles). We can measure this through ad spaces in common social media and print media outlets of our target audience.