We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Maria Scotto and Nicole Scotto N/a a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Maria Scotto and Nicole Scotto, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear the backstory of how you established your own practice.

When we first decided to set up our own practice, my mom (Maria Scotto) was working a 9-5 job and seeing clients after that very long work day. At this time, I was working as a teacher and had just started my graduate program to become a mental health counselor myself. I saw the long hours my mom worked each day and wanted better for her. She was (and still is) an amazing therapist . She was highly rated and clients were requesting more and more of her time. She was so helpful to her clients and was making such a big difference in the world; I wanted to be able to see her provide her services to as many clients as possible. We sat down one day and I stated that when I was finished with graduate school; I wanted to open my own therapy practice. It was the only way that I could see myself happily practicing in the field .Since my mom was already practicing and seeing clients in the field; I wondered out loud if we could open an office sooner rather than later. We started to play around with that idea and I had already set my heart on doing it. I wanted to see a better work-life balance for my mom (and for my future self) and for us to be able to help as many people as we could in each day. Helping people is both of our passions- so why not make this dream a reality? The biggest challenge was actually convincing my mom (Maria) to take the leap of faith and quit her 9-5 job. It was a big change and involved a lot of financial risk. We set out to find an office, and actually found the perfect start up office right away. We took this as a sign that we were on the right track. From there, we took the leap of faith and signed a two year lease for our first office. We did all of our furniture shopping together and actually had a lot of fun doing so. If I could do anything differently, it would only be not to worry so much about the outcome. We followed our hearts and we were led to exactly where we needed to be. My advice to any young professsional who is considering starting their own practice would simply be- follow your heart and believe in your purpose, the rest will follow!

Maria Scotto and Nicole Scotto, 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?

We are a mother-daughter owned and operated mental health counseling business. We both got into this field because we both have always had a passion for helping others. My mom, Maria, raised me with so much love and compassion that it is not surprising that we both ended up in the field of mental health; providing compassion to individuals and families who are struggling in any way. Maria got into the field of mental health about 15 years ago. I followed in her footsteps about 5 years ago after pursuing my lifelong goal of teaching children. As a teacher, I found myself wanting to provide emotional support to my students. However, finding time for this in a busy classroom was nearly impossible. I became inspired by watching my mom help clients through her work as a mental health counselor. I wanted to provide that same level of service to this world that we live in. I then decided to go for my double masters in school counseling and clinical mental health counseling. In this way, I strive to help both children and adults become the best versions of themselves, manage any stressors and improve their quality of life.

If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?

Absolutely not! We both really have a passion for helping individuals work though challenges, improve their quality of life and providing help and hope to those who need it. While everyone struggles with something at some point in their lifetime; not everyone knows that there is help available. Sometimes we cannot do everything on our own. Asking for help can be a challenging step for most individuals. Our goal at Balanced Life Therapy Group is to make talk therapy more widely accessible and bring awareness to the importance of mental health. Mental Health is undervalued in our society. We aim to help bring some of that value back to the profession by inspiring individuals to become the best version of themselves and feel their best each and every day.

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

In the field of mental health, we believe that having compassion and empathy is the key to succeeding. Training and knowledge really comes second to having compassion and empathy for those whom you aim to help through your work. Genuinely wanting to understand and help the clients we work with has helped us to become successful in our business and help our clients live the best life possible!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.balancedlifetherapygroup.com
• Instagram: @balancedlifetherapygroup
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/balancedlifetherapygroup/