Mental health practice opens second office

A new office is giving the founder of East Hempfield Township-based Move Forward Counseling an opportunity to bring its woman-focused care to more clients in Lancaster County.

Move Forward opened a second office this month in a former dentist’s office in Manheim Township. It bought the property in August.

Alison Pidgeon, CEO and founder of the practice, said she decided to add the additional office. which is off Route 30, to bring in clients from the eastern end of Lancaster County.

“I think for us it was important to be in an area more centrally located,” Pidgeon said. “We weren’t really attracting people from the east side of the county.”

Pidgeon founded Move Forward in 2015, growing the practice from one therapist to 13. The practice counsels both men and women, but Pidgeon said her business has found a niche in counseling pregnant and post-partum mothers.

The new office was a good opportunity for Move Forward to invest in a space that would be calming for clients and offer amenities that were unavailable to the practice in its East Hempfield Township location, according to Pidgeon.

“As a business owner it was a huge dream come true to purchase the building and design it according to my vision,” she said. “Especially with paying attention to the details of the process when people come for mental health treatment.”

The former dentist’s office cost  $163,000 for the building and $85,000 in renovations. Since buying the space in August, Move Forward has constructed four therapy offices outfitted with sound-proofing, as well as a waiting room with a hospitality area with snacks and drinks.

Pidgeon said Move Forward’s other office has a shared waiting room with other practices. By owning its own building, the practice was able to create a space that was “soothing, calming, clean and bright.”

Pidgeon expects the new office to double the amount of clients Move Forward’s therapists can work with, and wants to hire at least two or three more therapists to meet the anticipated demand.

“Since we’ve opened, we always had a great demand for clients,” she said. “It’s harder for me to find therapists than it is to find clients.”