We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sybil Cummin. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sybil below.

Sybil, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Setting up an independent practice is a daunting endeavor. Can you talk to us about what it was like for you – what were some of the main steps, challenges, etc.

I have actually started and continue to run two separate businesses based on the needs I see in our community and the life that I would like to create for myself and my family.

I started Arvada Therapy Solutions in 2011, a therapy practice focusing on children, teens and families. And then I started a membership community, Rising Beyond Power and Control at the end of 2021 for women survivors of relationship abuse.

When starting my private therapy practice, I jumped in with two feet without doing any research. I did not even tell my husband that I was giving my 2-weeks notice until I came home. I told him I just gave my 2-weeks, I’m going to start my own practice and we’re probably going to be poor.

While I would never suggest that you jump into private practice or any business without doing any research on the process, I was able to learn from my mistakes and was confident enough that I could figure things out. That first year was definitely not graceful, but was very successful and ended that first year in practice with a full caseload and a waitlist. This allowed me to step into adding interns to my practice and get to add a teaching component, which I still love doing to this day.

After developing my specialty areas, I saw a need that was not being met in our community and decided to start Rising Beyond Power and Control and The Rising Beyond Community in late 2021.

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 back background and context?

I always knew I wanted to work with children and so knew when I went to graduate school for a mental health counseling degree, I knew this would be my focus. After having my first child I decided I wanted the flexibility of setting my own hours and seeing the clientele I wanted to focus on, so started my private practice, Arvada Therapy Solutions. We focus on supporting children, teens, adults and families who have experienced trauma.

In all my years of working with children, first in a hospital setting, then in an agency and then finally in my practice, I saw a dynamic that I could not put my finger on. This dynamic was domestic violence and coercive control. Like many therapists, I was not trained in how to assess for domestic violence or how to treat this in my graduate school program and there were very few opportunities for me to have guided training on this topic at that time. So, I did as much reading as I could, reached out to different organizations and advocates to continue learning. And I learned from my clients. Over time, I saw how common relationship abuse happens and how children are negatively affected; their levels of post traumatic stress disorder is similar to veterans coming back from war. I also saw the horrific way that our family court system allows and actually supports the abuse to continue as I either testified in court on behalf of my child clients or saw the outcomes.

I could not sit by and do nothing. So, again, I started my quest to understand and to find ways I could help. This led me to start training other therapists on working with this population and finally to start Rising Beyond Power and Control and The Rising Beyond Podcast. To offer support, community, healing, and strategies to help survivors mitigate the coercive control, post separation abuse, and help keep their children safe.

I think what I am most proud about is my willingness to do the work, to put myself out there, and to find creative ways to fill a need in our community. I have been a part of recent legislation to pass Kayden’s Law in order to start a path for safer family court outcomes for children in these situations.

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

I think the most helpful things or attributes that have helped me succeed in my field are curiosity and an openness to collaboration. When something is difficult to understand or is polarizing (unfortunately the advocacy world for domestic violence and family court reform are extremely polarized) curiosity allows you to listen to all sides and opinions with an openness and willingness to listen without focusing on how you will respond. This has allowed me to understand the perspectives of those who oppose what I believe to be true and better help my clients and community members. And then, none of us can do everything alone. Collaborating with those with different strengths than me has allowed me to succeed much faster and with more joy than trying to manage everything on my own.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

What I believe helped build my reputation within my market (for both businesses) is the generosity of providing value and help to others without the expectation of getting anything in return. It does not take much for me to answer a quick question from another therapist or to offer a good and trusted referral to a client inquiring about our services when our practice is full.

I also believe fully understanding your clientele so that they automatically feel understood is really important for this as well.

My reputation in field has also grown stronger due to using my privilege to stand up and shout from the rooftops for those who are unable to do so themselves. I have been invovled in advocacy work for low-income families on Medicaid and for survivors of domestic violence. The willingness to do what is right even when it is hard allows me to connect with others with similar values which in turn helps my business and theirs grow stronger.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.risingbeyondpc.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/risingbeyondpc
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/risingbeyondpowerandcontrol
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sybil-cummin-lpc-acs-50537791/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@beyondpowerandcontrol8485
• Other: www.arvadatherapysolutions.com

Image Credits
Kosmer Photography