Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kate Morrissey Stahl, PhD, LCSW, CST, E-RYT. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Kate, 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?
During the early days of COVID, we had to decide how to use the space after one of the businesses in it–a hilarious comedy theater that provoked much laughter and thus projection of germs into the air–closed. There was a huge need for therapy and people who wanted to offer it, and yet to make that change required carving the large main room into several spaces, including a waiting room. This renovation offered a new life for the space and demanded an expensive leap of faith. A couple of years in, we have a comfortable and functional space supporting a wonderful group of therapists, sex therapists, yoga teachers, and interns at Revolution Therapy and Yoga, mostly overseen by our wonderful office manager Nicole Bechill.
If you’re in a place to support other people sustainably by being willing to take a risk and expand to meet a community need, there is a lot of work, and also a lot of satisfaction, in that choice.
Kate, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
We are a multipurpose mind-body wellness studio located in the historic Leathers building near downtown. We offer, therapy sessions by licensed clinical professionals including sex therapy, couple therapy, grief and trauma therapy. We also offer accessible yoga classes for connection and stress management, and host small groups for sex therapy, meditation, growth, and recovery.
Our mission is to provide accessible community offerings for yoga and therapy with an emphasis on trauma-informed practices that promote physical, spiritual, sexual, emotional, and creative well-being. We are inspired by cooperative principles. We are dedicated to moving our organization and our community toward anti-racist and anti-oppressive practices through reflective and intentional organizational flexibility.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
A lesson I’ve had to unlearn is that it’s best to do everything myself. When things were changing in the business and growing, I had a SCORE business coach–Nikki Tobias–who would meet with me to help me through the transition. She would tell me, “you’re the bottleneck here, Kate” and that I needed to see how I could open things beyond myself to do more for the community. I’ve learned a lot about building a team I trust and rely on, and that the idea that I need to do things myself cuts me off from the many talents and skills that my colleagues bring.
The backstory behind the idea that I need to do everything myself is likely too deep and multi-faceted to unpack here, but my sense is that many of us are taught that success means being independent or buys independence. My learning more recently, from teachers like Kelley Palmer who led a Reimagining Everything training, tells me that community is the most important resource.
If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?
I love sex therapy and I love clinical social work, and if I had it to do all again, I would do the same things. My work is immensely rich and rewarding, and I learn something new every day.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.revolutiontherapyandyoga.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revolutiontherapyandyoga/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/revolutiontherapyandyoga
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katemorrisseystahl/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuqJnwVBA9twuficbdmojRA
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/revolution-therapy-and-yoga-athens
Image Credits
Photo credit to Ben Rouse