We were lucky to catch up with Fernando Garcia recently and have shared our conversation below.

Fernando, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear the backstory of how you established your own practice.

My road to starting my own practice was filled with some ups and downs for sure. I always had a dream of working for myself, but I didn’t necessarily think I would start my own therapy practice. I had some high hopes that the practice I was working at originally was going to be the place I would grow at, but it seemed like we didn’t share the same visions. Some things I would have done differently is consult with people outside of just my original supervisor. This would have probably given me some insight into what other people were getting paid, what their job structures look like. And it could have given me a more accurate insight on how associate is supposed to be. My advice to young professionals is to find the right support systems around you when you’re starting your own practice. There are many unknowns that you’ll be facing, and it doesn’t have to do with you as a professional, understanding the business side of things is going to be crucial. Being organized, making sure your finances are in order, taxes and all. of your liability things is essential.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My practice is called Stone mental health and performance. We provide a space where we link mental health, physical fitness and performance training to help people develop the skills they need to either balance their health or learn the skills they need to achieve the goals they want in life. We accept most major insurances. a thing that’s special about our practice is that we use fitness, sports and in particular boxing to help people stimulate their nervous system in a safe manner and then also learn strategies on how to manage it. We have certified and licensed providers that do other things such as physical therapy, sports massage or certified fitness trainers. One thing I feel is different about our company is that we are much more hands on when it comes to the execution or applying the. applying the skills that we learn and practice. Unfortunately, I feel that there are many practices that don’t help bridge that gap when it comes to health care to applying it in real life.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I would say I’ve had many pivots throughout my business and personal life. When I first began my education, I started in the firefighter program. in that program I eventually took a psychology class and that was when I started to go more in depth with my love for that. even at that time, I still thought I was probably going to end up being a teacher or somewhere in the education system. when I started to get my experience working in the education system, I felt like my current like my career still needed to grow. There is a time I was thinking of going into school psychology, but I changed my mind and went for general psychology, which I think was the better choice for myself. Choosing general psychology eventually gave me the room I needed to focus on my doctorate after my master’s degree, which was a focus in sport and performance psychology.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I’ve unfortunately had to experience many losses and ups and downs as I completed my education and tried to build my professional reputation. I unfortunately fell into the trap of trying to do too much in order to fix my life. I was balancing going to school for my doctor degree and trying to manage starting a new life with my then fiance. It was very stressful to prepare for the wedding and unfortunately the marriage itself experienced many hardships. My ex-wife struggled with addiction, which eventually led to the ending of our marriage. throughout that time, my younger brother experienced his first psychotic episode, which was a traumatic experience for everyone. He is down thriving and doing very well, and I’m very blessed that I had the connections I did in order to get him to help right away. These events were going on while I was finishing my doctorate degree and trying to complete my associate hours. I eventually completed my doctorate during 2020 during COVID lockdowns. After completing my associate hours and finally becoming licensed, I unfortunately learned that my supervisor at that time didn’t share the same visions that I did in regards to my growth. I then decided to take the chance of opening my own practice and using my education to start medical performance coaching and getting paneled with other insurances to open my own practice. in the beginning. I’ve had to charge more cash rate appointments, which was a big challenge, but eventually things paid off. I originally started in my home. We converted the rooms into offices and the rest of the house and to other therapy sections. This eventually led to us growing enough to get an office downtown which eventually led to us being able to lock down our first warehouse facility. We are hoping to have our grand opening at the end of this month. The original people that started the business with me, unfortunately fell out. However, when I challenged. myself to get the right support and educate myself on the business side of things in a more in depth way. And at the end of the day, taking the biggest chance on myself and trusting myself it eventually led to my practice growing within the next two years faster than I’ve ever seen.

Contact Info:

• Website: stonedojo.com stonementalhealth.com
• Instagram: @fgarciapsych @stonedojo @stonementalhealth
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drgarciapsych/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@drgarciapsych

Image Credits

Little Guide Bakersfield