We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Rebekah Reynolds a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Rebekah, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about how you went about setting up your own practice and if you have any advice for professionals who might be considering starting their own?
I worked in a state prison diversion program for substance abuse for 2.5 years. Our primary job was to work directly with inmates with drug and criminal charges to reduce recidivism rates across the state of Georgia. We taught skill and knowledge based groups to all the participants and held a caseload of roughly 30 participants for individual counseling. I had been working with hard-to-serve populations as a counselor for about 17 years so I brought many skills with me to the prison setting. When I was hired, the supervisor was not part of the hiring process. I met with the director of the program and met the other counselors I would be working directly with on a daily basis. I felt welcomed and it was the right fit for my style of counseling. It turned out to be one of the best teams I have ever worked with except the supervisor.
About a week later I met one on one with my direct supervisor. She was very verbally abrasive, loud, and disrespectful on our first visit. When I addressed her behavior, she became very agitated and yelled at me with consistent reminders that she was the supervisor. I found the behavior off-putting and unnecessary but I was very polite and did not allow her to see how much it bothered me. As my time went on there the behavior did not decrease or cease, it continued to be more aggressive and I continued to be her target. I was a firm believer of killing her with kindness and not taking her personal attacks toward me personally. The more I continued to kill her with kindness the more abusive she became. I had filed grievances and had many one on one discussions with both the superintendent and director of the facility. However, there were never any actions I could see that were being implemented.
I began to document the interactions, asking for witnesses and advocates to be present during one on one supervisions with her. I was definitely being treated much differently than any other staff member and everyone talked about it. I just laughed it off, smiled and said her time would come. None of her behavior ever stopped me from doing my job, if anything it drove me to become better. I began to get outside training to increase my knowledge. I also hired an outside supervisor because I did not feel I was getting what I needed in that area.
During my time there, I got 3 different certifications and met every one of the unrealistic goals she would set for me. My mentor always told me how easy I would make it look. This increased her anger and aggression toward me. There were cameras and often I would be pulled into the superintendent’s office to explain things he would witness on the camera that correlated with her negative interactions within my classroom. There were many times she was very disrespectful in front of the inmates toward me by disrupting classes, coming in and taking over without notice, or just directly undermining my direct interactions with inmates because she felt I was not aggressive enough with them. I found I did not have to be aggressive to get a better result from the inmates. One day I was in the staff office doing my work at my desk and she walked in, she leaned so far into my face across my desk I thought her feet were going to come off the floor and pointed her finger at me touching my nose over and over again. I stood up and asked her to stop touching me explaining it was against the policy. She did not like that I was able to recall the policy from memory and backed me up against the wall poking her finger in my chest. She left bruises. I filed a complaint with pictures and reported it to the appropriate leaders immediately. There was a video so she got suspended without pay and an investigation was completed. I chose not to press charges but asked that I was no longer under her supervision. It was granted.
About a month went by without any challenges from her and then it started again. This time she put me in direct danger of my life during a riot in the dorm I was assigned by not unlocking the door to allow me to come out. I filed a complaint again and expressed my concern about being in a hostile work environment. In addition to filing the complaint with the prison and the contracting company, I also filed a complaint with the licensure board as a violation of our code of ethical conduct. There was another investigation and she was suspended without pay.
When she returned, the behavior ramped up again and I politely asked her to not interact with me at all. I explained her behavior was unethical and she needed to find a different target. She slapped me and wrote me up for insubordination. This interaction was all on camera. I submitted my resignation that very day. She was not fired. She would often tell me things like I would never make it on my own. I was a terrible counselor and no one would volunteer to come see me in the free world and this is why I had to hide in the prison system. However, the evidence showed otherwise.
On my way home that day, I decided I would move forward with opening a private practice in the town I resided. Ironically, it was the same town where she had been unsuccessful in maintaining her own private practice which is how she ended up working in the prison system. Four months later I was signing a lease on an 1100 sq ft building space and hiring new clinicians. I opened my practice on March 1, 2020 and by March 15, 2020 we were closed by the CDC due to Covid-19. I was devastated to say the least but that didn’t stop me. I did the research necessary and reopened in June 2020. I began a grassroots campaign and joined every community forum I could find. I joined several organizations and the chamber of commerce. We were in the era of zoom calls and I was on them all. I wanted everyone to know I was here, what we did and how we did it. I participated in free seminars and got my face in the community. My company was thriving in less than a year. I also became a supervisor in my field for interns at 3 schools as I did not want other young professionals to have to experience abuse in the workplace.
Four years later, my company is still thriving. We are a pillar of my community, involved in many organizations and known for our services. I have many 5 star google reviews and my clients express their gratitude for me often. I still participate in the learning services from a free world perspective inside the prison and provide resources and motivational speaking to the inmates. My abusive supervisor has lost her license to practice counseling and addiction services in the state of Georgia. She was fined for continual violation of codes of ethical conduct and fired from the prison system shortly after I resigned.
