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

Jasmine, appreciate you joining us today. Innovation comes in all shapes, sizes and across all industries, so we’d love to hear about something you’ve done that you feel was particularly innovative.

Hello my name is Jasmine Parker and I’m a Registered Art Therapist and Mental Health Counselor, as well as the owner of Listen to Your Art Therapy and Empowerment Services.

At LTYART we strive to break down barriers to those in need of services receiving beneficial therapeutic services.

One way that we decided to do this was making our services mobile; we bring the services to you.

In 2020, we purchased a travel trailer and remodeled the trailer to convert it into a mobile art studio. The studio is a fully functional art studio with art, supplies, electricity and running water, best of all its cozy and comfortable.

Our clients enjoy the luxury of their own art studio while receiving their Art Therapy services and best of all they do not have to leave the comforts of their front yards.

Jasmine, 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 name is Jasmine Parker, I’m a Registered Art Therapist with the American Art Therapy Association, as well as a Mental Health Counseling Intern for the state of Florida. I have a dual master’s degree in Art Therapy and Mental Health Counseling. My clinical background covers a wide range of settings to include: Residential Treatment, Public Schools, Community Agencies, Psychiatric Hospitals, Medical Hospitals, Juvenile Correctional Centers, and private practice. My vision is to empower young people by providing them with a safe space to express creatively and openly, without judgment; giving them the opportunity to explore their inner Self and successfully navigate life’s daily struggles while feeling empowered.

I am the owner of Listen to Your Art Therapy & Empowerment Services LLC( LTYART for short), which focuses on preventative care. Our practice is an art therapy practice for teens, families and young adults, that focus on reducing anxiety, improving healthy coping skills, decreasing stress and trauma symptoms, reducing maladaptive behaviors, increasing self-esteem, self-worth and building resiliency through the use of art and the creative process.

We aim to offer a different and often new approach to therapy and counseling services because for some traditional talk therapy just doesn’t work.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

When I first started my practice I predominately focused on providing community based groups and I was still working my full-time job but the growth of the business have me the confidence to decided to leave my full-time job.

Now something you don’t know about me is that, although I was interested in growing my business. I was comfortable at my stable, salaried position and stability was the main reason I had not left my job sooner. But as I said, due to the speedy growth and need for my services, I felt as though it was time.

So on March 5, 2020 I left my full-time, stable employment to focus on growing my business full-time and by the end of March 2020, the unthinkable happened, COVID.

So, as I said my business was predominately group focused but as the world quickly shutdown groups seemed impossible. I was afraid and was not sure what I would do.

After about 3 days of panic, I called down and started focusing on my pivot. I began to focus less on group work and started focusing on individual therapy services via telehealth. I was also able to offer a few groups via telehealth as well but the focus became more about serving clients online.

Fast forward to 2022, we are now hybrid; offering both online and in person services.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I think the 2 key factors that helped to build our reputation is being genuine, authentic and consistently showing up and providing quality services every time.

As clinicians we focus on establishing and maintaining a strong therapeutic alliance with our clients. We put their needs first and show up as genuine and as authentically as we can.

We our involved in the community and often volunteer our time and service to the communities we serve.

I think these key factors are what have helped us build and establish the reputation that we have and we strive to grow up from here.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ltyart.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/ltyart_tes
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/ltyart