We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Morgan Myers a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Morgan, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What was your school or training experience like? Share an anecdote or two that you feel illustrate important aspects or the overall nature of your schooling/training experience.

I was a late bloomer in my education. I dropped out of community college when I was 19 to work a full-time job and pay my bills. I have always felt some shame about my story. I couldn’t afford the college experience everyone else had, and I honestly didn’t know enough about college to figure it out. I didn’t go to college until I was 23. I didn’t get the campus experience. I have a tinge of regret and jealousy and sometimes self-pity when I hear other people talk about their college days. These people were empowered to pursue their interests! They were ushered into adulthood in bitesize chunks only a semester long!
I have this euphoric view of what my college years could have been. Staying up late in an old rickety library studying existential psychology and its founders such as Victor Frankel, Rollo May and Paul Tillich. Reading my poetry allowed to friends. Fun and romance and a time to soak up all the newness of being an adult, without the demands of working and paying bills.

I fantasize about having a season of life when the only thing asked of me is to absorb information and come up with my own original thoughts related to it. I know I romanticize what my college experience could’ve been, but there is a real curiosity for life that has never left me.

After getting married at age 22 my husband was working on his third degree. This time it was a Masters of Divinity at Dallas Theological Seminary. I had a personal crisis during that time trying to figure out what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. The only way forward was returning to school and filling up my course load and continuing to support my husband through school. In a way it felt like a step backwards. I was in my mid 20s going to community college. I remember being shown around a local university where I was considering transferring. I signed up for a tour and I was led around campus by a teenage boy driving a golf cart. It was humbling every time someone asked me what I did for a living. Or what kind of Master’s I was working toward. I had to explain I was working on my freshman year at the community college. In the end I went to five different community colleges and transferred to an online school to finish my Bachelors Degree in Psychology.

All of my choices with my education had to do with money and my schedule working full-time. I resented having to make the trade off. But eventually I took ownership of journey through undergrad. I worked hard for something I felt was important and that is what made it meaningful. I was morning sick working on homework in between calls as a receptionist. I fit prenatal appointments in between exams and work. I wrote papers about existentialism, finding meaning in your life, and postpartum depression. Within the same summer my husband finished his (2nd) masters just as I finished my bachelors. I was 7 months pregnant at my graduation party.

I took six months off after my first little Ellie was born. I started my masters in clinical mental health shortly after. I went to a state school and attended night classes. I met some unconventional students like me. I had a professor who inspired me to learn about Carl Rogers and care for clients compassionately. I worked on papers after bedtime and during the mothers day out program. My neighbor-friend watched my daughter while I studied at the coffee shop. Toward the end of my program I got pregnant again. I was throwing up in the bathroom in between counseling clients. I was caring for my three-year-old at home. I took all of my leftover energy and threw it into my passion for therapy and starting a business. I was six months pregnant at my graduation this time. I got to bring home my little Rowan shortly after starting my post grad internship.
When I look back on my story I can see all the ways I would have timed it differently. I sometimes wish for a different school, a different city, I wish I had more time for reading and research. But in the end, I got to have my cake and eat it too. I got to live a full life with my girls at home and grow my personal passion overtime. I never got too used to indulging in my own fanciful ideas before there was a diaper to change or something else that captured my attention.
I am proud of my story even though finishing my education was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I’m proud of my life experiences. Being a wife and mother has made me a better therapist, a better business owner and entrepreneur. After climbing my way through those years, I know what I’m capable of overcoming. I know it has less to do with my merits and more to do with just not giving up. My path was not linear but it was full of rich experiences that I cherish.

Morgan, 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?

About me I am a therapist and owner of East Dallas Therapy which opened its doors in 2018. The practice is made up of 4 wonderful and compassionate therapists service the local East Dallas area. I have extensive experience working with families and parents- coaching them in connecting with their children in a meaningful way.
I work with people processing past church hurt and deconstructing their faith. And I work with women after having a baby. Many of these moms come to counseling because they’re struggling with postpartum depression and anxious thoughts with a new born. I have training in Horticulture therapy and am interested in building in some garden and nature therapeutic activities to my practice. I believe nature is innately healing and regulating. This is something I’m especially passionate about and I’m actively working on a way to incorporate this into my work.
I am most proud of…
My team and all the people we get to help day to day. It is so satisfying to look at our calendar and see the days full of client after client, coming to find hope and support. It’s empowering to see something I dreamed of becoming a physical and real business that brings in income for all of us and our families.
In my free time I love writing gardening, and spending time with friends and family.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

One lesson I had to unlearn was my beliefs about money. I went into private practice after my post graduate internship. I had many years of scraping by financially and I ran the business lean and mean for the first 2 years. I have realized, and I am still learning, how much baggage I have with money. I didn’t realize how deep my prejudice was related to money. I had a hard time charging the full rate to people for my services.
I also struggled when I began to hire people. It’s a challenge to take an appropriate amount of income from the business.
I came in to owning a business with assumptions about what I’m worth and what my time is worth. I had to really consider what kind of lifestyle I wanted, and what I wanted my business to accomplish financially. It is still a struggle to find the line between confidence in my skills as a therapist and business owner, and humility and compassion for my clients and their financial needs.

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

I think my personal life experience helped me in starting my business. I had to learn money management, get to know my community, negotiate in relationships, get through pregnancy, and begin parenting my children. I worked many jobs in many settings. All of these experiences inform my business decisions now.

Contact Info:

• Website: eastdallastherapy.com
• Instagram: eastdallastherapy
• Facebook: eastdallastherapy
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/morganclairemyers/