Ten years ago, if someone had told me that I would become a therapist after leaving the world of marketing and advertising, I would have thought they were crazy. But life has a funny way of leading you down unexpected paths. And here I am, 10 years later, feeling grateful every day for the opportunity to do work that I love.
In the fall of 2017, Anchored Counseling Services was born in Winston-Salem, after spending the previous year paying my dues as an entry-level counselor at a state-funded methadone clinic. While I learned so much from this experience my desire to work with adolescents and individuals struggling with eating disorders was the driving force behind my decision to open my own private practice. I rented office space in my supervisor’s practice and worked with clients with a range of mental health issues, including anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, substance use, and eating disorders.
In 2018, I moved to Raleigh to work as a Staff Therapist in the residential program at Carolina House. My clinical work was focused entirely on working with clients with eating disorders and I was able to gain valuable training in the provision of trauma-informed care as well as DBT-based skills training. Despite my enjoyment of this role, there were many organizational challenges, which lead me to return to private practice in 2019 where I continued to specialize in care for patients with anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, and other feeding and eating disorders. While this work was such a passion of mine at one time, something was tugging at me to take a step back and re-evaluate where my passions and interests truly were (practice what you preach, right?) leading me to make a significant change in my practice.
Becoming a mom in 2021 changed me fundamentally, both as a person and as a clinician. As I watched various friends and family adjust to becoming moms (while I was doing it myself!), struggle with infertility, and juggle all of the responsibilities that come with parenthood, it became very clear that there was a significant gap in specialized mental health care for these women. After careful consideration, I decided to change the focus of my clinical practice entirely to specialize in providing care to this population. I hired a brand consultant and overhauled my entire practice, hired a trademark attorney, and completed 24 hours of intensive training through Postpartum Support International in just two months. What a ride it has been! I’m filled with gratitude for every twist and turn every challenge, and every lesson learned along the way. As a therapist, I’ve come to realize that sometimes taking risks, pursuing your dreams, and embracing the unexpected can lead you to exactly where you’re meant to be.
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