Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lily Ha. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Lily, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s go back in time to when you were an intern or apprentice – what’s an interesting story you can share from that stage of your career?

During my graduate training, I had the opportunity to intern at several great locations in the San Antonio area. I was able to train at St. Mary’s University local family clinic, which provided low cost counseling services to local individuals, couples, and families; at Incarnate Word University providing counseling services to its students and staff; and a private practice owned by one of the professors of my graduate program. It was nice to be able to train a variety of settings and learn how each counseling center operated as well as the specific demographic of clients they served. When I was officially a licensed intern working towards becoming fully licensed, I had the opportunity to accrue my license hours in a variety of settings again, including a psychiatric hospital, a community clinic contracted with Child Protective Services, and a group private practice.

For me personally, being able to work in diverse clinical settings over the years has allowed me to learn a variety of clinical skills to become a stronger therapist, and it also helped me to determine long-term what setting I wanted to work in, which was ultimately private practice. Additionally, I learned that if you do not venture out and work in different settings, your scope as a therapist can be limited and you may not truly be prepared for unexpected and emergency situations with clients. Lastly, I am also really appreciate of the many leaders and mentors I’ve met along the way as a I built my career and the valuable things they have taught me.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a licensed marriage and family therapist and my practice is located in Allen, Texas. I currently serve clients in the north Texas area and virtually to clients across Texas. My journey to becoming a therapist started years ago during my undergraduate studies. I was very much inspired by several of my psychology professors and peers and their passions of the psychology field, which helped solidify my decision to pursue a career in counseling. I completed my graduate studies at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas and have been in clinical practice for the last 12 years.

Currently, I am EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing) Certified and trained in IFS therapy, which are both trauma focused therapies. These specific therapies have been highly sought out for the last 5+ years, which is why I made a professional goal of mine become EMDR certified and be able to offer the service to prospective clients and meet the current mental health demands. As long as I have been offering those types of therapies, I have collectively heard positive feedback from clients and seeing them meeting their therapy goals. I do offer evening appointments throughout the week to accommodate clients’ work schedules.

What I am most proud of when it comes to my work is the long-term rapport I build with clients and being able to be a part of them evolving throughout their counseling journey. It is absolutely rewarding to see clients do the hard work and thrive in their lives.

Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?

Being open minded and willing to learn about new therapies and modalities coming up. The field is always growing and changing as new research continues to come out. I think to be able to keep up with the demands of the field and the different generational needs, I think continuing to challenge yourself to learn and grow is important factor in being successful in the field.

Have you ever had to pivot?

When I first headed off to college, I had committed to a part of the pre-med program and actually was planning to apply to and attend medical school. About half way through college, I realized through interactions with my professors and peers that my true passions actually laid somewhere else outside of the pre-med track. I remember the exact moment when the light bulb turned on my head, and my heart was telling me I was meant for a different career path… and that moment happened when I was studying abroad in Paris during my junior year. When I came back from Paris, everything started to make sense and I made some changes to my major to support applying to counseling graduate programs. It was one of the best decisions I could have ever made listening to my heart, and I’ve been enjoying the journey ever since!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.blosssomcounselingtx.com
• Instagram: @blossomcounselingtx

Image Credits

Professional Photos by Shermeen Amin