We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sara Balkanli Watkins a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Sara, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you share an anecdote or story from your schooling/training that you feel illustrates what the overall experience was like?
Becoming a therapist is no easy task! I started this journey in 2015 when I first decided I wanted to pursue a career in counseling. It took about a year to complete the testing requirements, apply to schools, and get enrolled. I finally started my graduate program at St. Edward’s University in fall of 2016. Our program is 60 hours, which is about 2 years of full time classes for 3 semesters a year. We’re also required to complete a practicum/internship experience with at least 700 hours of experience working in various mental health settings. Upon graduation, we sit for a large comprehensive exam & apply for licensure as a Licensed Professional Counselor Associate (LPC Associate). Once we’re licensed, we’re good to go, right?! Nope! As an LPC Associate, we still have to be under Clinical Supervision for the first 3000 hours of practicing. We meet with our Supervisor once a week to review cases, learn about ethics & board rules, and receive support throughout the first few years of our career. It took me about 3 years to complete my Associateship. I finally finished my 3000 hours in June of 2022 & became a Licensed Professional Counselor, nearly 7 years after I started the journey of going back to school. It’s been a ride!
I think my last semester of graduate school really sums up my experience of training to be a therapist, and the lessons I learned as a result. I was working at 2 different unpaid internships from 9am-6pm, going to class from 6:30-9:30pm 2-3 times a week, and working at a part-time job. Somewhere in there I managed to also take care of myself & my two dogs, and meet my family obligations. It was total chaos! My professors and internship supervisors kept telling me to take care of myself better, but it felt next to impossible due to the sheer lack of time I had. I just kept grinding it out, hoping eventually it would ease up. At one point during this experience, I got sick and needed to have an unplanned surgery, which would put me in bed for about a week and a half. Not a huge amount of time, but a week and a half in the fast paced nature of graduate school world feels like a month!
I learned a very important lesson during this time regarding boundary setting and self care. I was not holding good boundaries for myself, so my body began creating them for me. I wasn’t allowing myself the time to emotionally rest and recover that I needed, so in turn my physical health suffered and I was forced to take some down time. This lesson has stuck with me throughout my career. We will always have many irons in the fire. There will always be something to do, someone to help, another hour we could give to a client. There’s never going to be a “great time” to take a break & take care of yourself. We have to create that for ourselves. It is our right & duty as therapists to take care of ourselves, so we can continue to do what we love & still maintain our health & well being.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Sunstone Psychotherapy is a private practice offering individual, couples, and family counseling. I specialize in working with young adults, teens, and couples on a variety of presenting concerns including anxiety, depression, relationship health, communication skills, boundary setting, racial/cultural identity exploration, trauma, and spirituality exploration. I can see any resident of Texas virtually via Telehealth, and I also see clients in person at my office in the Westlake Hills neighborhood of Austin. I am a Certified Positive Discipline Parent Educator, and a Certified Keeping the Joy in Relationships Facilitator. I am pursuing training in EFT (Emotionally Focused Therapy) to further develop my work with couples & individuals. I joke that I am the Quintessential Therapist for Millennials, but I love my Gen-Z clients too! I deeply enjoy working with creative folks, HSPs (highly sensitive persons), entrepreneurs, and folks who are spiritual/intuitive.
I also enjoy doing public speaking & presentations for those wanting to learn more about mental health. I am in the works of developing a Podcast, and I occasionally host conversations on Instagram & Facebook live about current events & mental health.
My approach to therapy is deeply relational. I believe the most important factor in success with therapy is the relationship between the client and therapist. Our relationship has to feel safe & trusting enough for the client to reach the depths of vulnerability needed for growth and healing. The first 8-10 sessions with me are simply about developing a relationship with each other. I want to know about your family history, your favorite Netflix shows, and everything in between. I want to know who you are as a person, not just as a client. I show up to our space authentically myself, in hopes that my clients will feel comfortable enough to do the same. I’m a fun-loving & bubbly person, and my sessions are definitely reflective of that. We will laugh together, cry together, and enjoy each other’s company in the meantime. I’m the therapist that likes to take off my shoes, share my snacks, and get to know the person on the other side of the couch as a human first, client second. I believe this sets me apart from other therapists. I don’t come in with any preconceived notion for our sessions. My style is slow, long term, deeply relational, and led by what you want to explore, not what’s on some arbitrary check list or agenda.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
Such a great question! I think one of the biggest “pivot” moments for me was when I decided to pursue therapy as a career. I was 25 and in the throws of what is known as the “quarter life crisis”. I felt so lost and directionless after college. I pursued a graduate program right after college, and realized after 1 semester it wasn’t a good fit for me. I dabbled in a few different jobs for a while, working in real estate, social media management, and sales. Jobs that I was told I would be good at, or that would make me decent money, or that I should pursue because thats what was expected of me by my family & my peers.
And yet, none of it felt congruent within my soul. I felt inauthentic & not genuine in a lot of business settings, stifled in my expression of self & creativity. I hated that I was working to make meaningless money for other people, while knowing there was suffering in the world and I was complacent by not doing something to help. I also felt a deep desire to do something that was meaningful & fulfilling. I wanted to make a difference in peoples lives. I wanted to help people learn and grow to reach their own potential, just as I was striving to do myself.
Parallel to this, I was also in my own personal therapy. I started therapy when I was 18, and have continued ever since. Therapy truly changed my life. I was able to learn so much about myself & the world around me through that 50 minutes a week. I fell so in love with the process, the outcomes, and the deep meaning of the work. I realized that I wanted to take my love for people & my education background, turn away from a traditional corporate path, and pursue my passion for therapy.
I think of all of the pivot moments of my life, this one was one of the biggest. It had such a huge impact on the trajectory of my life. I also think it was one of the bravest. I didn’t have a plan on how I would pay for school or schedule it around my life. I didn’t have a degree in social work or psychology like a traditional therapist. I didn’t have anyone to guide me through the process of applying, or what the classes looked like, or what it would take to get through the rigor of the training process. I was scared, but I took that leap of faith. I put that trust in myself & the universe that it would work out, and it did.
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
A lot of my practice has grown organically through word of mouth referrals. Most of my clients I currently have are referrals from other clients, or from other clinicians that I have worked alongside in the past. Every time I get an inquiry from a new client that was referred from someone I know personally I get all of the warm and fuzzy feelings! It’s already such an honor to be someone’s therapist, but when that person tells someone else “Sara has really helped me, and they can help you too” it’s even more special. As I mentioned, I am a very relational therapist, and I really prioritize developing great positive relationships with my clients and their families. I think this is reflective in my client base & the way my business has grown.
Networking has also definitely helped me spread my reach & grow my clientele. A while back, my friends and I were driving around Westlake looking for office space. Every office building we went by, I would point out 2-3 other therapists on the office directory and say “oh I know so-and-so, they work with XYZ”. They’re like “you must know everyone in town!”. Obviously that isn’t true, but I do know a little bit about a lot of folks! I’m a naturally bubbly & extroverted person, and that has really translated in my ability to get to know other clinicians around town, even starting in graduate school. For me, in person networking is my preference. I try to schedule networking coffees or lunches with colleagues at least once every week or two. It’s challenging sometimes to create time, space, and energy for this among a full client week, but I find it actually helps rejuvenate me to connect with others who are also in the same field and have similar experiences working as clinicians & business owners.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sunstonepsychotherapytx.com
- Instagram: @sunstonepsychotherapytx
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sunstonepsychotherapytx
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarabalkanli/
Image Credits
Adrianne Michelle Photography