We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dr. Richelle Whittaker a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Dr. Richelle, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Was there a moment in your career that meaningfully altered your trajectory? If so, we’d love to hear the backstory.

I’m not sure I would call it a defining moment. There were several moments that lead to the change. I started a doctoral program in the spring of 2015, it was a lifelong dream of mine but I didn’t think I could do it with a private practice, husband, three year old, and a 6 month old. It was a wild ride fueled with many doubts along the way. During those years, I would find myself not enjoying my work as a therapist- not in the way that I had previously. I didn’t give it alot of attention though because I thought it was due to all the things I had going on. I even talked with a mentor about it and she said you just have alot going on, don’t make any decisions right now, wait until your finished with school. Well, I finished school in the fall of 2018 and I still would have these feelings from time to time but if I wasn’t doing therapy or didn’t identify as a therapist, who was I. As we all experienced, the pandemic hit in the spring of 2020 and it was during that time that I got real honest with myself and with God. After much prayer and contemplation, I realized that it was time to let my role as a therapist go and find out who I really was. I realized during this time that I had lost a sense of who I was and what God had purposed for me to do. I actually stopped doing all the things, I was adjunct teaching, providing therapy, and supervising. While the pandemic was challenging and had its pitfalls, it was for me the best thing that could have happened. It gave me the time to ask myself some hard questions and spend more time with the God who created me.

Dr. Richelle, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a believer, a woman of faith. I am honest, laid-back, and love to spend time with family and friends. I’ve been in the field of psychology and education for more than 20 years. Yikes! I started off working in schools providing assessments to children suspected of and/or with a disability which led me to opening my private practice. In the schools, I was evaluating students, majority of them male, but I felt no one was addressing the root cause of their behavior. I set up shop in 2010 and provided counseling to children primarily in the first five years. I then had my own son and experienced Postpartum Depression, so I changed my focus of working with children to working with their parents and specializing in maternal mental health in women of color. I transitioned from providing counseling services in 2020 to now providing evaluation services for children suspected of and/or with a disability. I now offer parent support groups for new parents and parents of children who have received a diagnosis of a disability. I also offer support groups specifically for men in these two areas, In addition, to testing and support groups, I provide professional development trainings to early childhood centers, schools, and agencies. I am also the host of the Raising Sons podcast. In a nutshell, I provide safe spaces for parents and professionals to dialogue about challenging topics that others steer clear of. I am most proud that I have created services that not only are able to bring peace, clarity, and confidence to parents in the most difficult of times but to be able to walk in my purpose daily. This is not work for me, its a calling.

Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?

Yes, I would. I’ve known since high school that I wanted to work in the field of psychology and become a psychologist. The journey to getting here didn’t come how I planned or expected but it is one that I’m grateful for. There is a poem by Robert Frost that says there were two paths in the woods and I took the one less traveled by and that has made all the difference. Many of the detours that I’ve taken, I can now see how they have landed me here and provided experiences I would not have had otherwise.

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

I believe the most helpful for succeeding in the field of psychology are having mentors and a supportive group of people doing the same thing you’re doing. I have had professors that mentored and encouraged me while in graduate school. I had a professor that I still communicate with and that organized a group of people so I could do my mock dissertation defense. He explained to me areas that needed revising and even helped with my statistical methodology. I also had a friend that was building her practice at the same time and we would exchange ideas and strategies. You will most certainly need others as you journey along!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.takeyournextsteps.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr_richelle
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-richelle-whittaker-39877258/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@drrichellewhittaker
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drwhittaker1

Image Credits
Elroy McDaniel