We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Candice Cooper-Lovett a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Candice thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Is there a heartwarming story from your career that you look back on?

This was a recent experience that I had, I spoke with someone who was interested in doing a clinical internship as a student and she stated how she researched me and my practice and how impressed she was with not only myself but my staff, that definitely made me feel good about myself and my business and what it represents. The greatest part of this conversation was being able to offer her an internship with my practice as she had not gotten any responses back from other places that she had reached out to. Her gratitude and appreciation genuinely warmed my heart. I remembered as a student having a difficult time finding a private practice that would accept me, I got several declines or no responses at all. I promised myself when I got in the position to give others an opportunity I would provide that for someone. It makes me feel great knowing that this has come full circle for me in my lifetime.

Candice, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I got into my industry of marriage and family therapy through researching during my undergraduate career different programs that fit for me. I looked into marriage and family therapy (MFT) because I knew that I wanted to serve women and children affected by domestic violence. I also knew that I wanted to become a sex therapist as well and I was told that MFT was the best track for me to take. To date that was one of the best decisions I have made. As for my tantric/energy healing work I was led to this through spiritual guidance, something that I ignored for a long time but finally realized that this was the missing link to my healing work with the community that I serve. The type of services I provide primarily is individual, couple, family, and sex therapy. I also provide prepare and enrich facilitation for premarital and marital couples. The other services I provide are supervision, speaking, and consultation. I have been speaking for almost 20 years. Lastly, within my tantric healing and heart work practice, I provide sessions to individuals and couples in need of additional healing and connection. Furthermore, I aid in solving deep rooted traumas and aiding the person(s) in releasing the mental and emotional pain involved with holding on to it. I aid in helping people release pain through pleasure with tantric energy healing work and heartwork. I also provide sex coaching and spiritual coaching in this practice. In therapy, the problems that I aid in solving for those I service are infidelity recovery, trauma recovery (domestic violence, sexual abuse/assault), sexuality and sexual issues, female sexuality and pleasure, as well as different mental health concerns such as anxiety, depression, PTSD. I also have a team of five other clinicians who specialize in other areas outside of my own. The thing that sets me apart from others is that I truly offer a holistic perspective of care. I provide therapy from a transpersonal psychology and post-traumatic growth perspective. Within transpersonal psychology, the idea is that it’s not just the mind and body that need healing and looking after, but also the spirit itself. Working to heal all three can be very beneficial to one’s emotional and mental wellness. Within post-traumatic growth, it is a positive psychological change experienced as a result of the struggle with challenging life circumstances. This form of psychology focuses on positive growth and strength based therapy, as opposed to the common deficit focus. As a therapist and healer, I’m very relatable and provide a safe space for anyone to be themselves and not feel judged about things that others would have difficulty hearing from another person. The thing that I’m most proud of is the fact that I did not think I would be at this point in my business nor did I think I would be a business owner, I assumed that this was a far fetched dream that may not occur until later on in my life. I’m proud of myself for building my business from the ground up and being a first generation business owner, that’s definitely something that I can give myself some appreciation for. I want my followers to know that I’m very passionate about healing work and seeing people at their best.

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

In my opinion the most helpful thing for succeeding in my field is having the natural gift of caring for people. Its what guides the sessions, we are the tool we do not go into therapy as a blank slate we’re human as well and its important for us to have a good heart and a genuine compassion for those we serve. One of my professors shared if you could find one good thing to care for in a person, that can take the therapeutic relationship to high heights and the client will have the most success because of the care a therapist has for their client. I remember during my masters program interview they had us do a mock session where we had to pretend to be a therapist. They weren’t so concerned with technique but more concerned if we had the natural gift to connect with clients and that we had the heart to do it as well. The same goes with spiritual healing if your heart’s not in a good space, you will be ineffective as a practitioner and may cause more harm than good.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Things I felt that has helped build my reputation within my profession is primarily through word of mouth. A lot of referrals come from community relationships that I have built over the years and have left a lasting impression. It’s even more helpful when the client goes back to tell the referral source that they were pleased with the services given. That moviates that referral source to send more clients to the practice. Though its an older method word of mouth, and having good relationships with professionals, and businesses within the community make a world of a difference as it relates to my reputation in the market.

Contact Info:

• Website: drcooplove.com, thetantricmft.com
• Instagram: @drcooplove_ @thetantricmft
• Facebook: same as above

Image Credits
Photographers: Professional images: Le’Var Norsworthy & Co. Personal: Ivy & Elm Photography Makeup: HXPro