ROANOKE, Va. – A family is searching for justice for their daughter after they believe her life could have been saved had it not been for an inappropriate relationship a Roanoke counselor made with her.
Lynn Nolan said her daughter, Amber Nolan, died by suicide after a counselor engaged in an inappropriate relationship with her.
Amber had moved to the Star City as a kid and eventually moved back as an adult. She would end up even getting married in Roanoke.
“I talked her into coming back here. She was depressed and missing her horses…she had three horses here. This is where she wanted to be and I talked her into coming back here. I said ‘it’s okay, you’ll see me…go do what you love’. She did come back down here, I regret that now,” Nolan said.
However, Amber had a long history of dealing with mental health issues. Her mom says family members have long suffered from issues of mental health.
Amber started going Blue Ridge Behavioral Healthcare in October 2019, with a history of suicidal thoughts, according to a statement of allegations by the Virginia Board of Counseling.
Amber began seeing a counselor named Erica Chuch.
It was clear to Nolan at the beginning that something seemed off with Amber.
“Amber like I said pulled away from everyone. Her sister, her brother, myself, Leslie…she was there every day with her godchildren and she loved being there. She meets the woman she was with, she pulls away from everyone,” Nolan said.
Amber and Erica’s relationship would turn from a therapeutic one into something more romantic and sexual.
“You then start a relationship with her…a sexual relationship with my daughter…where in April of 22′ she moved her into her home,” Nolan said.
“Ms. Church engaged in a dual relationship that developed into a romantic and sexual relationship with Client A that resulted in harm to Client A,” the allegations report read.
Church responded to inquiries from the Virginia Department of Health Professions, telling investigators that “she and Client A started to be friends in April 2022.”
“Ms. Church provided Client A with her personal cell phone number in late March 2022 … with frequent and often lengthy phone calls after,” according to the allegations. “In April 2022, Client A began staying at Ms. Church’s home, and when Client A woke from nightmares, Ms. Church talked Client A through her nightmares.”
Church resigned from Blue Ridge Behavioral Healthcare in May 2022, according to the case documents.
“By her own admission, Ms. Church’s relationship with Client A became romantic and sexual,” according to the allegations. “Client A left her spouse, and initially, she moved in with Ms. Church and her family, but then moved into separate residences.”
The romantic relationship continued through Oct. 1, 2022, when the two got into an argument that led to Amber Nolan’s death by suicide, according to the allegations.
“Amber then dropped her off and went home, was texting her ‘I want to talk to you, what’s going on?’. Erica, the therapist in charge of my daughter’s mental health and her life tells my daughter…I’m tired of being hurt,” Nolan said. “Instead of the being the professional, provider of the services that should have been…she contributed to the symptoms and the issues which drove her over the edge.”
The Virginia Board of Counseling revoked a professional counselor’s license for Erica Church in an order dated Jan. 5.
Nolan said it is not enough to revoke a counselor’s license in a case like this. In fact, Church could get her license back after three years if she can prove to the board of counseling that she is no longer a danger to society.
“What is the path the changing that law. There should be something in place, there should be something in the law for anyone who’s dealing with a provider that has done such an egregious act that it caused permanent harm,” Nolan said.
Blue Ridge Behavioral Health’s Chief Clinical Officer, Leigh Frazier, sent 10 News a statement.
Reflecting back on her daughter’s life, Lynn Nolan believes Amber could still be alive today had she not met Erica.
“She deserved to get the help she was looking for which I’m surprised actually. She’s so stubborn. She’s very much like me where I’m shocked she went to get help…I can do it, I don’t need help,” Noland said. “The fact that she did and she ended up with the person that she ended up with. Instead of helping her and bringing something to her that could have benefitted in the way she was looking for…it took her life.”