Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Emily Schleich. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Emily, appreciate you joining us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

Starting a business as a *relatively young* single woman terrified me. I had always dreamed of opening this practice and serving this community, but I never imagined it would happen this fast. I was working in a non-profit community mental health setting seeing way too many clients and close too burnout when I knew that something needed to change. I had feared leaving my job due to the stable income and health insurance, but ultimately decided I had to take the risk. I had decided in January of 2020 to transition to my practice, what I did not know was that we were headed towards a pandemic. I was doing contract work for another practice when the pandemic came, and man did it hit me. I had suddenly lost a steady income and could not connect with new clients in person to maintain continuity of care. March of 2020 I was filling my time with trainings on ethics of telehealth and ways to engage kids with autism online. I was in way over my head, but I kept showing up and doing my best to engage with the families I was working with. It was not until summer of 2020 that I felt like I was getting a hang of running my own business. I dedicated a year to long days and nights of working, many failures and business errors, to create a business that I am now proud of. I taught myself business, ethics, accounting, and marketing all within that first year. I am most proud of this risk I took because I did it on my own and I succeeded in creating my dream. I have a partner now as my number one cheerleader, but as he reminds me constantly, I built this on my own.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Emily Schleich (Sly) and I own All Minds Counseling, PLLC in Denver. We are a mental health group practice serving the neurodiverse community with individual, family, and marriage therapy. We offer therapy to kids ages 4-18 as well as adults. I got into this field in college after volunteering for a summer camp in New Mexico for kids with autism. I had no prior experience with autism and did not fully know what I was getting into with a full week long camp. I left this camp with more learning and education than a classroom could have provided, and knew then that I wanted to work with individuals and their families with autism. I went through many different degree options before landing on marriage and family therapy. I chose this career because of the emphasis on the system as a whole and not just the individual. I saw at that camp just how much autism impacted the individual, siblings, and parents. I wanted to provide support to the entire system, not just one aspect of it.
I received my masters of science from Oklahoma State University with a degree in Human Development and Family Studies in Marriage and Family Therapy and Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. I have since been practicing in Denver, Colorado providing therapy in community mental health working with trauma, foster care, family therapy, and intellectual and developmental disabilities.
I started my own practice in 2021 to be able to work with the clients that I feel the most passion about- autism and ADHD. I have since grown my practice to bring on other clinicians with similar passions and backgrounds to provide quality mental health care to our community.
Although our specialty is neurodiversity, we do also see neurotypical clients depending on our availability.

If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?

I would, I actually had several moments during college (both undergraduate and graduate) where I second guessed my profession and degree.

I was in graduate school about a year into my program when I decided this was not the path for me. I remember my professor providing me space to express my concerns, while encouraging me to continue the program, emphasizing the need for systemic therapy for this population. ABA at the time was a big buzzword and I felt I was not meeting the need of the neurodiverse community. I now see the benefit of mental health services and that it has an important role for neurodiverse individuals and their families. Life is more than just outward behaviors, it is the social emotional aspect that in my opinion are important to address and provide space for.

In my practice I focus on the mental health that often accompanies an autism and/or ADHD diagnosis and help my clients address those mental health needs. I do not “treat” neurodiversity to get rid of or heal that diagnosis, but rather use the diagnosis’ as a framework for better understanding individuals and families experiences to creating the life that fits them.

I believe that mental health is often overlooked in our society, especially for individuals with neurodiversity. I would choose this field 100 times over to help break that stigma and provide alternatives to addressing mental health for neurodiverse individuals.

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

I have found that the most beneficial action I took when I started my practice was making connections and even more so, friends. Therapists tend to have close relationships with their referral networks, which makes sense, you want to know the people you are referring to are a good fit for potential clients. I met many wonderful entrepreneurs and experts working with people with autism and ADHD and made it a priority to get involved in the community. Through volunteering my time and making connections I was able to demonstrate that people could trust making referrals to All Minds Counseling. I am still meeting new professionals in this field and intend to continue to make connections in the future.

I believe in connecting with my clients and being a genuinely supportive ally for them. I believe in being person centered, meaning I focus on the person in front of me and their needs, not what a textbook tells me. I lean on their experiences and strengths to make changes. I do not find success in pushing models or trainings in therapy, but rather creating a safe open space to be authentic both from the therapist and my clients. I believe that client word of mouth has kept All Minds Counseling moving forward.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.allmindscounseling.com
• Instagram: all.minds.counseling
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AllMindsCounseling/