We recently connected with MORGEN VILLEGAS and have shared our conversation below.

MORGEN, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear the backstory of how you established your own practice.

As a therapist, I found that going to see my *own* therapist was one way for me to believe in my talents and skills. It was through doing personal work that I was able to make the jump into establishing my own practice.

Prior to obtaining my Masters of Social Work degree, I worked for 9 years in non-profits, Americorps and the Peace Corps.
Then I worked for 7 years as a social worker in local community clinics. While all of it was fulfilling work, it was also grueling and difficult to maintain a semblance of work/life balance. I kept thinking about how I could start my own business. I got my answer after my second child was born two months before the pandemic.

After his birth, I returned to work from maternity leave and it was jarring to have to leave such a small child with other caregivers. I was having trouble readjusting to having two small children and I had very little support. Everything got so much worse one week after my return. It was the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. I was scared to go to work but was considered a front line worker. It was surreal to see my co-workers wearing trash bags because we didn’t have enough PPE. We wore cloth masks as no disposable ones were available. I think I was truly in a state of shock. I had no idea of what to do or what I needed in order to keep myself or my family safe. I began to realize that to honor my family’s needs and my own, I would need to resign from my job and find a way to establish my own business.

I sought support from my therapist as I transitioned into private practice. She was so encouraging; she helped me to listen to the inner “whispers” of my own intuition. I would work on researching and forming my business until the late evening hours, after my baby would go to sleep. It was a long process but I worked on creating the business and building clientele prior to my departure from my job. When I felt that I had established enough stability in the business, I resigned from my job. I remember the very odd and exhilarating feeling that I was, for the first time in my life, professionally autonomous and independent.

Since that time, there have been ups and downs as with any business. However, I am determined to continue what I do because it is truly a calling. I love being a therapist and working with people on finding a sense of clarity and healing. I work collaboratively with clients to ensure that therapy feels supportive and meaningful. I am 100% committed to helping folks to find a way to live a happier and healthier life!

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 therapist with a decade of clinical experience who specializes in working with anxious/stressed out millennials who have strained or distant relationships with their parents, as well as high-achieving professionals who struggle with perfectionism/shame and are impacted by a toxic work culture.

My approach to therapy is grounded in integrity and compassion, and I utilize treatment tools (such as EMDR) to support trauma release and reconnection to joy. I believe that everyone is capable of healing, and I work using an anti-racist/social justice framework that is LGBTQIA+ affirming and welcoming of all identities, abilities, and body sizes.

I earned my Master of Social Work degree from the University of Denver and have been providing therapy services ever since. My main goal is to provide clients with the tools they need for lifelong emotional wellness. I treat trauma, toxic work stress, anxiety, and substance use concerns in adults, and I provide a safe and supportive environment for my clients to work through their challenges.

In addition to traditional therapy, I offer a new and innovative approach to my practice: half-day retreat-style EMDR intensives. These intensives are an effective tool for clients with busy schedules who need a faster, more efficient treatment process. I have been using EMDR since 2014 and am a certified EMDR therapist.

I want potential clients to know that I am committed to their emotional wellness. I provide a safe and supportive environment for them to truly feel seen and learn how to honor their inner wisdom.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

My resilience stems from the relationship I had with my mother. She was a self-employed attorney starting in the 1980s. She had worked for several law firms at the beginning of her career. After my sister and I were born, she quickly realized she would not be able to continue working for other people, primarily due to policies at work that were inherently sexist.

She decided to start her own business. In this way, she was able to work and take care of my sister and I. She instilled in me a value of hard work and integrity. But she also struggled financially and had difficulty with accepting her role as a mother. Thus, I developed anxiety at a young age. I was not close with mom until I became a mother in 2016. I suddenly had more of an appreciation, a deeper insight into the bittersweet experience of parenthood. Our newfound bond did not last. When my first son was 10 months old, she died of cancer.

I never imagined that I would be a motherless mother. I was also unable to find a way to fully heal the chasm between my mother and I before she died. I sought intensive therapy as a means for me to channel my grief. I did not understand how I could feel such a deep sadness but also a serenity I had never felt before. My therapist told me, “It is okay to feel however you feel.” She gave me permission to sit with my grief and accept it as it was. I realized that the way in which my therapist was able to hold space for me, to support me in tapping into my own inner wisdom, was something that I also wanted to do. I wanted to work with others on understanding their own parental relationships and come to an understanding that there is no blueprint for what that may mean– each experience is different and therefore, deserving of compassion and healing.

The definition of resilience is the capacity to overcome difficulty. Resiliency is fluid and ever-present as new challenges may arise. Although I could not heal the relationship with my mother while she was alive, I honor her memory through the principles of re-parenting using self-compassion and self-love.

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

As a business owner in the mental health field, I have found that success is not just about making a profit, but also about building a supportive and collaborative community. While my business is run by me, it is truly the collective efforts of colleagues and therapist networks that make it thrive. We share a common goal of providing ethical mental health care to members of our community. When one of us needs support, we are able to consult with each other.

In addition to our shared goal, we also hold each other accountable and strive to create a brave and inclusive space for all clients. We believe that by working together and sharing our knowledge and resources, we can better serve our clients and promote the importance of mental health care in our community.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.vida-idilica.com
• Instagram: @thesocialworkytherapist
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vida.idilica
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/morgen-v-lcsw/
• Other: Google my Business: https://g.page/r/CYBRnuUB8TgyEAI/review

Image Credits
Photography by Branded Beet www.brandedbeet.com