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

PAMELA, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Some of the most interesting parts of our journey emerge from areas where we believe something that most people in our industry do not – do you have something like that?

I am a clinical psychologist whose speciality is the integration of my clinical skills/knowledge/experience with a biblical worldview. This is not common or celebrated in my field of work. When I was in graduate school, the field was rapidly changing because of the influence of insurance, and I was often told by professors, “In order to make it in this field, you now HAVE to have a niche.'” I struggled through my years of study to come up with something because I wasn’t going to be able to survive professionally as a generalist.

As I evolved in my own spiritual life, I happened to have a boss (my clinical director during my post-doc fellowship year), who was instrumental in helping me with the basic framework of launching my private practice. When she gave me her business card as a sample, it had a huge cross on it. I said to her, “You can do this?!” It seemed almost illegal to me at the time because faith was only talked about during my training years as a nebulous concept that was important to recognize superficially but not to prominently promote as essential. Anyway, that sample business card was one of the first major seeds planted for what would become my faith-based (namely Christ-centered) practice: Building Bridges to Better Lives.

I initially hesitated to market myself as Christ-centered, fearing it would limit my clientele. Much to my surprise, it was THE factor that actually expedited the growth of my practice and attracted clients from long distances because it’s a rarity in the field. I know the gap my practice fills because I’ve had very bad Christian counseling in the past from people who were well-meaning but had no clinical training. I also know the void of working with well-trained clinicians who have no biblical/timeless wisdom running through their veins. I view myself as a bridge between the clinical and Christian worlds.

So to make a long story short, here I am 20 years later–even stronger in my boldness regarding my ninche. It firmly established me in my professional lane. It also kept me from burning out as I would have long ago if I didn’t believe I have a higher purpose than just sitting with people in their darkest moments and helping them resolve their symptoms or concerns. I am accountable to God for the work I do, which causes me to invest deeply in my clients and their wins in life.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My first career was in public relations for the 3 past mayors of Atlanta. I went through a divorce in 1993 that was shocking for me and caused me to wonder how some couples make it and others do not. I eventaully became obsessed by it, enough to change careers. So in 1995, I left my job and started pursuing my doctorate full-time that same year. I re-emerged into the workfroce in 2002 as a licensed psychologist. I had no clue how long and arduous that road would be when I started.

Today, I am most known for helping others set necessary and important boundaries, navigate choppy waters in all kinds of relationships, deeply understand their clinical family tree which facilitates forgiveness and liberating self-awareness, improve communication/assertiveness skills, and make peace with their mothers. I wrote a book about the latter: “Surviving Mama.”

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

I met my former business partner after we were both newly licensed as psychologists at a CEU training. We were in the line for the meal we were being served. We exchanged contact information and joined forces with others who were newly licensed to form a small group that met every other month at each other’s houses to discuss difficult cases and available resources, etc.

In time, I approached Rachel about whether she’d ever thought of owning an office as opposed to renting. She eagerly said yes. Thereafter, we bought a 4-office suite that was newly built and we rented out to other clinicians as we built our respective practices. We owned that space for 14 years and saw countless clinicians pass through our doors in the those years. We weathered the 2008 real estate crisis, the quadrupling of association fees, and the loss of tenants that balooned our expenses, among other trials. Finally, it was covid that put a For Sale sign on the doors, and it sold in 2021.

The fact that I didn’t have to shoulder all the stressors of owning that space alone was a game-changer. So today, I always encourage partnership in business. You double your resources in lean times and you double your joy in times of celebration.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I think my reputation was built by genuine concern for my clients. My clients often tell me they are suprised that I talk and actually give them assignments to do in between sessions, which surprises me that they’re shocked by this. I have always been invested in seeing people get better and have never been invested in just getting paid.

I am also one to “fire” certain clients when it’s obvious after a year or so that they’re not ready to do the work necessary for change. I hate to see people waste their money. Ironically, the honesty of that often ignites people to do the work.

I’m accessible to clients, often answering my own phone.

I confront the elephants in the room, the uncomfortable things that need to be said in order for people to experience breakthrough. I’m willing to lose clients in service to truth.

Once I ended my relationship with insurance companies, I knew I had to earn my value to others one session at a time. It encouraged me to work efficiently with people and to have some sort of game plane, which therapists don’t always have.

Contact Info:

• Website: [email protected]
• Other: I don’t really do social media. I don’t have time for it, and I”ve worked with too many dangerous, unstable individuals to display my personal life casually. I prefer to invest the time in LIVING my own life as opposed to just posting about it.

Image Credits

KHP Portraits by Katlyne Hill Photography