Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Katiuscia Gray. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Katiuscia thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Setting up an independent practice is a daunting endeavor. Can you talk to us about what it was like for you – what were some of the main steps, challenges, etc.

I started my business in 2019 with focusing on somatic psychotherapy. At the time I was a psychotherapist for the almost 10 years., I worked in all types of places, including the court house, clinic settings, child protective services, and always felt called to this work. At the time when I first started out I had 2 kids and was married. I was so overwhelmed and busy all of the time with being a young mother and trying to have a career that eventually I started to development extremely bad migraines. One time the migraines Got so bad that I started to loose my vision. After multiple doctor appointments it was revealed that I had STRESS! I began my healing journey, went back to therapy started alternative methods, ie yoga, sound healing, nutritional health, exercising. Since I couldn’t find a provider that incorporated mind body connection 9no matter how much I searched), I began to think about how important incorporating this mythology is for the community, and wanted to start a mental health therapy practice that incorporated all of this. I became yoga certified, sound healing certified. I got trained in various somatic psychotherapy practices such as IFS (internal family systems) Thus Mind Meets Movement Counseling Services was created. The Challenges was creating a holistic mental health practice as no one really has one. People generally just go to therapy and don’t incorporate other modialities as healing the mind is important but healing the body is just as important. We also had to get creative as insurance companies do not pay for holistic health. Although it was a bit of a challenge setting this all up. once we opened and marketed to the community we were filled up very quickly. What I have learned is that people are eager to heal themselves, and really want to learn how to heal in different ways. My advise to all young professionals starting out in this business is work under people, internship, train under people that align with your niche, get your post training after your degree, immerse yourself in learning. I was fortunate to have great mentors, and supervisors that trained me. Mental health is a very difficult field and people are coming to us at their lowest point, so when they come to us we want them too be able to really heal and we have to be equipped for that.

Katiuscia , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Katiuscia Gray and I am a LCSW-R, (licensed clinical social worker) and CYT-500 (certifies yoga teacher) I have been a psychotherapist for over 15 years. I have always been called to serve and help the community. I am very passionate about people learning how to heal themselves both mind and body. This topic is so near and dear to my heart as I am a child of physical abuse, sexual abuse and domestic violence. That trauma was stored not just in my mind but in my body. I always had gut issues growing up, headaches, and heart palpitations. This was a recurrence though out my childhood. I was alway hyper-vigilant always on edge always angry. later I find out that I wasn’t angry I was anxious and I never really processed or healed from my trauma. When I started therapy, although it helped somewhat I was still suffering from gut issues, and headaches. At the recommendation of my doctor I started yoga, which was a game changer for me. I never felt so relaxed. After that experience I began to immerse myself in all sorts of healing methods, it worked wonders for me that when I thought about starting my business I wanted to add holistic methods to heal people and really be a non traditional therapeutic practice. I am most proud of all of the children, adolescences, adults and young adults that my practice has been able to help through out the years. And not just as a therapist but a holistic practitioner.

I want clients to know the importance of holistic health as going to therapy is just one part of your healing journey. At my practice I teach you how to be the CEO of your life, thus this is a lifestyle change. We provide not just ,mental health individual therapy, but yoga therapy, group therapy, we go around to various community events as well as women events where we talk about the importance of choosing you and taking care of yourself mind body and spirit. We are in the process of creating a card deck and eventually a book for women.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

A lesson that I had to unlearn as a women is we do not always have to be nice as a women, we don’t always have to take care of everyone. I was brought up in a very Caribbean culture my family is from Haiti and they are immigrants. A part of my culture is very family oriented however women have the tendency to stay in relationships for financial reasons or stay with men regardless of how terrible they treat you. That lesson was alway passed down to me. Things would be said to me such as where will you go, he needs you, the kids need you, you can’t leave, there is no such thing as being happy. It wasn’t until I decided to end my marriage sell my house and transform my whole life is when I was like nope it ends with me, I needed to unlearn all of this trauma, and all of this messaging and learn how to heal.

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

Being a people person. You can’t make it in the mental health field with just your knowledge and your skills. This business is about people and making people feel comfortable safe, and connected to you. So your personally has to be warm, and inviting otherwise you are just a therapist with book knowledge and nothing else.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://mindmovementcounseling.com
• Instagram: @mindmovement_counseling
• Linkedin: Katiuscia-gray-lcsw-r-cyt