We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Angela Banks a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Angela, thanks for joining 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?
Our instructors in school trained us to recognize mental health challenges, assess for safety and build relationships with our clients, but one thing that was hardly discussed was the various career paths we could take as counselors. Counselors are trained to take on a lot and with that, we are often burned out and stressed in our work environments. When I first became a therapist, I worked in what we refer to as community mental health. My job was to go into client’s homes and provide them with either individual or family counseling to address the issues that they were experiencing. I loved working with my clients but I was unhappy with having to drive so many miles each day, only for some of my clients to forget their appointment or just decide they no longer wanted to meet for therapy. I was also drained from working with clients that presented with severe symptoms and left with little to no resources. I was their only resource and my job took up so much space in my life. I was a new mom and engaged to be married. I wanted time with my family but I was working sometimes until 3am to do the administrative work that accompanied my role as a counselor. Once I discovered private practice, I was intrigued but I knew I still wanted to find a way to help clients that I could relate to and who might share some parts of my cultural background. I remember beginning to learn more about opening a private practice because of the relationships I was building with more seasoned colleagues. Through mentorship and connection, I was able to begin piecing together a plan that would free me from the harmful work conditions that I was being subjected to each day. When I founded “The Clarity Couch” it was to address the needs of individuals who were misrepresented or underserved. I wanted to create a safe space where people could receive professional services but from clinicians they were comfortable with working with and could relate to. Some of my earliest challenges included navigating the business aspect of a counseling practice while also being a therapist. These can feel like two totally different hats and I have to be mindful of which one I’m wearing when approaching problems, determining procedures and managing our team. One word of advice is to realize that at some point, if you want your business to sustain you, you will need to hire help. You will also need a support system that is willing to help you and be there for you when you are experiencing the highs and lows of entrepreneurship. If I could change anything, I would have connected with other business owners sooner than I did. Most of what I’ve been able to do is because of the knowledge or advice of someone that was able to accomplish it before me. Other advice I can offer is focus on doing the work. When you do good work, everything else will work itself out. Don’t get distracted by things like being known or social media. Social media is a great place to showcase your work and interact with your audience but you’ll need much more than followers to sustain a successful business. My practice is my passion project and it is well on its way to becoming a pillar in the community. I am grateful for where we’ve been, where we are where we are going. .
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
“The Clarity Couch” is a private behavioral health practice based in Cleveland, Ohio. The Clarity Couch is a small start-up business which was founded by me because I wanted to provide services in an impactful way. I was born and raised in Cleveland. I began my career working in community-based settings. While working in these settings, I noticed that there was a need for diverse service providers based on the clients that were being served. The families and clients that I worked with would express their appreciation for the experience of having a provider that was open to understanding their culture. This sparked the idea of opening a practice where clients could feel safe to be themselves and possibly even work with a provider that identifies with their culture or the experience of their culture. From there, “The Clarity Couch” was born. My practice was founded to service people within communities that have been historically marginalized, and our clinicians are licensed professionals that use evidenced-based interventions. 96% of our therapy clients served identify as Black, Indigenous, or People of Color, and our mission is to provide a safe space to reduce the stigma of mental health. We achieve this through both therapeutic and psychoeducational services. We recently received the Valeria Harper Cultural Competency Award from the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) Greater Cleveland chapter for the work that is being done at “The Clarity Couch.” This is awarded to organizations that demonstrate excellence in working with minority populations within the mental health field. I have been featured in PopSugar, Essence, TVOne and other media outlets as an expert speaker on mental health in Black and Brown communities.
Any advice for managing a team?
My advice for managing a team and maintaining high morale is to clearly communicate, confirm understanding and maintain reliability and consistency. A team needs to trust their leader and without these things, trust is not possible.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
One of the ways I fund my practice is through partnerships where we provide services. For one particular contract, I remember being in over my head but also recognizing what an impact the contract could have on the practice. I met with the organization 6 times before we finally signed a contract. I remember feeling okay when we received a no for the 3rd time. I was in over my head and feeling overwhelmed by the project, anyway. I can recognize now that I was not ready at that time. Later, I reconnected with this organization because they saw me in a different capacity as a community leader and sought me out because of that. This time we were told yes and offered a contract. When we finally received a yes, I had met with them so many times and felt so sure about our services that I didn’t want to continue to pitch the service. Had I given up, I would not have been able to push us through to do the meaningful work that we do with this organization. I
Contact Info:
- Website: https://theclaritycouch.com
- Instagram: @theclaritycouch
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angela-banks-lpcc-s-32777340/?profileId=ACoAAAin4Q8BXhPjqjFRbZVLk47r_K5GJ8pDW40