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

Alright, Erica thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

I began my journey after my Master’s Degree in Counseling working for a non-profit. I had also completed my internship during grad school at the same non-profit and was hired full time, which I was so grateful for. I loved the work and I thought I would continue on this path throughout my career. Unfortunately, I began to experience burnout, due to the high case load and type of clientele the non-profit served. I knew for the longevity of my career I needed to make a change. I began considering other career options, seeking guidance and counsel from trusted members of my community. The advice and feedback I received from my community was staggeringly similar: start your own practice. I had never worked in the private sector before so I was starting from scratch. But, I decided to take the leap. In December, 2019, I launched my business, Erica Carulli, PLLC, a boutique counseling practice. This was by far the biggest risk I’ve taken in my career to-date. Little did I know that just three months later, after this launch, we would experience a global pandemic. When I chose to launch my practice, I knew I wanted to make counseling more accessible, offering Telehealth as an option, which wasn’t extremely common for practices in my area. I educated myself and trained in the ethics of providing Telehealth to clients and, as soon as the global pandemic changed our lives and shut our worlds down, I switched to a 100% virtual, Telehealth practice. To date, I have been successfully running a solo practice, which remains at capacity for new clients, offering support group services and sharing my knowledge of what I’ve learned with my community.

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

My name is Erica Carulli. I am a licensed professional counselor and a national certified counselor. I own Erica Carulli, PLLC, a boutique counseling practice offering attachment based trauma counseling via Telehealth. My practice is still in its infancy, having just launched in December 2019.
I’m passionate about incorporating a social justice lens into the mental health space. Because we are affected not only by the interpersonal relationships we have, but also by the communities we are a part of, and the systems we are connected to. Highlighting social justice, human rights and advocacy allows for a more complete picture of what issues an individual may having and how to best support them.
My practice offers individual counseling sessions, along with support groups, consultation services to other professionals, agencies or businesses, workshops and speaking engagements.
A unique component of my practice is that I incorporate bibliotherapy into the work. Bibliotherapy is a creative arts therapeutic approach that incorporates both books and other forms of literature into the clinical space to support a client’s progress. Often, my practice will run book clubs to support leisurely reading for self care, to raise money for activism efforts or to dive deeper into complex topics.
I am most proud of the community I have created of professionals in the field. We are a group of professionals who come together to share resources, ideas, knowledge and connection. Working as a solo entrepreneur clinician can be life changing and also isolating. I decided that I wanted to create a free way for other clinicians to connect to each other and share a space, share resources, and authentically develop relationships with each other. Our group is called The Royal Oak Counseling Collaborative and is currently housed on Facebook. Out of this Collaborative, a smaller group has been established to meet monthly for a more formalized consultation style space, consisting of fully licensed professionals. Because the focus has been developing real, genuine connections and relationships, admittance has been limited to the Metro Detroit area. If you’re interested, please check us out at ( https://www.facebook.com/share/2dDa23E5HwDQ8DxM/ )

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

The best source of new clients for me is word of mouth. Most of the clients that find me have been referred to me from someone that has worked with me in the past or another professional in the community. Developing relationships, authentic connections with people is truly the best way for me. I believe in really getting to know people. I feel like this makes a beautiful difference, really being interested in authentic connections.

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

An important lesson I had to unlearn (and I am still working actively to dismantle) is that my productivity does not equate to my worth. We live in a capitalistic society which relies on the ideology that you must be productive in order to be useful and successful. I don’t believe that anymore, especially since leaving the non-profit world and being able to recognize what a lack of rest can lead to. I believe that the rest I give to myself and the time away from my work is just as important as the work itself. It helps me remain focused and energized. Rest is not a reward. Rest is a requirement. (If you’re looking for a more in depth look at this concept, I recommend reading Rest is Resistance by Tricia Hersey)

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ericacarulli.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ericacarullilpc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ericacarulliLPC/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/ericacarullipllc/
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@ericacarullilpc

Image Credits

Magan Rogers Branding
Instagram – @maganrogersbranding