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

Monica , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with 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?

My career as an intern before full licensure was fun to reflect on because along with material and experience, I learned a lot about myself. I had the chance of being an intern in several different places in my career during my masters and after to get hours towards my full LPC licence. I was an intern at: Lifepath Systems – the behavioral health authority for Collin County; Mountain View College – a community college in Dallas; Dallas Life – a homeless shelter in Dallas; The Turning Point Rape Crisis Center in Plano; and a private therapy practice in Plano. The opportunity of intering in these different settings was exciting, educational, and overwhelming at the time. I remember feeling frustrated with myself for not picking up things quick enough or performing as well as experienced therapists; but thanks to good supervisors ans professors I learned a lot of patience for myself and others. Overall, it was a very enlightening process that I am thankful I had the chance to experience.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am a Licensed Professional Counselor, or LPC licensed in the state of Texas. This means I’m a qualified mental health professional who can provide therapy services to those who seek it.
To take us back a little bit, my light bulb moment of pursuing being a therapist went off in undergrad when I took an abnormal psychology class and was thoroughly intrigued by the human mind, brain, and behavior and trying to understand and help it. I was not a psychology major starting out, in fact I changed my major a couple times before taking this class and realizing just what I wanted to be. I had never felt that kind of pull in the other classes I took and then when I made the switch – it really all made sense. At the risk of sounding cheesy – I really am grateful that I got to change my majors and experience being in different classes to really learn where I belong.
Now as a fully licensed LPC, I have my own private practice where I provide therapy for individuals who may be struggling with symptoms of trauma and dissociation and PTSD, anxiety, depression, low self esteem, challenging relationships, difficulties in life transitions, and identity challenges. I also work with a wonderful non profit called Color Me Safe and at UT Dallas as a therapist.
I am trained in Trauma Focused/Informed Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), the Gottman method Level 1; and also use a self compassion model, mindfulness, and DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy). The school of thought I follow in regards to conceptualization is Adlerian, which uses a holistic understanding of human behavior and how all human behavior has a purpose and occurs in a social context. Before I get too technical and nerd out on explaining this, even further, I will stop myself; but I encourage people who are curious to Google Adlerian psychology or feel free to ask me about it.
I provide individual therapy, couples therapy, and family therapy and see clients 13 years old and over.
Being an Indian American I also focus on treating clients of South Asian and Middle Eastern origin as our cultural backgrounds are very similar and I have a deeper understanding of customs and religious beliefs and their influence on our psyche.
I cater tools and techniques to fit individual clients as one size doesn’t always fit all. Very importantly, I am a believer and an ally.

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

I believe that having an open mind, accepting new information/ points of view and learning new skills is very helpful in succeeding as a therapist.

If you could go back, would you choose the same profession, specialty, etc.?

I absolutely would. I would probably pick this profession much sooner if I could; but I have to add that I have no regrets in learning the animal science, biology, and health care information that I did learn when I was those majors.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.beyonddlayerscounseling.com/contact
• Other: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/monica-govindarajan-plano-tx/779094

Image Credits

Myself, Usha from radio biryani for the picture with me with the headphones on and speaking into the mic, and someone at the charity fundraiser who took the group picture.
Photographer from the Ashna project for that picture.