EAST ARCADIA — More than 20 years ago, they grew up on this southern end of Bladen County.
Today, Drs. Travis and Anthony Andrews own and operate Andrews Counseling and Consulting, a mental health agency with offices in Burlington and Charlotte. They provide psychological therapeutic services to individuals and their families, specializing in rehabilitation, trauma and addictions. Travis works in Burlington, Anthony in Charlotte.
The sons of Mary Lou Dixon Andrews and Arvis Andrews, raised respectively in East Arcadia and Carvers Creek, remember a community where the old adage a village raises the child was true as ever. These days, they have worries for their hometown, the children coming out of it, and other communities like it spread across the state.
“We need to realize our history, and where we came from,” Travis says. “Individuals who passed that torch to us — it’s our duty to keep it lit. Sometimes, staying keen to those values that made East Arcadia strong is what is going to help keep it going in the future.”
Credit older brother Travis, East Bladen Class of 2002, with shaping some of the trajectory of Anthony, East Bladen Class of 2007.
“Coming from a background of educators in my family, I knew that I didn’t want to be a teacher, but I wanted to help others in different ways,” Travis, now 36, says. “I decided to do it through the use of therapy. I’ve seen my mother, and my uncles and aunts, were all educators. They would always provide, go the extra mile, have the encouraging voice. I said, ‘What can I do?’ It turned into a therapist.”
He earned his undergraduate, master’s and doctorate all at North Carolina A&T. Anthony, now 31, earned his undergraduate degree from Shaw.
“He wanted to go law. He was a big law guy,” Travis says with a chuckle. “I was like, we could make a better connection before the individuals get into the prison system. Let’s touch them through therapy. It took some convincing. I told him I can’t do this without you.”
Anthony obliged, following the footsteps and earning his master’s and doctorate at A&T as well.
Their doctorates are in rehabilitation counseling and counselor education.
“Coming from an environment, right now in East Arcadia, we knew that there was a high rate of substance abuse, trauma, and we really just wanted to make some sort of change growing up once we got out of East Arcadia,” Anthony says. “I personally was looking to get into law school, but after getting accepted, my brother was already in the mental health program at North Carolina A&T. He convinced me to switch paths.
“I wanted to work with youth on the juvenile side of law. When we picked this, we knew there weren’t a lot of males, and not a lot of African-American males. We wanted to make some change, to try and decrease the traumatic and behavioral challenges that many in the community face.”
Before the coronavirus struck, Travis said each of them would do sessions between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., everybody from individuals to families. They’ve counseled in communities, at Fort Bragg with the military, just about any and everywhere.
“We have so many that need services,” Anthony says. “We probably see six or seven a day each.”
Once COVID-19 became a part of life, reducing face-to-face interactions and requiring social distancing, sessions continued but through the internet.
Success, Anthony says, is “knowing that families can be healed, and can be talking and having conversation.”
“A lot of issues go unaddressed because they don’t have the conversation, or address the trauma. We knew growing up, that meant really just being content and happy with what you’re doing. My grandfather, at the age of 91, received his GED.
“He passed at 102, but he would be thrilled to see his grandsons holding doctorates and being in the mental health profession. We’re giving back and paying forward what we were instilled with.”
Travis says what he expected and what he found were beyond imagination.
“There’s more disparities and inequalities than you can fathom,” he says. “To combat some of these disparities, we understood more programs and resources were needed. Therapy helps with talking about some of that trauma and distress, but it’s not the problem-solver for all. That’s what we realized through the process. It helps, but it’s not the problem-solver.
“So we went and got our Ph.D. so we could get more grants. We realized that the community needs more. That’s where we’re at now — how can we provide more resources, grants or programs, to help these individuals?”
The community where they were raised shaped them greatly, starting in their home.
“That phrase it takes a village to raise a child — that was there,” Travis says. “And I’m looking at that now, on that scope, more people were there, more jobs, less crimes. Other men, and women, in the community could help. The church was heavily involved.”
Anthony said whether in urban areas, as they are in now, or in rural communities, a message of hope is no different.
“Our goal is to get rid of the negative stigma associated with counseling,” he says.
Choosing to “keep it in house,” he adds, isn’t the best option.
“We want to remove the stigma, encourage people to go out and check on their mental health, and really speak to a mental health professional as they would a doctor,” he continued. “Counseling is a profession you can go into. Rarely do you hear they want to go to school and be a therapist. They have to see that, and some representation of that. My hope is many people will go so they can come and help people after them.”
Alan Wooten can be reached at 910-247-9132 or [email protected]. Twitter: @alanwooten19.
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