Local therapist offers guided beach walks and virtual sessions to navigate vacation stress and family dynamics
by Hanalei Potempa | Contributing Writer
Summertime often brings the idealized promise of relaxation with beach trips, family gatherings, and friend group getaways lined up on the calendar. However, for many, these vacations can come with newfound, unexpected mental stress.
Being in an unfamiliar environment and spending extended time in close quarters with loved ones can challenge personal boundaries and coping mechanisms. With daily routines disrupted and the typical support system unavailable, going through mental struggles away from home poses a unique mental health challenge.
Summer Zell, a licensed professional counselor and board-certified behavior analyst, has decided to address this gap and provide urgent counseling sessions to those visiting from out of town.
Zell opened her practice to help women navigate life’s challenges. Her practice, Summer Sol Counseling, located in Charleston, offers an uplifting space for women facing unexpected challenges in marriage, motherhood, and adulthood.
She first started her career with the focus on supporting children with special needs and their families. However, she soon recognized a growing need for support of mothers, particularly those of children with special needs or medical challenges.
“I really came to realize just how much these mamas go through,” Zell says. “They kind of lose themselves in the process and lose sight of themselves.”
In light of this realization, Zell set out to create a supportive space to mothers and women who are struggling with family dynamics or personal identity amidst life’s often unexpected challenges.
“I just wanted to focus on mothers and women who are struggling in their home life and have lost sight of themselves,” she explains.
Being such a popular tourist destination, Charleston of course attracts many visitors who come to enjoy its charm, yet these vacationers may face unexpected emotional challenges during their summer trip. Zell shared that vacations aren’t always the mental escape they are expected to be, especially when dealing with complicated dynamics, unfamiliar settings and disrupted routines.
“It would be so helpful for people to be able to process it and work through it while it’s happening, while they’re stuck on a beautiful island that isn’t feeling like paradise,” Zell says. “So that’s why I decided to offer the beach walk sessions for travelers.
Zell’s beach walk therapy sessions offer a unique, short-term, solution-focused approach to help clients navigate family dynamics, set boundaries and develop coping strategies during their stay.
“It’s just short-term solution-focused sessions where we go over where they’re at, the family dynamics, and how we can set up some coping strategies and boundaries to help them get through the week,” Zell says. “My goal is to be able to provide some support for those people in those moments so they can get through it, and they can hopefully set some boundaries to still be able to enjoy time with their family.
The sessions are designed to be as discreet and flexible as possible, allowing clients the chance to process their emotions while they are happening. This way, Zell points out, new coping mechanisms and boundaries can be put in place to make the most of the rest of their stay.
“It’s not like traditional therapy. It’s just if they feel like they’re in a situation where they really need to process it and need external insight into how they can set better boundaries and make it through the dynamics they’re experiencing on their vacation,” Zell says. “It also allows them to have a little space, a little perspective, and take a breather.”
Zell’s therapeutic approach values holistic understanding of the individual and genuine compassion. With training in various behavioral approaches, including sleep and stress management and art therapy, she looks at the whole person.
“I’m going to look at someone as a whole person—their mind, body, and spirit—and how they can thrive with everything they have going on,” Zell says.
This approach ensures that clients receive support in all aspects of their well-being, fostering resilience and personal growth.
For those visiting Charleston and seeking mental health support during their stay, Summer Sol Counseling offers a flexible option for immediate care, including beach walk sessions and virtual meetings.
