We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Cerene Prince a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Cerene, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with 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?
My ‘journey to private practice’ dates back to 2001 when I entered the social service field as a foster care caseworker followed by being a casemanager for NYC families caring for children with chronic medical conditions to being a medical social worker, a psychotherapist and lastly, a program director. But my father will tell you that my journey began from a young age where you would find me attending to younger children in distress, wiping their tears or bringing them to their parents for some “TLC”.
I guess you can say, my inherited passion for helping others grew overtime unveiling itself with a vision to create a safe therapeutic, healing space for children, teens and BIPOC through my private mental health practice, Orchard Blue Counseling Services.
Late in my career, I frequently observed through my work with black and brown patients their experiences with receiving medical and mental health care lacking compassion and cultural attunement. This pushed me to face my fears to take a small step towards private practice.
It was late 2019, I decided to develop a private mental health practice that intentionally provided a safe healing space for all with a focus on BIPOC.
I decided to pace myself by utilizing the resources around me. At a nominal fee, I was able rent space in my mother’s church; I know, not ideal but it was perfect for the time, season and my future clients! It was a century old church in the center of South Jamaica Queens, 2 blocks away from a major public bus hub and a public train station. It was a ‘win-win’ for my clients and myself offering easy access and affordability.
As my clients grew in number, I moved to another Queens’ office space in early 2020, that too was easily accessible. But, less than 6 months of private mental health practice, our nation, the world faced a historic pandemic that thrusted many parents, teens and black and brown people to seek the unimaginable -mental health treatment. I was flooded with calls, text messages, emails and social media messages with similar statements to “I always thought about therapy….”, “I want a Black therapist”, “I need someone (psychotherapist) that looks like me”, “I need someone who understands my culture”, and “Do you see children? I can’t seem to find anyone who see kids!”.
Keep in mind, I am still working fulltime as a Program Director, servicing and supervising social work staff providing services to families caring for infants, children and teens living with a chronic and terminal illness. I found myself working 2 fulltime jobs, and both I loved!
My love for providing a safe healing space for BIPOC was bigger and so birthed “Orchard Blue Counseling Services”. I often heard persons say, “you have to find your niche” but I was scared to acknowledge my niche, because it meant losing opportunities for clients which meant losing revenue. But this was far from the truth. With the support of my peers and that burning passion, I accepted my calling as a specialists in “Child and Adolescent psychotherapy and development”. I have the ability to connect with most infants, children and teens, not only in therapy but in life in general. I’m not the “favorite aunty” for nothing (ssshhhh!).
Orchard Blue Counseling Services continues to grow -we are staffed with graduate level interns, preclicensed and licensed psychotherapist providing virtual psychotherapy and group therapy to children and teens ages 7-19 and adults 20 and up. We also provide inperson and remote services to schools and businesses involving wellness workshops for parents, educators, students, supervisors and leaders.
My 1st step in my journey to private practice: I formed a supportive and professional relationship with other Black and Brown women owned private mental health businesses. This was very helpful during the pandemic as we met biweekly to provide a professional and nurturing space for one another, as well as resources to build and strengthen our business structure.
2nd step: I met with a certified life coach who was also a private mental health practice owner who motivated me to develop a business plan with an emphasis on start-up savings to sustain my living expenses.
My following steps involved registering my business, creating a line of business credit. meeting with an accountant, and education to refresh and hone my clinical skills as well as my new role of CEO.
My suggestion for mental health professionals wanting to start a private practice:
- Don’t believe the hype! While social media is loaded with resources and information that offers both wealth of good information, it is also a space where misinformation looks valid and attractive.
- Join a facebook group specific to your business type and niche.
Join a mental health practice or agency that aligns with your business idea. - Be sure to seek compassionate and skilled clinical supervision to support you in filling any learning gaps or fine tuning your skills. Take continued education courses to refresh and/or strengthen your skills in psychotherapy and knowledge surrounding treatment modalities so to stay current and ethical with future mental health treatment.
- Lastly and always, “Find Your Tribe”! -Connect with other folks who share similar values or morals with differing perspectives so to be exposed to other and new perspectives, while being in space where you can reciprocate compassion, valuing one another’s experiences and sharing resources to take you and your business to the next level!
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I am the founder and clinical director of Orchard Blue Counseling Services LCSW, PLLC. I am a specialists in children and adolescent psychotherapy and development with over 20 years of experience working with children and families thriving with various mental health diagnosis and chronic medical conditions.
I am an alumni of Yeshiva’s Wurzweiler School of Social Work where I received my Masters in Social Work degree, followed with acquiring my License in Clinical Social Work, Certificate Seminar in Field Instructor, and training child trauma focused cognitive behavioral therapy. While I previously served as a Diverse Equity, Inclusion strategist and advocate I hold these beliefs and values in my business and relationships.
My love and passion for my work with children and teenagers led to founding Orchard Blue Counseling Services (OBC), based in New York. OBC specializes in children and teens with a commitment to providing culturally-affirming, holistic psychotherapy with compassion to diverse communities while holding space for BIPOC people. As specialists in children and teens, we curated a wellness community where they can develop a healthy self-esteem and discover ways to manage difficult emotions in healthy ways. Our services extends to adults, as well.
We focus on issues of anxiety, depression, disrupted adolescent development, parental anxiety, strained relationships and childhood trauma and healing generational cycles of trauma.
We provide school based and virtual group wellness workshops to parents and educators, and peer and therapy groups to students K-12.
In addition to aformentioned, I provide:
-Parent Coaching;
-Speaking Engagements
-Mental Health and Wellness Workshops to business for increased compassionate leadership for improved work culture and strengthen morale.
-Clinical Supervision to masters’s level mental health professionals and graduate students in mental health. Tap link below to schedule a free consult.
Cerene’s Personal Life:
Cerene is a first generation Black, Caribbean-American, a descendant of Antigua and Barbuda. Cerene was raised in NYC’s South East Queens with summers spent in Antigua that provided her an enriched culture influencing her love and study of dance, indulging in fused ethnic cuisines, and finding comfort in a warm Antiguan bun with a cup of fevergrass (lemongrass) tea!
One of my proudest moments, is going to my country of descendant, Antigua and Barbuda in 2021 where I launched an 8 week mental health initiative to increase accessibility to low costs mental health treatment during a time where residents were emotionally and mentally coping with the impact of the pandemic. My works in Antigua and Barbuda continues to this day.
Learn more at https://orchardbluecounseling.com or follow us on facebook and instagram @orchardbluecounseling. Call or text (516) 200-1174 or email [email protected] for services.
If you could go back, would you choose the same profession, specialty, etc.?
Without a doubt! I am where I was born to be.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
My passion and strong desire to provide psychotherapy to young children and adolescents and remaining consistent.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.orchardbluecounseling.com/
- Instagram: instagram.com/orchardbluecounseling
- Facebook: facebook.com/orchardbluecounseling
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/orchard-blue-counseling-services-lcsw-pllc/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@cereneprince
Image Credits
Profile photo by Nicole Mondestin Photography. Cerene Prince, Eagle Academy for Young Men-South East Queens, Instagram.com/le.prince