This week, Thervo.com reached out to met to let me know that Empower Counseling was reviewed, along with 73 other local businesses, and chosen as a Top 10 marriage counseling business in the area. We’re super proud to be featured on their website on the list of the Best Pros in our area for 2019.
Here’s an excerpt from the Q&A interview with Thervo.
How does your service stand out?
I’m a second-career therapist, which means I’ve gone down another life path and found that I’m most fulfilled when I’m living my best life helping other people live theirs!
Not only do I have a lot of business experience, including many years in leadership roles across multiple industries, but also, my experience in therapy covers the continuum from inpatient hospitalization to substance abuse treatment to helping resolve depression and anxiety to helping high performing individuals remove their barriers to success. My sweet spot is in working with people who are “stuck” and don’t want to be.
I think I’m highly intuitive, supportive, empowering, and funny. 
What do you enjoy about the work you do?
I love it most when I can really help people feel like themselves — when they can be authentic, live true to their purpose, have positive relationships, and be happy!
If you live in Georgia and feel stuck in your life, we can talk about how counseling can help empower you to feel better!
Basically, I like to start with a free 20-minute telephone consult so I can get to get an understanding of why you’re seeking counseling to see if we might be a fit to work together. If so, we start by scheduling an assessment session (about 50 minutes), it can be either online through a video link, or if you’re local, we can meet in person in my comfortable office. I’ll email you some online “paperwork” to complete at least 24 hours before your session.
During the first session, we’ll review your history and current circumstances so I can get an understanding of what’s going on. Together, we’ll come up with a plan and decide how often we should meet. From then, we start therapy sessions! The process is a little different if it’s for you alone or you and your person or you and your family members, but basically, we use proven methods to give you the best chance possible to work through what’s going on so you can get past it in a healthy way!
What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
I have a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of South Florida and a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Georgia. I am a licensed clinical social worker in Georgia which means I’m allowed to practice independently.
For the past 12+ years, I’ve worked as a therapist. I’ve worked with clients individually, in couples, and in groups. My specialty areas include anxiety, depression, relationship counseling, career counseling, grief, trauma, loss, life transitions.
In addition to my experience as a therapist, I have another 20 years experience working in the business world in multiple high-level, high-pressure leadership positions. This helps me understand the day-to-day pressures and stumbling blocks that many high-achieving people face.
Do you have a standard pricing system for your services?
Currently, the standard rate for 50-minute individual sessions is $125, and $140 for couples sessions. I have several options to help manage fees, depending on what’s clinically appropriate at the time. Just ask — like everything else, this is a great topic for discussion.
While I do not take insurance, my LCSW license is compatible with most insurance types as an out-of-network provider. This means that you pay the fees and I provide you with a special receipt insurance companies require, called a super bill, then you submit that to them for reimbursement. Each insurance company and plan is different, so your reimbursement would depend on your specific insurance plan.
How did you get started in this business?
I was definitely born to help people and support them! I don’t know if you can be truly happy doing this work if it’s not a calling. After I got my bachelor’s degree, I didn’t pursue counseling right away, but dove into the corporate world, in Human Resources and Information Technology. After I had kids, I felt too disconnected from helping people and decided to go back to graduate school to be a therapist.
I had two great internships — one at an outpatient clinic doing therapy and one in an inpatient hospital doing crisis work. After I graduated, I worked in a community mental health setting as a therapist. I worked my way up to audit, supervise, and train other therapists, and eventually got to use my first-career experience in leadership positions at the state level and in a non-profit. Eventually, the calling to do pure therapy was so strong that I started my own practice.
What types of customers have you worked with?
Through the years, I’ve worked with a range of people and concerns. I’ve worked with people from 4-94 and with problems from frustration to suicidality. I’ve worked with people who don’t have a diagnosable mental illness as well as people who have diagnoses such as Anxiety, Depression, Bipolar, Schizophrenia, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Borderline Personality Disorder, and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). I’ve also worked with high-achieving teens and adults who face tremendous pressure in their day-to-day lives.
Truth be told, my “sweet spot” is working with people who are in a transition phase of life, who need help to get past something that’s got them feeling “stuck”.