We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jamie Marich. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jamke below.
Jamie, appreciate you joining us today. Setting up an independent practice is a daunting endeavor. Can you talk to us about what it was like for you – what were some of the main steps, challenges, etc.
Right now my business is primarily characterized as a training organization for therapists, mental health professionals, and others in the human services. And at the beginning of my career as a therapist when I was working on my Ph.D., hoping to teach that way in a university, I didn’t even realize that offering trainings of professional skills that people just don’t get in graduate school was a viable career path.
I remember giving my first in-service style training at the company I worked for in 2007 and one of my colleagues said, “You know you can get paid to do trainings like that?” And then I began looking into what it would take to offer continuing education professionally. I began teaching more small in-services than half or whole day trainings. As my reputation grew in the trauma community I became more in demand. My training company which started as a small side gig in 2008 became my major business by 2015.
My motto is try anything once. Make the connections and you’ll learn where you belong and where what you can offer meets the demand out there.
Jamie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My official professional bio, the short form anyway, reads as such:
Dr. Jamie Marich (she/they/we) is a Croatian-American licensed professional clinical counselor based in the State of Ohio. She began her career in human services while working as an English teacher and learning the intricacies of social work in post-war Bosnia-Hercegovina from 2000-2003. She is a person in long-term recovery from an addictive disorder and is one of the few professionals currently teaching on dissociation to be “out” about her reality of living life with dissociative identities. Professionally in the field of addiction, she is the author of the popular “Trauma and the 12 Steps: An Inclusive Guide to Enhancing Recovery,” originally published in 2012 and re-released in 2020. The revised workbook version of this content is also newly available from her publisher, North Atlantic Books. Jamie is also the author of “Dissociation Made Simple: A Stigma-Free Guide to Embracing Your Dissociative Mind and Navigating Life”, and several books specifically on EMDR Therapy.. In total, Jamie has over thirteen books and manuals published. Jamie is the founder of the Institute for Creative Mindfulness and directs one of the largest EMDR Therapy training programs in North America. She also developed the Dancing Mindfulness approach to expressive arts therapy. Her work has been features in the New York Times, the Huffington Post, and Psychotherapy Networker.
What I like to say more informally is that in whatever roll we are occupying, we endeavor to facilitate transformative experiences for individuals and systems who seek me out. My stepson once asked me, “Jamie, how many jobs do you have? I count eight. Or maybe it’s nine?” And I shared with him that whether I am working with folks clinically, teaching a yoga or dance class, playing music, or laboring in the office on administrative days to run my training business, which now involves a network of dozens of affiliated people teaching my curricula, transformation is the intention.
Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?
An ability to be flexible and to adapt to life circumstances and global circumstances, like the pandemic. My journey with navigating my own mental health struggles taught me so much about flexibility and adaptation as a super power.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
Authenticity; a student once told me over a break at one of my trainings, “Jamie, I heard you speak for 10 minutes and I knew they couldn’t keep you locked up in the university.”
Not only was that one of the best compliments I ever received, it describes what the people who are drawn to me and my work generally find most appealing. I speak from lived experience and intuition over trying to show all that I “know” academically.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jamiemarich.com or www.redefinetherapy.com
- Instagram: drjamiem
- Facebook: Fan page: Dr. Jamie Marich
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamiemarich/?external_page=LPC.Immersive
- Twitter: jamiemarich
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@DrJamieMM
- Other: TikTok: traumatherapistrants
Image Credits
Last two professional photos (with art and guitar) you can credit Jenna Forte Picture in big conference hall by Sara Severino All others by Garrett LaValley or Jamie Marich