We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Adrienne Wise, LPC, CCTP a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Adrienne, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.
The story that first comes to mind is how I had to put my life on hold after starting my business in December of 2018, to care for my mother who had a major stroke on March 31, 2019. I was still working a full-time job at a senior manager level and was only 4 years into my marriage. Not to mention being a parent to a child who was proving to be a rising athlete. This made it a challenge balancing attending events for my son, going on date night with my husband, and waking up at 5am and ending my day around 9:30pm to give my mother the extra care she needed.
There are many stages to a stroke, some walk away just fine. But my mother went through stages of progression from being bed ridden and not being able to speak to now walking with a one-sided walker, moderate aphasia, and permanent paralysis on the right side of her body. I feel I went through those same stages with her just in a different way. When she couldn’t literally speak, I was muted from sharing what happened play by play and or trying to provide answers I did not have. When she was bed ridden, I was by her bedside every day and wishing I could lay down in anything, but two chairs wedged together in the hospital. As she began to walk and become a little more independent, I became stuck and uncertain of my next moves… It was hard to just jump back into the drive I had with my business, and I was scared thinking, what if something else happens and I have to shut it down again.
Needless to say, this was all very overwhelming, and for my own mental health I had to seek help from a therapist. I needed this to push me back into focus. Talking with someone who magically had a background in nursing, who understood my perspective was a bonus. She understood whole-heartedly the life of a caregiver.
To date, I’m back in business, thriving and flourishing, my son has not missed a beat with his basketball, my marriage is stronger than ever, and my mom is in her own apartment with around the clock care!
To say the risk was worth it sounds cliche’, but I became a better version of myself and now understand the many layers to this thing called “life”.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
I come from a family of diagnosed and undiagnosed mental health issues inclusive of substance abuse. Many family members who have been in denial of their issues and their impact on others. Where these experiences mostly drive people away from these careers, it drove me smack into mine. I was on a mission to spread awareness of mental health issues and normalize this to eradicate the stigma.
Fast forward to over 15-year Mental Health Career, Leading and overseeing mental health departments, providing trauma-informed care initiatives within agencies, and providing counseling services to the entire lifespan as young as 2 years old.
I have always enjoyed training and educating others about mental health or mental health-related topics. Many of my clients shared how I was able to reduce their stigma around mental health because of how I am able to normalize thoughts and feelings. So, I learned I had many versions of “voice” and it’s through speaking, training, and being a therapist and all of the purpose to heal and not feel ashamed of the challenges one may have. Oh, and I can sing as well, but that’s a story for another day lol!
To date, I am an international keynoter, emotional wellness expert, and trauma-informed care specialist, with over 15 years of professional experience in the behavioral health industry. I am a Licensed Professional Counselor and Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, who has been featured in Voyage Baltimore, several publications such as Daily Journal, Nebraska News, and Tap-In Magazine and Founder/CEO of Wise Choice Counseling and Consulting Services, LLC.
The mission of my business is to help corporations, organizations, and individuals to eliminate the stigma around mental health in the workplace, through counseling and consultation. I lost my father to a drug overdose in 2012, and I understand what its like dealing with a personal matter such as this but having to show up to work every day, ready to “perform”. That is why I am so passionate about our goal to normalize addressing mental health in the workplace, because I know the negative possibilities that arise.
There are two sides to Wise Choice Counseling and Consulting Services, LLC, trauma-informed consulting services where I completely transform workplace culture from toxic to welcoming and inclusive. Staff have reported feeling more energized, better teaming and cohesion, less sick days and leaders have learned the value in calling staff in vs. calling them out. The second side of my business is a virtual counseling practice serving the entire lifespan from ages 2yrs. old and up, set to open by end of 2023.
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
I think most people would agree that a mainstay in growing any business is through grassroots community outreach. I myself am also an active board member, volunteer, and leader with “Love You More, Inc.” which is a non-profit organization in Prince George’s County, Md. The mission of this organization is teen girls and women’s empowerment within the community. I feel like if you want to really reach the people. You have to get up close and personal with them. This builds trust and rapport between clients and service givers, as opposed to just showing up one day with a bag of degrees and certifications, but no actual hands-on experience or grit in the field.
On the contrary, I have a strong government/corporate clientele and the outreach here is a little different due to where you would more than likely reach this group. My most successful strategy has been networking organically through speaking engagements or building connections through Linked in of like-minded interests, be it change management, mental health, or improving employee engagement. On the rare occasion, I have talked on the sideline a little too much during my son’s basketball practices or in between the long days of games I have made some powerful engagements this way as well.
Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
Maintenance of high morale begins with the leadership and their ability to model and practice exactly what is expected from staff. A huge part of my trauma-informed care consulting work is first teaching the 6 core principals of trauma-informed care originally created by Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) but slightly tweaked by myself. to fit all industries beyond healthcare per its origination. The meat of how to manage a team and boost morale is to follow these key principles consistently and embed them within policies, procedures, workflows, and systems.
They are safety (protecting the emotional safety of staff as well as the physical safety), trustworthiness and transparency (leaders ensure being transparent with staff about changes, expectations, etc. and through consistency, this builds trust), Peer support (which means to holistically removing the titles so that leaders and staff feel they can view and work alongside each other as peers), collaboration and mutuality (the practice in the power sharing in decision making between staff and leaders), empowerment, voice, and choice (leaders are encouraging feedback from staff and free from retaliation), and lastly cultural, historical, and gender issues (all things diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging matter).
Once the principals are taught, I help unpack the layers of the challenges and start implementing changes one by one! So, my last advice is to hire an expert to help change workplace culture, you need someone neutral to gather feedback from everyone and breakdown the issues without bias. Here at Wise Choice Counseling and Consulting Services, LLC, we treat people as person’s first and we help you do the same.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.wisechoicecounseling.com
- Instagram: wise_choicellc
- Facebook: wisechoicellc
- Linkedin: wisechoicellc
- Twitter: wise_choicellc
- Other: Please check out the first of the new Wise Choice MASTERMIND Series: Exclusive Journey for YOU! More info. can be found here: https://www.wisechoicecounseling.com/product/exclusivejourneyforyou/2
Image Credits
Myron Fields
Emma Burcusel