In mental health and substance abuse organizations, mental health counselors and managers serve as essential personal for ensuring staff are supported. Mental health managers hold a critical role in providing guidance to counselors, which ultimately impact the quality of the care provided to patients in mental health and substance abuse organizations. Transformational and transactional leadership is noted to be effective for a variety of organizations. However, the role that transformational and transactional leadership plays in mental health and substance abuse organizations is absent in previous literature. For this study, a qualitative exploration of transactional and transformational leadership influence on the relationship between counselor and manager relationship was explored.