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

Hi Charity, thanks for joining us today. 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.

The quickest way through fear is fast! That’s what I told myself as I made the greatest leap of my life and that was to believe I could change people’s lives through teaching empowerment. Before I made the leap of faith, I had taken my dream job. That dream job started to feel like another prison in which I could not help people in the ways I knew they needed. As my heart became more and more disappointed by a broken mental health system, a voice inside me grew so loud that I could not longer do nothing. So I opened my own therapeutic practice in May of 2017 knowing that I made the right decision. With pure passion, ambition, and innovative thinking, I grew a single private practice to a successful group practice within nine months. I did not know everything about business, but I was confident in my ability to connect with people. I love people and believed healing was possible through empowering them. The early days were fun and exciting and full of learning, not mistakes.

My advice for new private practice owners is to just start. Start with reaching out to a few private practice owners that you admire and build authentic relationships with them. Support is essential for learning the business and negating counselor burn-out. Secondly, think outside the box. I was reading by age 3 and thought a women’s therapeutic book club would provide further moments of empowerment to clients. I put the thought to action and its been 6 years I’ve been facilitating book clubs at my practice. Thirdly, you have to know what your agency stands for in regards to creating social change. I wanted to expand the mental health conversation between actual clients, providers, and community, so I created a conference sponsored by my practice. The conference was held for ten years and made a significant impact on our community.

In short, show up as you and understand what you bring to the therapeutic table matters. Changing one life can impact many.

Charity, 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?

I am the most proud of how I have remained myself throughout my professional career and inspired other therapists to do the same. The face of therapy has changed over the decades and still needs reforming. The old school thought that we need to show up in a dress or suit and show how much we know to our clients never worked. So show up fully as the flawed, beautiful, complex, healing person you are because only then will you truly inspire others to engage in their own healing journey.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I thought being a medical professional would provide me with what I was searching for personally and professionally. As I began my second month of Physician Assistant School, an extraordinary circumstance happened one morning. A student I formed a friendship with disclosed she was having a hard time and felt hopeless in the program. That morning I discovered the depth of her despair and attended to her mental health before she completed something that would be final. As I tried to get her help, to no avail at the school, my heart started to shift to helping those struggling with mental health rather than physical ailments. This moment changed the direction of my career. I left P.A. school weeks later and started my masters in clinical mental health counseling that same year. I’ve never regretted the decision because God placed me in the right place at the right time to save a life, and in turn she gave me my new life.

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

My personal self and my professional self are the same person, which allowed me to build strong community partnerships. I am a consistent and direct leader. I love people deeply, and I demonstrate that through my empowerment approach with clients. I teach them that they are capable beyond measure by living in authenticity as I role model the same.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://lifescapeintegrativetherapy.com/
• Instagram: lifescapetherapyteam
• Facebook: Charity Godfrey
• Linkedin: Dr. Charity Godfrey

Image Credits
All pictures were taken by Lifescape Team members