We recently connected with Aracely Neeley, Lcsw and have shared our conversation below.

Aracely, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. The first dollar your firm earns is always special. We’d love to hear about how you got your first client that wasn’t a friend or family.

I opened up my practice in Katy, Texas as a grief counselor. One day out of the blue a woman who said she was from Guatemala asked if I could write her a letter for her immigration attorney. I asked her how she found me and she said she had gone to her local public library and asked for assistance on how to find a Spanish speaking psychotherapist and the librarian wrote out my information and gave it to her. That is how I received my first of approximately 11,000 immigration clients I would receive in the years to come.

Aracely, 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 knew since the age of 12 that I wanted to be a counselor, as an immigrant, (my parents brought us to the U.S. when I was 7 years old), I had no clue how one became a mental health professional but always held that desire close to my heart. Due to the language barrier, I struggled academically and eventually discovered what learning technique was best for me to retain information. After receiving my bachelor’s degree in psychology from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas, I immediately found work as a child abuse investigator. Two years into the job I realized I needed to go back to school. I entered graduate school in 1990 and having to work during the day, I attended classes at night part-time. It took me 4 years to complete my degree and graduated with a 3.62 GPA and what turned out to be more valuable is that I had working experience. I would later come to appreciate that sheer determination would shape my work ethic that would catapult me into gaining a top notch clinical supervisor that would guide and teach me for 2 years for my post-graduate training. I learned how to hone my skills in how to trouble shoot difficult client situations, while also providing my clients clinical skills that would help them in their crises. I had always worked in case management, so working as a clinician was not as fulfilling as I had hoped.
I was grateful for that one Guatemalan client that found me with the help of a librarian that set me on the path to working with immigration clients. I provide forensic evaluation for their immigration cases while using my clinical skills to diagnose and provide a professional opinion to the court. What has set me apart from others is that I was an immigrant whose parents also went through the immigration process which gave me the inside track of what that was like to have that experience. As a therapist, I had the knowledge base to do the work and the clinical skills to get the job done. When I was in graduate school at University of Houston, there were only a handful of Hispanic students, so I knew that there were not a lot of clinicians like me back then and now, I am one of few that has 30 plus years of experience. As a trained social worker, I have held steadfast our values set by the National Association of Social Workers to maintain the standard of practice and provide the client with a professional and ethical product (forensic evaluations).

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

That my word was my reputation. If you promise to deliver on a specific date then under no circumstances do you bail. I often heard from my clients, “ella es buena” a simple phrase used in the Hispanic culture that basically means, “she is trustworthy” and this has meant the world to me and I believe it is a privilege when someone from my culture says that about me. I believe that I earned it from being true to my word.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

I have had upwards of 4 employees for my private practice, and as a leader, I learned that how employees treat clients is based on how management treats its employees. When you set a high standard for yourself, then your employees have a goal they need to always strive for and work towards. When the practice did well, bonuses were always handed out, quarterly and one in December during the holidays. I always wanted my employees to know that to reach the top of the mountain it would take all of us. And while, handing out bonuses was well received, employees always need to know that they are doing a great job. I was strict but always provided my employees with verbal praise.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://houstonimmigrationreports.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aracely-neeley-lcsw-12911710/

Image Credits

Aracely Neeley