We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Catherine Ahlin a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Catherine, appreciate you joining us 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.

Entering private practice was a tremendous risk for my family. I’ve been the sole income provider for my family since the beginning and I left a job with a steady income to pursue opening my own practice. I didn’t really know much about running a practice and I wasn’t sure I would be successful. Others I’d worked with weren’t always supportive or encouraging to those going into private practice and I was worried I wouldn’t have enough clients to earn an income.

My husband and I had two small children and it was in the middle of COVID when I decided to plunge into private practice. Thankfully I was very wrong in my fears about going out on my own. Thankfully private practice has been so successful and rewarding. I’ve loved working for myself and finding my way in this field. I have some incredible mentors who have helped me navigate the parts counselors aren’t taught in school like bookkeeping and taxes.

My husband and kids make all of the risks worthwhile. Working for myself allows me the freedom to be home with them as often as I need to be. Owning a business is the hardest and scariest risk I’ve ever taken and I’m only a couple of years into it. I love that I’ve been able to expand my practice and bring new counselors onboard with me. I love that I’m able to offer them a safe space to learn and grow with my practice. I feel like we’re all learning and growing together.

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

I’m a licensed professional counselor who owns CE Ahlin Counseling otherwise known as The Longhouse Counseling and Resource Center. I’m located in Alton, Il and I have a small group of therapists and interns who work with me. I specialize in treating perinatal mental health needs and neurodivergent individuals. I’ve been in private practice for more than 2 years and last year I purchased a permanent space for my office where I can expand. I currently have three other therapists working for me who all offer different approaches and specialties.

My mission for my practice is to be accessible. I want to reach as many people as possible so I take most major insurance plans and some Medicaid plans. We all offer both telehealth and in person sessions. We hope to continue expanding our knowledge and ability to help clients and meet them where they are at.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

In 2024, I brought on two new therapists. One is now fully licensed and the other will graduate with her Master’s Degree in May 2025. I’m so proud of both of them and their accomplishments in the past year. They’ve both grown tremendously as therapists and consistently receive positive feedback from their clients and the community. I take a collaborative approach to management and supervision. I’m their supervisor and the owner of the business but I hired them because I trust their judgement and want their input.

I want to work with my team and I want them to trust me too. We don’t take a hierarchial approach at my practice. I treat them like people who have different insights and knowledge than myself and like they are valuable individuals. Unfortunately, the counseling field does not always treat young counselors with respect and fairness. I want to help launch new counselors into their own practices when they are fully ready. I don’t enforce non-compete or non-solicit contracts at my practice. Clients do not belong to the practice and are allowed to follow their counselor if/when they leave.

If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?

I’ve known since childhood that I wanted to be a therapist. I didn’t always know how I would get there but I was determined to figure it out. In college, I thought I was training to go on to medical school but after doing rather poorly in my math and science classes, I decided I needed to find a different direction. After graduating with my bachelor’s degree, I took some time off before deciding where to pursue my Master’s Degree. Studying counseling helped me reach my goal of becoming a therapist. Being a therapist is incredibly rewarding and sometimes incredibly exhausting. I think I’ve always had a knack for reading people and a tremendous amount of empathy. I think those two traits have helped me grow and become successful in my career.

I think a younger version of myself would be proud because I’m doing what I wanted to do. I’m helping other therapists grow and become stronger therapists and I hope I’m helping clients. I love that I get to learn all of the time and I love that I get to keep working on myself. I love that I’m actually doing the thing I set out to do.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ahlincounseling.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1FrT6uqRYR/
• Other: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/ce-ahlin-counseling-pllc-alton-il/909920