We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Mysti Rainwater. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Mysti below.
Mysti, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear the backstory of how you established your own practice.
Like many newly licensed psychotherapists, I began my career working at large, established community agencies. I quickly realized that I could serve the population I wanted to serve and make the same, if not more, money in a private practice setting. Fear of not having a regular paycheck keeps many talented clinicians working in an agency setting where they are limited to the population they get to work with and discovering their unique talents and skill. So I rented a little office and started my journey in private practice. I quickly realized I wasn’t going to make a million dollars being by myself in private practice so I decided to rent the whole suite and also sublet office space to other clinicians. After several years of working in this kind of setting, I did two things (taking a risk) that eventually grew into two new businesses! First, I expanded into more suites in the same building and in a second location for subletting and created a new business called Suite Office Rentals, catering to other mental/behavioral health providers and second, I started a small group practice (Ahwatukee Psychology LLC). Once the group practice grew into the second office location, I changed the name to Center for Progressive Therapies LLC, to be more inclusive and really represent the population we serve… individuals, couples, groups & families who want to make progress toward their treatment goals… willing to use a combination of traditional and modern therapies, a combination of ideas from the west and east… using an established network of therapeutic sources and practitioners such as yoga therapy, EMDR, chiropractic, personality therapies, massage, financial therapies, exercise/movement therapies, etc. and, of course, a full menu of more traditional psychotherapy options such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy! My goal is to continue to grow into a full service center where all these services can eventually be provided under one roof with the option to have staff collaborate so clients can meet their physical, financial and emotional goals more efficiently and quickly!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am a self-identified “progressive psychotherapist.” I help individuals make progress toward their physical, financial, relational/sexual and emotional goals… the pillars of overall well being! I’ve always been knows as the therapist who is willing to ask the hard questions and challenge clients to explore the deep personality aspects that affect the way clients make choices in all these important life areas. After graduating from high school and moving from my home state of Montana to explore the world, I began working for an airline where I provided customer service and was eventually promoted to “customer service trainer” where I would spend several weeks with new-hire agents. I began getting compliments about my patience and insight with customers as well as trainees and was asked if I had ever considered working in the helping professions, specifically being a counselor. At the same time, a co-worker and good friend began taking classes at the local community college and was bringing her Psychology textbook to work. We are still good friends and often joke that I read more of that book than she ever did! She recommended I visit the community college where I took an assessment for skills and interest that led to enrolling in college. I was living in Portland, Oregon at the time and classes were expensive so moved to Phoenix, Arizona to attend Arizona State University, where I graduated with a Bachelor degree in Human Communication with a double minor in Psychology & Sociology. This set the stage to further pursue my skills and interests… mostly in human behavior… and led me to enroll at Northern Arizona University for a Master degree in Counseling. Notice there is a time lap in my story… I didn’t attend college right out of high school. I got married and divorced and explored my world before I took my first college class. I believe this “life experience” was significant in helping me find my niche and have the willingness to tackle any topic with my clients… no matter how complicated or controversial. This willingness allowed me to build a strong private practice quickly based on word of mouth. In addition to my private practice, I now own three businesses and help new counselors get the supervised work experience they need for professional licensure, while teaching them how to use progressive methods to help clients find balance with the pillars. I would want anyone reading about my story to know that creating a career/business doesn’t always have a simple, single path and if you keep focus on the things you love and enjoy and never lose sight of the people you help, you will find success!
Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?
It took me a while to figure out that the most important factors in my field are the “know, like & trust” factors! Even as an identified progressive psychotherapist, it is easy to get caught up in thinking that our traditional education and training make us better therapists. In working with supervisees now I’m always amazed at how much time I spend talking to them about the “therapist ego” and building rapport and how much those factors affect client collaboration and clinical outcomes far more than any certification they might acquire. I’m also a certified personality professional… I prefer the Enneagram… and find that understanding human motivation is one of the best tools to be a better human (and an amazing tool to use with clients to help them be a better human).
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
I always thought I was a very resilient human being just in choosing entrepreneurship over employment. Then, in 2021 at the height of growth to that point in my business, several life events happened to prove that there is always room for more resiliency and more humility. In February of 2020 I found a surface abnormality in one of my breasts. I have no history of breast cancer (or cancer of any kind) on either side of my family. Had I been just a couple of weeks later in scheduling my first procedure, I would have been delayed due to coronavirus and could likely be in a very different situation currently! I was officially diagnosed with breast cancer and opted for full mastectomy surgery in July 2021. At the same time I was invited to speak at an International Enneagram Association conference regarding my training program using the Enneagram with psychotherapy in a clinical setting and I experienced a billing dilemma with insurance companies that turned my world upside down because we (me and my independent contractors) didn’t get paid for 6 months… all while recovering from surgery. Then I got an infection at the incision site… I woke up every day through that time thinking “all that mindfulness and awareness work I’ve been doing should be paying off now.” People around me would say “I don’t know how you are getting through this… you’re so strong” and I would respond by saying “It’s not until you find yourself in this kind of situation that you realize how strong and resilient we all are!”
Contact Info:
- Website: www.mystirainwater.info and centerforprogressivetherapies.com
- Instagram: mystirainwater
- Facebook: mystivanakenrainwater and centerforprogressivetherapies
- Linkedin: mystirainwater
- Twitter: mystirainwater
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5Sgq3j9pSJ9KZxJ8pLriyA
- Yelp: Center for Progressive Therapies & Ahwatukee Psychology
Image Credits
headshot: Rick at Shawna W. Steverson Photography (https://www.swspics.com)