We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ashley Duke a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Ashley, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about the best boss, mentor, or leader you’ve ever worked with.

While working as a mental health case worker at Talbert House, I had an amazing manager name, Megan Connolly. I admired her compassion for the population we served and how she genuinely cared for each of her team members like her own family. I remember several supervision meetings with Megan, I would include my personal life dilemmas; ranging from assistance with applying to graduate school, to dentist recommendation to personal development. Megan was always supportive and attentive to my concerns. Megan was the epitome of empathy and she taught me excellent standard of clinical documentation. The influence she had on my life is very apparent as I evolved the experiences and skills into managing my own clinical practice supervising therapists with empathy and clinical excellence.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am an owner and lead Therapist of a group mental health private practice called Elite Supportive Living Services. We service adults and couples with counseling services through a telehealth platform. We service clients that suffer from anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, adjustment issues, grief, trauma, financial stress and conflict resolution. We utilize cognitive behavioral therapy and other evidenced based practices to treat the interconnection of thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Ultimately, empowering clients with tools to manage their mental health. We are proud to be paneled by several insurance companies and we have 84% retention rate which shows clients are engaged and satisfied with our services.

Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?

The most helpful thing is the ability to empathize with others. This skill has aided me in building community partnerships, connection with my team of clinical therapist and maintaining therapeutic relationships with our clients. In addition, empathy gives clients the permission to be vulnerable and trusting of our relationship.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I would say networking, word of mouth and social media marketing has helped build my reputation. I engage in several network events throughout the year to spread mental health awareness while promoting our counseling services. I have built a social media presence specifically on Instagram, providing positive affirmations as a resource which some post has extended to over 5,000 viewers. Most importantly, we provide our clients with great therapy experience, and they would share it with others.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.elitesupportivelivingservices.com
• Instagram: elitesupportivelivingsvc
• Facebook: Elite Supportive Living Services