Our Counselors
Tara Vines (and Ruthie)
Tara’s passion and vision for her counseling ministry is to glorify the Lord and assist children and teens in a discovery of their worth and identity in Christ. Tara believes that every child is a gift and understands that overcoming personal obstacles is sometimes a barrier for experiencing true joy for many children, teens and families.
As a Licensed Professional Counselor, Tara uses her faith in Christ, her background of over 25 years of serving children, educational experiences from Auburn and UAB, as well as personal life experiences to encourage, mentor, and counsel children. She is dedicated to helping parents understand their child’s behaviors and directing them with parenting strategies.
Tara believes that connection and felt safety are keys to success and she utilizes this in her child-centered approach to counseling. She enjoys using Animal Assisted Therapy with her trained goldendoodle, Ruthie, as well as Cognitive Behavioral Strategies, and creative therapies including, but not limited to, play therapy, therapy with art, and walk and talk therapy.
Tara enjoys working with children ages 4-13 and will see teens on a case-by-case basis. She treats issues such as anxiety, depression, grief and trauma, ADHD and school issues, as well as emotional regulation and other behavioral challenges.
Tara met and married her husband Jeff at Valleydale Church in 2001. They have 2 adult daughters and a teenage son. They have served faithfully over the years individually and as a family. In her spare time she enjoys spending time with family, traveling, needlework and reading.
For more information or to schedule an appointment please contact Tara via email at taravinescounseling@gmail.com or a confidential text message at 205-378-9866.
Sarah Jane Tallakson
With a foundation built on clinical expertise and the unchanging truth of Scripture, Sarah Jane believes that God can bring hope and healing into the lives of those facing hardship. Her counseling approach integrates evidence-based therapeutic practices with biblical counseling, offering clients a path toward emotional and spiritual well-being.
Sarah Jane is a Certified Christian Trauma Care Provider – Level 1, a certification that equips her to support clients through trauma with a Christ-centered approach grounded in the truths of Psalm 23. She holds a Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Liberty University and is a Licensed Professional Counselor Associate (LPC-A). She has experience working with adolescents in a residential treatment center, helping those who have experienced trauma, abuse, neglect, as well as emotional and behavioral challenges. In addition to her work with adolescents, Sarah Jane finds joy in walking alongside young adults, college students, and women as they navigate life’s difficulties.
Sarah Jane is intentional about integrating God’s Word into sessions while fostering a safe, welcoming space for clients to come just as they are. Just as Jesus met Saul on the road to Damascus in Acts 9, Sarah Jane seeks to meet her clients right where they are—in the midst of their struggles, pain, and challenges.
She draws from a variety of theoretical approaches tailored to each client’s unique needs. Sarah Jane often uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to promote self-awareness and challenge negative patterns of thought, feeling, and behavior. She also incorporates a person-centered approach marked by empathy, compassion, and understanding. Her holistic perspective views each client as a whole person—physically, emotionally, socially, and spiritually. Her areas of specialization include trauma, depression, anxiety, life transitions, relationship issues, and more.
Romans 15:13 says, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” It is Sarah Jane’s prayer that through the counseling process, clients will experience the enduring hope, joy, and peace found in Jesus Christ.
Outside of counseling, Sarah Jane enjoys spending time with her husband, going for runs, sharing meals with friends and family, and being in nature.
To schedule an appointment, please fill out our Contact Form.
Alison Haynes
Alison got into counseling by accident. After living overseas for many years, the Lord called her and her family to move back to the USA in 2018, where she went into her own season of mental struggle. At church, she was surrounded by sound, theological teaching, and solid, accepting love from her church family. God used Psalm 96 to bring Alison out of that dark season, and showed her that His Word and His people are gifts He uses every day to bless us. While working at her church, she got to spend time with amazing women who were (and are) still living overseas, working out their own faith, and loving God and people as they do it. Walking with them through the ups and downs helped her process her own struggles and led her to a certification in Biblical Counseling, and to a Masters in Education, focused on Clinical Mental Health.
Alison’s counseling approach is biblically based and clinically informed. She emphasizes empathy and creating a safe space for clients to express themselves without fear of judgement. She recognizes that a strong therapeutic relationship is one of the most powerful tools one can have, and seeks to emulate Jesus Christ in how He met people where they were, offering love and compassion, while holding the truth of Scripture as the basis for all He did. Alison wants to help clients identify destructive thought patterns that are negatively influencing them, and seek to help them replace those thoughts with beneficial, positive thoughts that will empower them to take the next steps in their lives, leaning heavily on a verse from the Bible, found in 2 Corinthians 10:5 that says: “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God and we take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ.”
Alison’s favorite thing is to spend time with her family at the beach! She has been married to her college sweetheart for 22 years, and has 3 amazing children! While living overseas for over 11+ years, in East Africa and in the Middle East, Alison learned so much about how to trust God more, to love people more, and to appreciate the Church more.
For more information or to schedule an appointment, please fill out our “Contact” form linked here.
Jeremy Robuck
Jeremy’s path to counseling started during his time as a youth director after college. Throughout his time working in ministry, he realized the Lord was calling him to help youth develop their sense of self and overall personal growth and walk alongside them through their adolescent years and beyond as they develop their identity and build a relationship with the Lord.
After a few years in ministry, Jeremy went back to school to earn a master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health from UAB and began working at Impact Family Counseling as a schools counselor for children referred by various school systems. He is particularly passionate about helping adolescents and young adults develop social skills and effective communication, learn helpful coping skills, manage emotions and behaviors, and learn skills to cope with authority issues. As the adolescent and young adult years are particularly formative years, Jeremy stresses the importance of counseling and a strong support system of brothers and sisters in Christ for each individual during that period of life.
Jeremy believes that the most effective counseling comes from a strong relationship with the individual, so he prioritizes building a relationship with his clients to develop a safe, comfortable, and fun environment that fosters open communication and trust, especially for teenagers who may not enjoy counseling. Jeremy’s counseling approach is generally person-centered, as each individual’s needs are unique, but his approach may include fostering parent and child communication, integrating biblically-based therapy, using cognitive-behavioral therapy and solution focused counseling, or using a form of play therapy to encourage a comfortable environment.
Jeremy has been married to his wife for two years, and they are expecting their first child soon, unless you consider their dog their first child (which they do). Outside of counseling he enjoys spending time outside, traveling, and exercising.