We recently connected with Justine Cleveland and have shared our conversation below.

Justine , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about a time you helped a customer really get an amazing result through their work with you.

I am a mental health therapist in private practice where I partner with horses to help guide humans on their journey to healing their trauma. I grew up as one of those horse girls who begged and begged my parents for a horse and soaked up every opportunity I had to be with horses. There is something about them that is so deeply grounding and magical for me, and many others. After years of working in therapy agencies and getting burnt out, I sought to combine my love of horses and helping. They help me as much as my clients! I specialize in treating attachment wounds and I see a lot of children in the foster care system. Trauma researcher Dr. Bruce Perry states that relationships are the agents of change in healing. After being hurt in human relationships, as these children have, that makes healing difficult. I have seen my horses come alongside these children and use their gifts to form healing relationships for change. One child that comes to mind came to me pushing away the world because it was easier than getting hurt. One of my horses came up to her and stuck by her side despite the client’s attempts to ignore the horse and deny wanting the affection. The horse looked at her and seemingly said “I see the real you and you aren’t as scary as you pretend to be.” The child couldn’t help but smile and accept that there is someone in this world that does think they are worth being with. I have seen many similar situations over the past three years of having my private practice that amaze me daily. Another passion of mine is leading retreats with the horses. I had the opportunity to lead an event for frontline workers impacted by the stress of COVID. A group of six individuals, ranging from safety and healthcare vocations, came to spend time grooming the horses as they shed their winter coats. The humans were given the invitation to shed emotions they were carrying as well. I later received feedback from multiple participants that they felt they did release burdens from major events impacting them. I feel so grateful to be able to hold space for these kinds of events.

Justine , 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?

My name is Justine Cleveland. I am a licensed clinical social worker and I provide mental health counseling partnering with horses. I have six horses in the beautiful northwoods of Wisconsin. I am blessed to also be called wife and mother of a spunky six-year-old that joined us through adoption. I am a person who does not like to fit into boxes, I love Jesus and also all things “woo”, social justice, and semi-crunchy-nature-girl. I love helping others heal from trauma and live into their authentic-awesome selves.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

The most effective strategy as a private practice therapist has been to lean into my niche. There are people that light us up and people who drain us and being a therapist does it mean this reality goes away. We are just humans like everyone else! The spark we bring to sessions fuels the hope and relationship foundation that clients need for change. People who light me up are children and families who are impacted by adoption and want to build better relationships. My grandmother was a foster parent and I love the big-hearted people who walk the adoption and foster care journey. I also love coming alongside those people when they realize that love isn’t enough to heal trauma and walking with them as they learn trauma-informed parenting and being a healing home.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

What has helped me build a reputation in my community has been building honest connections with referral partners and other therapists. One of the best compliments I have ever received was, “Justine you are just the same person everywhere you are.” I believe in being myself and people will either resonate with that and refer to me, or they will find someone else who fits better. When we are ourselves and know that the people meant to work with you will come, we can have an energy that is inviting to others. Part of this is a practice of having thoughts of abundance and trusting that God has put me on this journey and will take care of me. I also believe that having a heart of service builds referrals and your reputation. This fall I am hosting a free retreat for therapists in my area to connect with together and share together to build a network of trusted professionals to refer to.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.wholeheartedherdcounseling.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wholeheartedherdcounseling/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Wholehearted-Herd-Counseling-LLC-102979501415415