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

Edliz, appreciate you joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

Before the pandemic, I often “gifted” my clients a book on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and a folder to put in all of their worksheets. There are apps that exist where clients can keep track of homework, but it required me to input and check things on their behalf and when you are already managing schedules and administration, it can be tough to add “homework management” to the list of things to do as a practicing mental health counselor. I wanted to design something that could allow clients to keep track of their progress in therapy as well as have access to important resources. I taught myself how to design a digital journal and created it on my own. Currently, clients can download this journal into a pdf reader and use it to write notes during session, maintain their resources, and track their homework and progress.

Edliz, 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’m a first generation Latina who’s the first and only person in my family to get my master’s degree. I work hard to find creative solutions for my clients in therapy when they get stuck. I take feedback and I collaborate with clients to name the dynamics that take place in our therapeutic relationship to leverage those experiences for “practice” in the real world. My clients will say that I love to use humor and I’m not afraid to confront or challenge my clients when it seems like they are engaging in the therapeutic practice incongruently. I write from a personal perspective in order to bring counseling ideas to a general audience and am working to train other counselors to work from creative frameworks as well.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

For me, I think the reason why I’ve had success in growing my clientele is because clients have a strong sense of who I am and what kind of work I do from the beginning. They are able to recognize the value of the process because I do a good job of breaking things down for them. Often people believe that products or services speak for themselves, but there are often many misconceptions surrounding these things and we don’t do enough “telling”. In order for clients to understand what you’re showing them, sometimes you need to tell them what it is

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

A year into my work in private practice, the director of the practice I was working for was arrested. I walked into my office, ready to see clients and was welcomed by homeland security. To my horror, I was asked to open my office, have my things searched. It was incredibly scary and I didn’t know what to do. With the support of my supervisor and friend/colleague, I resigned that day and had a new practice with said colleague, up and running within a week of my resignation. New office, new website, new phone number, everything. I did most of it alone. I was proud of my ability to problem-solve quickly and figure out a way to press forward.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.incrementalcare.com
• Instagram: Incremental Care
• Facebook: Incremental Care
• Linkedin: Edliz Vazquez