We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Irene Nunez. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Irene below.

Irene, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear the backstory of how you established your own practice.

Prior to starting my own practice, I was working for the county as a licensed clinical social worker providing school based mental health services to students in the junior high level. I truly enjoyed my role in this position as I felt like I was able to make meaningful connections with students and families I worked with. Beginning in my 4th year into this position, I decided to get pregnant and begin my journey into motherhood. As much as I loved my job at the time, I knew I needed to search elsewhere for a position that offered higher pay and more flexibility so that I can spend more time with my baby once she arrived.

I spent hours searching the job market and it was extremely difficult to find anything that can either match or exceed the pay I was currently receiving. But most importantly, to offer a good work life balance for me to spend more quality time with my baby. I knew private practice was always an options however, I was experiencing fear, doubt, and major imposter syndrome. I told myself, there is now way I can do it, and really doubted that I could ever be successful at it. In regards to imposter syndrome, I noticed that being a BIPOC, pregnant female kept coming up for me. I felt that these identities that I held for myself were going to prevent me from starting my own practice.

I decided to chat with some of my colleagues that had started their own practices and was able to pick their brain on any recommendations on how to get started. I was so grateful for all of their insight and assistance during this time. It really gave me the push to begin the process. One of my colleagues, recommended I take a course on how to start my own practice that was being offered through, Latinx Therapy, which is a network for latinx therapists that offer various services to the community and therapists. This was one of the best investments ever ! This course provided me with a step by step guide along with recommendations for marketing and other such business essentials. Because this course was offered specifically to BIPOC therapists it also provided me with a sense of safety and community that is crucial when starting your own practice. After taking this course, I felt so confident that I spent that entire weekend/following week getting my practice up and running ! My goal was to have everything up and running prior to me giving birth. At this time, I was 8 months pregnant which was a major motivator.

One of the key challenges that I noticed was my lack of patience. Plenty of individuals informed me that it can be a slow start to build up your case load and to be patient. However, as an anxious person myself, I did not take that into consideration. So now when I do meet with therapists looking to start their own practices, I make sure to emphasize this part of the journey. That it can but not always, be a slow start and that is ok. I also add in the piece of there may be slow periods but it won’t always be that way. The beauty of creating your own schedule being able to incorporate endless creativity is priceless.

The best advice I can give to anyone considering starting their own practice is, DO IT ! There is no better time than now. Build your community, ask questions, be curious, research, but most importantly have fun with it!

Irene, 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?

Hola ! My name is Irene Nunez, I am a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW). My office is based out of North Orange County (Brea) and service clients in surrounding areas as well. I have several years of experience in providing mental health services to children and families in the school setting and in the child welfare system.

I grew up in Inglewood, CA in a Cuban and Mexican American household. During these youthful years, my passion towards social justice and helping others began. I myself struggled with anxiety and personal trauma during these years and decided to make it my life’s mission to become an empathetic listener and advocate for adolescents/their families and adults in the BIPOC communities. This inspired me to receive my BA in Sociology and Criminal Justice from California State University, Fullerton. and continue to high education by receiving a Master of Social Work degree from California State University, Fullerton with a concentration in child welfare.

In order to do so, I have become a strong advocate for taking steps towards decolonizing and destigmatizing how we view and participate in therapy and in the mental health field. I believe my approaches are aligned with those of holistic therapy and healing practices. I have taken and continue to take several steps in integrating this into my practice.

Through these experiences I have been able to help individuals find their inner peace, balance, strengths, and walk the middle path towards healing. I provide trauma therapy for adults and children. I believe everyone’s path towards healing is unique. My focus is to help individuals heal, energize, reprocess traumatic events, break patterns of intergenerational trauma, connect with their inner child and become aware of their inner warrior strengths. I specialize in EMDR and Brainspotting which are both forms of trauma therapy. As every individual has a unique story, so does their healing journey. When working with individuals I will tailor their individual treatment plans to fit their personal goals and individual journeys.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Providing life changing services to current clients which has led them to refer me to other potential clients. In addition to balancing my professional identity and also providing clients with a safe and authentic version of myself. I have heard from several of my clients that they truly appreciate this about me and it helps them feel comfortable coming to session and getting what they need out of these sessions. I remind my clients that yes I am a professional therapist however I am also human.

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

Yes I would ! However, I would have maybe requested workshops or seminars on how to start a private practice to be offered to us students in grad school when I was still in school.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://flowwithittherapy.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flow_with_it_therapy/?hl=en

Image Credits
Credit: Stacia Narasky