We were lucky to catch up with Jessica Baum recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jessica, appreciate you joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

I feel like my whole life has been about taking risks and following my heart. I’ve done this with starting my own private practice, writing and publishing my book, Anxiously Attached: Becoming More Secure in Life and Love, starting a second sister business called Be Self-full, and truly putting myself out there every single day online. Somedays, I feel like putting my pants on and getting out of bed is also a risk.

I would say that what I have learned is that as a business owner, it is essential to take risks but equally important to ask for support. Sometimes I am not even sure that I am even taking a risk in the moment because I am trying to follow my heart, but then later, at different times feel vulnerable and scared and have to continue to trust my inner compass.

Jessica, 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?

I actually had a few careers before I decided to become a psychotherapist. I struggled enough in my life with depression and anxiety and was always intrigued with mental health and learning about what people are suffering from that we can not see with our eyes. In my late twenties, I decided to return to school and study psychology. This lead me to feel like I was right where I needed to be. I worked in the substance abuse field for a while before I started my own private practice. I got trained in many modalities around couples therapy, trauma, addiction, and codependency.

After a few years in private practice, I decided to expand to a group practice so I could have a team of therapists to work with, and we could work with family and system issues. After a period of time, I decided to write a book and open a second company that allowed me to expand my reach virtually so more people could get help.

I believe that everything comes back to our relationship with ourselves. My team and I work hard to help individuals understand themselves, their history, trauma, and other events in their life that impact and affect how they see the world.

Having a deeper sense of compassion and an understanding of interpersonal neurobiology allows individuals to make sense of their behaviors and how they adapted to survive. This can lead them to make shifts in their awareness. This helps many to create the change and healing that is needed to have a more meaningful life as well as have the healthier relationships they truly desire.

I am Jessica Baum, and I’ve been a psychotherapist for over 15 years. I am the owner of Relationship Institute of Palm Beach and Be Self-full, two companies that strive to help people develop healthier relationships with themselves and others. On June 14, 2022, I published my first book, Anxiously Attached: Becoming More Secure In Life and Love, which is doing well internationally and creating a pathway to healing for many individuals who struggle with insecure attachment.

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

I remember when I started my private practice around 15 years ago. I was scared and leaving my 9-5 and had a few thousand dollars in my bank account. At the time, I had just left a relationship and rented a new apartment. Everything in my life was turned upside down, and I had nothing to grab onto but my passion, drive, and vision.

I did connect to someone and had a partner as we moved into the new territory of being self-employed. I remember having a lot of fear as I stepped into the unknown and needing to trust the unfolding. I always dreamt about having my own private practice and building a brand that would stand for what I believed in.

There were many long hours, nights, and weekends that I put into the dream. I feel like when you want something and you’re scared, you should follow your heart and do it anyway. Somehow the clients came, and I learned to trust the unfolding of how clients came to me and the work I provided to others. In many ways going out on your own is a spiritual process that requires you to follow your passion and heart.

I can say almost the same thing about my book. I was entirely in the dark when it came to understanding the publishing world and what it would take to create a book and get it sold to a major publisher. I knew I had something to share, and I remember writing the first manuscript in my bathtub.

A manuscript that got rewritten four times since it hit print. I had no idea at the time that this was backward because no one writes a book before a book deal.

I then did everything I could to land my dream agent, which took two years. Again completely scared and in the dark, I was finally on my way, and I had the support of someone who believed in me and my message. I had to completely trust and follow my heart as I put myself into the manuscript and had that enter the world. I learned that if you have a dream, you can create and that allowing others to support you is such an important part of the journey. I learned if you’re scared to do, do it anyway! I learned to be brave and listen to my heart.

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

I have a very successful private practice with other therapists working for me. I was happy about helping other psychotherapists on their journey. I knew I wanted to create something that would have a more significant impact on others and allow others who could not afford therapy a pathway to personal healing. I wanted to create something that was more accessible to the general public that included what I was learning from my personal journey and what I was seeing in my clients from my private practice. I wanted to see more people find a path toward healing.

So, I decided to start writing a book, which took me four years to get to print. This time and space allowed me to open a sister company with coaching, online courses, and other ways for people to access help around the world virtually.

Learning along the way, I realized that I had to get out of my comfort zone, which was working inside an office, and put myself out there in the world. Most people don’t know how hard it is for me as times to be “seen,” but I learned that for me to reach and help more people, I needed to be vulnerable enough to share online in ways that would touch and impact others.

Honestly, some days I just want to hide under a rock instead, but I remind myself of my message and amazing community. This encourages me to continue to be brave and create content that inspires people to move towards curiosity of becoming more self-aware and finding security.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.beselfful.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/jessicabaumlmhc
• Facebook: facebook.com/jessicabaumLMHC/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-baum-lmhc-cap-038a1538
• Youtube: youtube.com/@jessicabaumlmhc
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/relationship-institute-of-palm-beach-palm-beach

Image Credits
– West Palm Beach Photo Studio (team photo, me with pink jacket on) ALSO THE FEATURE PHOTO – Capehart Photography (books stacked and me with blue pants outside with blonde women) – Sven Frigger (jeans with me on the floor)