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

Liz, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.

I graduated with a degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Friends University in July of 2021. I have been professionally practicing therapy for only 15 months. That said, this first year has been an incredible experience with so many defining, special, intimate moments with so many of my clients. One such defining moments comes to mind right now. In my field, we are careful around the issue of self-disclosure with clients. That is so that the focus remains where it belongs (on the clients) and the therapy experience does not become about us as the therapist. My training was to use self-disclosure rarely, skillfully, and appropriately. That said, early in my practice I found myself utilizing self-disclosure more and more to normalize issues/emotions/topics that my clients found shameful. Given the power I have in the room as the therapist, I found that if I disclosed that I, too, have had that issue/emotion, the impact on the client was always significant and therapeutically helpful (per their self-report). I had one specific client who shared her Bipolar diagnosis with me. She had so much shame and anxiety around the diagnosis. After a few sessions together, I eventually revealed that I, too, have Bipolar disorder. The client cried. We hugged. We cried together. That was such a profound moment of connection for us. I believe that by revealing that I have Bipolar disorder, I helped the client feel less alone and less shame around the diagnosis. It provided hope that someone can have Bipolar disorder, with all its challenges and symptoms, and still develop resilience, health and well-being, and reach their goals and live out their dreams. Over the past year, I have watched this client grow into herself, love herself, take better care of herself, and her anxiety has significantly lessened. She no longer has shame around her diagnosis or who she is as a person. The experience of being her therapist has transformed both of us. It is my honor and privilege to work with her, and I am so grateful that I had the courage to share my diagnosis with her so that she could feel hope and so much less alone. That is a defining moment in my career.

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 in the state Kansas, and a Provisionally Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in the state of Missouri. I provide psychotherapy for individuals, couples, and families. I generally work with complex PTSD, anxiety, depression, relational problems, self-esteem issues, general life issues/transitions, and work with non-traditional couples. More information about my practice can be found at www.lizdavistherapy.com. Some therapists are very loyal to specific theories, techniques, or structures. I think one thing that sets me apart is that I am so eclectic, drawing from a range of theories, modalities, techniques, etc., that doing therapy sometimes feels more like creating a work of art using mixed media! I have no set structure for my sessions. I take a client-centered approach (per Carl Rogers) and so my way of being, how sessions are structured, what interventions I say/do all change depending on the client in front of me and what they are bringing into the room that day. Sometimes the lack of structure is terrifying! As I’m getting to know new clients and building a strong relationship and alliance with them, I have to utilize my intuition so, so much to figure out how to navigate each session as I go. This way of doing therapy could be considered risky by some, but I think I have developed a lot of self-trust and trust in my intuition over the course of my life. I am most proud of the fact that I have been a listener and healer my entire life (or so people have told me since childhood). I feel so much gratitude to have the opportunity to do a job that feels like an extension of my general way of being in the world. My core values as a person and for my practice are Authenticity, Acceptance, and Alignment. I value showing up in an authentic way in the world through my self-expression, and try to foster that in my clients. I promote acceptance of all things in life: ourselves, our emotions, experiences outside of our control, etc. Helping my clients develop self-acceptance and acceptance of all of their feelings is so rewarding to me. Lastly, I strive to live in alignment with my values and what is best for my true, authentic Self, and strive to help my clients do so too. Getting to this place in life where I am able to have my dream career and live out my values has been a long journey. I developed Bipolar disorder in college, so it took me eight years to graduate undergrad due to my symptoms and figuring out the right medications that work for me. After the arduous experience of undergrad, I was terrified to go to graduate school out of fear of failing due to mental health issues, but also an interesting fear of success as well. After undergrad, I worked as the General Manager at a restaurant for several years. It was fun and rewarding, but I realized that the part I loved the most was nurturing and guiding my young employees. It was the human to human connection that I thrived on. My loving partner saw this in me and repeatedly urged me to go to graduate school to become a therapist. I am forever grateful to him for seeing my potential and giving me the courage and support to pursue the dream I had had since I was 14 years old, when I was so incredibly inspired by my first therapist, Dr. Darcy D. Buehler. I remember sitting in her office and just wanting to be her. It took most of my twenties to find the courage to finally pursue that dream. Graduating last year was a magical experience. Starting my own business and private practice was an equally magical experience. I found a strength inside of me that I didn’t know was possible. Running a business is so much work but is so incredibly rewarding. I want to honor all of the friends, family, colleagues, supervisors, and professors who have helped me along the way. I could not have done this alone. And now I am in a position to help guide my amazing clients so that they, too, do not feel so alone on this wild ride that is life.

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

As a psychotherapist, training and knowledge is obviously very important to do effective work. That said, I have found that being able to access one’s Self as a human being is crucial to forming an effective therapeutic alliance or connection with clients. While my academic training was incredible, I find that I rely most on my own innate intuition, wisdom, and life experience. When I am at my best, I am in a state of “flow” when working with my clients where what I say and interventions I do are almost entirely intuitive. In order to do so, I have to be able to be fully embodied in the room and therefore able to fully access myself so that I can accurately attune to and connect with the client in front of me. I cannot overstate the amount of self-care necessary outside of session that is required to be so embodied in session. My relationship with myself and my self-care routines are crucial parts of my success. We must all put on our own oxygen masks first before we can help others with theirs!

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Building clientele is crucial for any psychotherapist. I have found two strategies that are most effective for doing so. The first is having a strong web presence. I built my website through a guided 8-week program called TherapyCorps created by my colleague Lily Dawson. By building my own website with her guidance, I was able to create a website that was 100% authentic to me. I wrote all of my own copy and designed all the pages, so new clients were basically able to experience who I really am before they ever reached out to schedule an appointment. I wanted to make my website feel like an extension of who I am as a therapist, and I think I succeeded thanks to the TherapyCorps program. Secondly, my partner is an SEO strategist. That means search engine optimization, so basically making sure that my website is optimized to show up on Google when people search for therapists. My partner was so kind to optimize my web presence for me, and I found that I was able to build my caseload super quickly when I first started. Because my website was so authentic, I was attracting clients who are a great fit for me, and so we did great work together! Now, my practice is primary referral based which I’m super excited about! In both cases, I had so much help building my business and my clientele. I am incredibly grateful.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lizdavistherapy.com
• Instagram: lizdavis_therapy
• Facebook: @lizdavistherapy
• Twitter: @LizDavisTherapy

Image Credits
Noreen Dupriest, MS, LMFT