For young professionals, my advice is to stand up for yourself the right way. Do not internalize other people’s inability to conduct themselves in an appropriate manner and allow it to affect the way you do your job or perception of the world. Maintain the course and vision of your own dreams and do not compete or waiver from your own visions of your future.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Many people don’t know I came from a background of trauma, starting at the age of 5. Over the years, I learned to deal and cope with my trauma in unhealthy ways. As I began to get my life together, I wanted to help others learn more effective and healthy ways to deal with life. I went back to school in my late twenties and many years later obtained a Master’s Degree in Social Work with a concentration in Community Partnerships. During my years in school, I worked with many populations in social services. I wanted to learn about many different populations to find the right fit for me when I graduated. I always found myself being drawn to hard-to-serve populations especially in mental health.
During my postgraduate internship, I was given an intensive substance abuse program to restructure. I had never worked with the substance abuse population. I found it to be a great fit for my personality and honestly similar to the food service industry from which I had excelled in before beginning school. My style of therapy was shaped and molded in this program. I was allowed to have free rein to develop a fun and interactive curriculum for this program. My company permitted me to create and run the program with support. They provided me the opportunities to gather research for peer support, experiential therapy, and other non-traditional styles of therapy to connect with substance users and their success. The program was a great success for many years after based on the implementation for alternative therapies. I used my grassroots knowledge to link with the court system, community supervision and other key members of the community. After graduating I moved on to the prison system, where I continued to implement alternative therapies with much success. I was able to obtain my certification in alcohol and drug use, experiential trainer, and 2 different certifications in anger.
Currently, I run a private practice in addiction and anger services. We implement alternative therapies, believe in a holistic approach to living and encourage our clients to evolve into the best versions of themselves. Some of the alternative therapies used are laugh therapy, experiential therapy, mindfulness and meditation, art therapy, creative writing narrative therapy, energy work, breath work, and a mind-body-spirit approach. We provide Wellness Workshops with experiential therapy to large groups, motivational speaking, and experts in human behavior in addiction and anger.
I believe we are all one crisis away from sitting on the couch in a therapy office. With that mindset it keeps me humble and allows me to meet my clients where they are when they walk into our lives. Things that set me apart from other therapists are my willingness to be transparent, real, sarcastic, humorous and encourage my clients to find the power to tap into themselves for healing. I am often told when clients come to me it’s like talking to an old friend instead of an impersonalized clinical setting.
I am proud to have others see me as a healer. I was once a lost, broken soul and to be seen as a healer makes me know I have healed from trauma in my life. I admit I have much more to learn but I am proud I can teach others along the way. I want everyone to know you are never too old to heal. There is a professional out there for you and you are allowed to shop around. So often I hear about other unhealthy professionals who do not understand the damage they may cause to a fragile soul in their darkest hour. To understand yourself is to understand another person. Potential clients please remember we are people too and we experience trauma much like you, sometimes even from our jobs. If you are not feeling comfortable with your therapist, have an honest conversation with them and move along until you find the right fit. We are not one size fits all and we are not all the same. Don’t give up on yourself and your healing process. You deserve to be the best version of yourself.
Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?
My background, trauma, upbringing, and healing journey have been the most important part of my success in my field. I have been able to apply my life skills to everything I do. I was raised in an alternative environment where humans were humans and love and kindness were the only way to approach humans. I have worked with so many different populations but the one thing I find successful is the approach I have toward humans. I continue to operate out of love and kindness despite the circumstances. I remember daily other people’s behavior has nothing to do with me. It is not personal. It is shaped and molded by the lens of their reality and has nothing to do with me. With this insight, I can lean into fragile souls during their darkest times and be the beacon of light. With their permission and hard work, I can guide them to being the best versions of themselves. This approach has set me apart from others who work in my field and allowed me to be successful.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
One of the best reputation builders has been my involvement with the community. I applied my grassroots knowledge to community building during Covid. I joined many organizations and participated in so many community events on zoom. This allowed me to meet many key community leaders I would have otherwise not been able to access. I also became very involved with the American Business Women’s Association. I held a local executive board position and I am very active on the district and national levels as well. These platforms allowed others to have the chance to learn my personality, attend motivational speeches, and engage in wellness workshops. As a result, many of my clients are family members or friends of the people in my community. I love being a member of my community to provide a different perspective of how alternative therapies are helpful and fun.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.stabilityrebooted.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/srllc
- Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/rebekah-reynolds-msw-icaadc-camsii-346b365b
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/stability-rebooted-douglasville-2?utm_campaign=www_business_share_popup&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=(direct)
