We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ashley Reece a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Ashley, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
Our mission for Family 1st Counseling Center Inc is to enhance individuals to master the game of life through mental health advocacy, education, and therapeutic services. Our vision is for every family to have access to mental health services to face the roadblocks that life has to offer.
Growing up I was raised by my maternal grandparents because of mental health and substance abuse issues. Being raised by my grandparents was the best place for me and prepared me for my chosen career of choice. I do believe my grandparents raised me to the best of their ability, however they did not have knowledge of raising a child who was longing for her mother and had no understanding of substance abuse. It was teachers, school staff, and other family members who paid extra attention to me, helping me to talk about my feelings and allowing me to have a safe space to cry when I needed. Originally, I wanted to be a teacher so that I could help others just as my teachers helped me. After further thought, I decided to be a professional helper.
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 background and context?
I am Ashley Reece a licensed professional counselor supervisor and the owner of Family 1st Counseling Center Inc. Family 1st was founded by my husband, James Reece, MBA, and myself. We both had prior experience in working with children in CPS custody and had a desire to do more to help families overcome the system. We started Family 1st Counseling Center Inc. to help children cope with anxiety, depression, and PTSD. We also aimed to help parents receive the services they need to reunite with their children. In addition to mental health therapy, we provide social and behavior skills training, and targeted case management.
In 2019, we created The Afterthought Journal, the journal provides a space for therapy clients to monitor and document their treatment progress. As a family, we authored the book, I’ll Be Back, Little Brother. It shares our story of being a blended family and provides exercises at the end of the book as conversation starters for households. Both the journal and the book are available on our website www.family1stcounseling.com
I am most proud to have a family business with my husband. I oversee the clinical aspect of the business and my husband provides his knowledge of business for our entity. My children believe in Family 1st and are helpful with printing brochures, being models for pictures, and editing social media content. I love that my family can come into the office and be a part of the movement.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
With faith in God, my husband and I funded our business with side/part-time jobs while working full-time. As a licensed therapist, I did contract work in the evenings and weekends. This prepared me for the transition to eventually step out on faith and commit my time and energy to Family 1st Counseling Center. We were able to save the extra income and put it towards the business. We started as an individual practice with me and then became a group practice. We are now incorporated and considered a facility. We wholeheartedly believe that none of this would have been possible without God being in our earthly plans.
Have you ever had to pivot?
In 2020, face-to-face therapy came to a halt. It was the pandemic that we are still experiencing today. For us, the change meant becoming a virtual therapist. It was a simple change, but it required us to become tech savvy and find ways to engage our youth during sessions. We struggled not having a comfy couch for the clients to sit on and a tissue box nearby for them to wipe their eyes as tears fall. It felt distant at first, but as we developed new skills, put safety parameters in place, and found websites with interactive activities for our youth, we excelled, and virtual sessions became the norm. Just as we were on track, like many, therapist after therapist resigned for varied reasons, including entrepreneurship opportunities. This left us short staffed and finding new therapists has not been easy. We went to our thinking corner and started praying, and before we knew it, we were expanding our business! Yep! When times were hard, God allowed us to expand. We now provide additional services including social skills training and targeted case management. This allows us to hire more people and service more clients.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.family1stcounseling.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @family1stcounseling
- Linkedin: Family 1st Counseling Center Inc
Image Credits
Taylor M. Hayden