We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Candice Mckinney. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Candice below.

Candice, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s go back in time a bit – can you share a story of a time when you learned an important lesson during your education?

The most important lesson I learned in school is to be true to yourself and consider your strengths opposed to doing what you think others want you to do.My journey to becoming a mental health therapist was pretty surprising considering that I always wanted to be a doctor since I was a little girl. A therapist was never thought of as an option for a career. I believe I originally chose to be a doctor because I was really good in school and it seemed like the thing for “smart kids” to do. I also received a lot of positive feedback from my family and community when I would tell someone my goals. It wasn’t until I got into my junior year of college that I took a hard look at myself and asked if this was what I really wanted for my life. I had begun to struggle in my classes while also trying to manage other things in my life. And I was failing…big time. I also had to be honest with myself about how bored I was in my classes. I was not passionate about my degree (originally Chemistry, then later Microbiology) and I could not see myself spending any additional years in medical school trying to learn the material. I decided to switch my major to English with the thought that I would work in journalism. I hated that, too. I eventually took a semester off of college and made the decision to transfer schools to a university in my hometown. That was when I began to get some direction. I still had no idea which major I wanted to be in, so I chose Advertising and Marketing as another way to get into journalism. That was a failure, too. I eventually asked myself “What is the thing I do easily and would do for free?”. The answer to that question was to give advice and listen to others stories. Around that time, my parents decided to get divorced after 25 years. This furthered my interest in learning about how people handle hard situations while trying to cope with my own. I switched my major to Psychology and it has been a blessing ever since.

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 am a Licensed Professional Counselor and owner of Beyond Counseling, Inc. located in Reston, Virginia. I provide mental health counseling to adults struggling with depression, anxiety, trauma, and many other mental health disorders. My main two behavioral approaches of therapy are Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy (EMDR). I lean more toward those approaches because I have seen so many benefits from both methods. Utilizing CBT allows the client and myself to truly understand the reasons behind their behaviors and emotional responses, which usually begins with how they learned to process things as a child. I am such an inquisitive person, so that has helped me learn how to ask the right questions in a way that pushes the client to think a bit deeper into their life so that we can course correct and find better ways to manage any mental health issues they are experiencing. EMDR therapy has been beneficial in helping my clients process traumatic experiences in a way that reduces that emotional trigger so that they can have more helpful thoughts regarding the trauma- thoughts that will help them heal opposed to tearing themselves down.

The thing I am most proud of is having the strength and faith to start my business immediately after finishing my residency. I was fortunate to have an amazing supervisor who really taught me how to trust myself and my instincts. She also provided enough freedom to manage my own caseload and determine which therapeutic methods worked best for me. I felt fully prepared to go out on my own and had her full support and encouragement. I also utilized skills I had learned in past jobs, such as doing my own medical billing due to my experience as a medical billing specialist. I also worked as a receptionist in other medical offices so I prepared to handle the administrative responsibilities. My next goal is to begin supervising other residents since this is my fifth year in practice. I also intend to hire other therapists to help expand my business.

A constant phrase reiterated to me from clients is “I can tell you care”. That would be the main takeaway I want others to feel about me and my practice. I truly care about helping others find joy in their life and want to help them find the route that gets them to that overall feeling. To me, happiness can be fleeting. We cannot be happy everyday. But having a joyful spirit is one that can make even the toughest days easier. That’s also why I named my business Beyond Counseling. I wanted my clients to know that therapy is just a pit stop. You are not going to be in the same place you began if you put in the work.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

One of the hardest times in my life was when I was laid off from my job as an Enrollment Advisor. I was out of work for 2 years and I felt the lowest I had ever felt in my life. When you go through job layoffs, it can lead to anxiety, depression, self-doubt, and so many other negative emotions. I felt like no one understood what I was going through despite factually knowing there were so many others going through the same thing. It felt like nothing was going right for me. To help ends meet, I began working part-time as a SAT/ACT prep tutor and that helped fill some of my day, but I still struggled at night with the thoughts that I was a failure. After a while of being in that depressed state, something changed in me and I was determined to use that time to become a better me. I started eating more healthy, working out, and really focusing on what my next steps in life would be. While improving my overall well-being, my financial circumstances did not change too much, so I ended up losing my car and having to move back with my mother. But that ended up being a blessing in disguise as well because I was able to save a little bit more of the money I was making and eventually found a full-time job. But when I went into that new job, it was with a newfound confidence in my ability to go through tough situations in life and a reminder that every situation is temporary. I learned to be more mindful and focus on the good things that happen each day opposed to creating anxiety about the unknowns of the future.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Despite getting my bachelors in Psychology, being a mental health counselor was still not on my radar. Instead, I knew that I had struggled in college and wanted to use my education in psychology to help other college students find their way, which led to my job as an Enrollment Counselor. Part of my job was to learn the student’s reasons for getting into school so that I could help them determine which major would work best for their goals. This led to many students telling me stories about their life circumstances and some of those stories were heartbreaking. I would always wonder how they were coping with those experiences and knew there had to be a career out there that would allow me to have a hand in helping them. After being laid off from that job and going through 2 years of being jobless (outside of part-time jobs), I finally got hired as a medical receptionist. I found that many patients would easily share their life stories with me while waiting for their appointments. They would also mention that me listening was helpful to them. That’s when the light bulb went off. I made the decision to go back to school and get my master’s degree in Counseling and ultimately open my own practice. As I went into my master’s degree, each class I had further piqued my interest and passion to help others who are struggling mentally. One particular class, Group Therapy, was instrumental in making me face my own traumas which led me to getting my own therapist. That experience shaped me into being the type of therapist I am- understanding, encouraging, and a catalyst for helping others become whole in their lives.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.beyondcounselinginc.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/candicethetherapist
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/candice-mckinney-1a00a045