Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Johanna Montenegro, MA, LPC-S. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Johanna, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

Most of my career choices have been a risk despite already being in an already challenging circumstance. After graduating with my Master’s degree, the safest thing for me to have done at that time was to find an agency to work for, but instead, I chose to find a private practice and a mentor who would help me navigate the world of private practice owning. There were many struggles along the way, learning curves I did not anticipate, but ultimately was successfully launch my own business as a mental health provider. Creating this then, has been the single best decision for me as life has drastically changed. Throw in three kids, divorce, and single parenthood, having the foundation I created has been the thing I didn’t know I would need in the future.

Johanna, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Hello! My name is Johanna Montenegro and I am a Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor in the state of Texas. My focus as a mental health practitioner is to provide clients with holistic, mind-body services that propel them into healing and growth from what holds them back.

I am passionate about facilitating therapy for women who are healing from relational trauma including abuse recover, spiritual and religious trauma, betrayal trauma recovery, and relationship issues.

I do this by incorporating holistic modalities like EMDR, mindfulness, and integrative yoga practices.

Holding space for clients to navigate their healing to step into a fulfilled future is what drives me to continue to do this work.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Although there have been several instances of resilience needing to be practiced in my life, the one that holds the most meaning is the early stages of becoming a therapist. At the age of 19, right out of high school, I became pregnant with my first child. I had a wonderful family who was kind and supportive of whatever decision I needed to make for my future. I chose motherhood and had the option to put college on hold, or to continue on with the plan. I chose to keep going with my original plan. Although that year was difficult, I am so proud of 19 year old me choosing to continue to pursue my hearts desire. My hope is that I can teach my daughters that choosing yourself can be done as you simultaneously choose to invest and love others.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

In 2021 life changed drastically for me. I was faced with raising 3 kids alone and going through a divorce that although I had anticipated was coming, was not prepared for how the impact would ripple effect into other areas of life. At the time of the finalization of the divorce I purchased a business that I was excited to throw my time energy and effort into. And let’s be honest, that was my way of coping.
I owned this business for two years before I had to come to the hard truth that I did not have the capacity to run my already existing business, raise my kids, and take on the task of running a second business.
Making the decision to close up shop was a huge pivot point as a business owner, but one I did not regret. I learned that showing myself grace in the circumstances I found myself in and leaning into the truth of it was more freeing than trying to hold onto a business just to avoid looking like a failure.
I am still proud of the risk I took to try something new and proud I knew when to hit stop for the betterment of the situation.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://wholelifehealingtherapies.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wholelifehealing_
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/johannatraviesocounselor/