We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Chanel Toson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Chanel thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Talk to us about building your team? What was it like? What were some of the key challenges and what was your process like?

Funny thing is that I thought when choosing to open my private practice, I would just be a solo practitioner. However, this did not turn out to be the case. One day, I received an email from a prospective graduate student inquiring about an internship at my practice. Little did I know once opening the door for her, I would be opening the door for so many wonderful teaching, training, building and growth opportunities. I’d be building my team!

Since opening Creative Touch Counseling Center, LLC I’ve had the pleasure of supervising 8 intern students and I’m pleased to have been able to extend an opportunity for employment to many of them. In addition to creating room for interns to join my team, I’ve been blessed to have wonderful therapists connect themselves with my practice. We are a diverse, talented group of therapists, utilizing our different skills to meet the growing counseling needs of our practice.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My love for counseling began when I was in middle school after being approached by the guidance counselor to be a Peer Mediator. I loved to talk, and helping my peers resolve their conflicts seemed to come naturally to me. That experience sparked my interest in being a counselor. Whether in the schools or in the community, I knew I wanted to be in the helping profession. I am a double Eagle, having graduated from North Carolina Central University with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Master’s degree in Counseling. I’ve had the wonderful experience of working in diverse counseling settings, including in-home case management, group homes, day programs, and a mental health resiliency clubhouse for kids. My roles in these settings ranged from direct service delivery to management.

During the pandemic, I was met with career uncertainty. I knew that the time was right, now more so than ever, for me to serve and to use my counseling skills in a more impactful way. Creative Touch Counseling Center, LLC was formed to offer counseling support to youth, adults, couples, and families. In my practice, we promote mental health wellness through counseling services such as: individual counseling, group counseling, family and couple’s therapy. In addition to counseling services, we foster growth through providing psychoeducation workshops clinical training, and by going into the community to raise awareness for those who need it most. We do not offer a “one size fits all” approach to counseling, but every therapist in my practice brings a unique skill set to meet the individual needs of the persons we serve.

Any advice for managing a team?

By nature, I am a cheerleader. and I’ve learned this skillset is necessary for maintaining high morale with your team. I encourage every leader to look for the strengths within each member of your team and find ways to compliment and support it. It’s important that you create individual opportunities for your team members to explore their interests, develop their skills, and give them room to shine. When you build your team members confidence and show them consistent support, this builds their desire to want to be a positive contributor to the team, subsequently boosting team morale.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

When choosing to start my business, I took the route of self-funding. My supportive husband provided the start up funds to have Creative Touch Counseling Center, LLC become a legal entity and I began applying to different insurance panels to join their network as a therapist. to have my services reimbursable. In addition to joining insurance panels, I also spent a lot of time marketing myself on social media, attending networking sessions, vending at community events, and knocking on any door that would open to generate more referrals for my business.

We recognized the build may be slow, so we didn’t bite off more than we could chew. To cut down on over head costs, the majority of my sessions were virtual in the beginning. Once my clientele began to grow and I was able to accept insurance, more funds began to come in. I then was able to use funds from the business to budget for a small space and office furniture. Overtime, business continued to grow to where after 2 years of working full time and managing a small business, I was able to leave the security of my full time job and commit 100% of myself to my business.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.creativetouchcounseling.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ct_counselingcenter/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CTCounselingCenter
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/CTCounseling
• Youtube: @creativetouchcounselingcen6962
• Other: Link to book on Amazon https://a.co/d/fl0G0EN

Image Credits
Christina Williams Gisele Miller