We were lucky to catch up with Jason Leito recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Jason, thanks for joining us today. If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.
There was most certainly a moment in my life that changed the trajectory of my career. I was in my early twenties before I even really considered becoming a therapist. I was really trying to figure out who I was, and I felt very lost. I became depressed, I started experiencing panic attacks due to anxiety, and I had no idea what or why any of this was happening. I really did not know what to do, so I tried therapy. I won’t tell you that therapy was some magical antidote that cured my depression and anxiety, I still deal with these problems. The difference therapy made for me was that it gave me the tools I needed to take more control of my thoughts and emotions, it allowed me to grow as a person, and it gave me the space I needed to be more healthy in the long-term. I felt that therapy was so helpful for me, and I had grown so much from it that I wanted to facilitate the same growth for other people who may be in a similar stage in life that I was. This leads me to where I am now. It helps that I love the field of psychology and that I enjoy what I do, but I don’t know if I would have ended up where I am if I didn’t have this defining moment in my life.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I got into the mental health field, in short, because I had a great experience with therapy that facilitated a lot of personal growth, which motivated me to want to help others grow in their lives.
I am currently working at the Beth Lewis Therapy Group (www.Bethlewistherapy.com), and I provide individual and couples therapy for adolescents and adults. I work a lot with people struggling with depression, anxiety, ADHD, and relationship issues.
I’m most proud of who I have become in the last ten or so years. It’s kind of weird to say, but I think I’m a very genuine person and I bring that into my work with clients. I never want my clients to leave my office wondering about that, so I pretty much bring myself into the therapy room. I find that I can connect with clients better that way.
Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?
I believe that an openness to continue growing and learning is amonf the most important thing a therapist can do to be successful. The field of psychology is very young and, because of this, a lot of things I have been taught are subject to change. New treatments and techniques are being created all the time and It’s imperative that we, as therapists, do not become rigid in our practice.
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
Admittedly, I’m a pretty new therapist and I’m learning a lot about growing my clientele. So far, I think the best advice I’ve gotten is to keep my head up, to be myself, and to have tenacity. Growing my business hasn’t always been smooth, there are long periods of time where I won’t get any new clients and it’s easy to be discouraged by that. I want my practice to grow and sometimes that doesn’t quite happen at the speed I would like, but I know that if I keep my head up and keep moving forward things will fall into place.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://bethlewistherapy.com/jason-leito/
- Other: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/jason-leito-lpc-associate-under-the-supervision-of-beth-lewis-lpc-s-fort-worth-tx/904089