We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Christina P. Kantzavelos a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Christina P. , looking forward to hearing all of your stories 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?
.I established my practice more so based on the pivot, talked about down below!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Christina P. Kantzavelos and I’m a California-based licensed psychotherapist, freelance writer and app founder. I received my Bachelor’s and Master’s of Social Welfare (MSW) from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and my Masters of Library and Information Sciences from San Jose California State University (SJSU). I have visited over 30 different countries and documented most of it on social media. However, it was in completing the Camino de Santiago (500-mile pilgrimage across Spain) at the end of 2015, where I realized my strong affinity with writing. I decided to start BuenQamino, an award-winning, gluten-free and health-conscious lifestyle, and travel publication.
In clinical practice (@BeginWithinToday), I treat and am an advocate for those with chronic illness, and physical, developmental and age-related disabilities.
I published ‘Begin Within – A Daily Healing Journal’ (www.beginwithintoday.com) in 2020 for those living life with chronic illness or other health-related challenges that I both wholesale and sell directly on my website. This journal was created while I was couch-bound due to illness. I looked for a mind-body journal to help track and manage my symptoms, however, it didn’t exist. I needed a way to track my health and connect the dots, to share with my various practitioners, to make collaborative evidence-based and informed decisions alongside them. So, I started jotting prompts down into an empty notebook, including what things worked, what didn’t work, as well as recognize when days were challenging, and honor my accomplishments (big or small).. Doing this was especially helpful during healthcare appointments to recall my symptoms. I was also able to see the positive changes, that I was indeed on the road to healing, even if it was only incremental. Healing isn’t linear after all. Once I also realized this would be a helpful tool for others, I designed and printed the journals to sell. The only true complaint I received was, when would the app version be available, which leads me to…
The WithinMe App! This is an extension of the Begin Within Journal, and nothing like it exists on the market. As a therapist specializing in chronic illness, and as someone who has struggled with debilitating chronic health symptoms from Lyme disease and other diagnoses, I realize a lot of the magic happens between healthcare appointments. WithinMe App is an innovative health tracking tool that allows individuals to track and monitor their symptoms and status. With over 50 prompts, including sleep hygiene, nutrition, mental, spiritual, and physical health, WithinMe App enables users to easily monitor changes in their health, identify triggers, and manage their conditions more effectively. One of the key features of WithinMe App is its minimalistic design, which makes it easy to use and navigate. Users can save and send PDFs of their tracked data to healthcare practitioners throughout any span of time, helping them to communicate and collaborate more effectively with their care team.
The WithinMe App will be available for purchase on May 22, 2023, at withinmeapp.com, with pre-orders beginning May 15. The app offers a 7-day free trial, after which users can purchase the app for $2.99 a month or $19.99 per year. For more information about the app’s features and capabilities, visit the Within Me App website at: www.withinmeapp.com.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
In and after grad school, my focus was in policy/ macro social work, and international social work/ disaster response and relief work. I worked in medical systems to obtain hours for licensure, however, my goal was always to work in the humanitarian field once licensed. Once I was accepted in the holy grail of humanitarian jobs, Doctors Without Borders, I continued to work disaster relief contracts whilst waiting to be placed. During one overseas contract, I became very ill. This turned into me having to cut my contract, and return home for treatment. Little did I know the entire trajectory of my life would change. I had to stop working due to my illness, and as you can imagine, most things in my life had to shift to accommodate and prioritize healing. There was a lot of grief in this.
While healing, I had a lot of trouble finding the right therapist. Finding someone who specializes in chronic illness/ medical trauma and accepted insurance was near to impossible. Add ‘holistic’ to the mix, and you’re searching for a unicorn. I at-least found someone chronic illness literate, which was wonderful, but wasn’t everything I needed. But I made due with various other practitioners and self-learnt modalities. As I became stronger, and had the energy to work again, I decided to become the therapist I wish I had. I created a practice that is built on the foundation in hope and healing, utilizing a root cause and holistic approach. I have the honor of working with and witnessing people heal, and it’s so beautiful. I absolutely love what I do.
The journal and app were also created during the pivot, and fill that macro social work focus and perspective I also find purpose in. I love that these tools can reach and help so many people, rather than just one at a time.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start?
The app has been completely self-funded, and I continue to apply for grants in hopes that we will receive further funding to both enhance the app, and get its name out to the world. I am also open to an investor.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.withinmeapp.com / www.beginwithintoday.com / www.buenqamino.com
- Instagram: @withinmeapp / @beginwithintoday / @buenqamino
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/withinmeapp / www.facebook.com/beginwithintoday / www.facebook.com/buenqamino
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/christinakantzavelos
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/withinmeapp / www.twitter.com/bwtjournal / www.twitter.com/buenqamino
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/withinmeapp / www.youtube.com/beginwithintoday / www.youtube.com/buenqamino