We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Paola Andrea Rodriguez. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Paola Andrea below.
Paola Andrea, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about how you went about setting up your own practice and if you have any advice for professionals who might be considering starting their own?
When I arrived to Miami, my original idea was to join a well-established group practice where I could build up my clientele and eventually create my own business. However, I ran into several challenges, and I felt forced to hit the fast forward button and create my own practice sooner rather than later. I arrived from Boston feeling overly confident, because I brought with me the knowledge of the biggest names known in the psychotherapy and sex therapy field. Boston is known for its access to elite education and a variety of training opportunities, but quickly after I arrived, I noticed that Miami was a different species. This leads me to the first piece of advice – know your audience. I began this process by attending several networking events where I would get acquainted with various professionals in Miami. I also set time aside to meet other psychotherapists and sex therapists that were well known in the community. This helped me get acquainted with the people of Miami and begin to understand the culture of the city. Eventually, I followed through with my idea to join a group practice, and I ended up in a practice that seemed to have a good reputation, even though my intuition was telling me otherwise. Shortly after I began working, I realized my intuition was right, and the only way I was going to feel good about the treatment I was providing was to create my own practice – that was the day that Life Discovery Psychotherapy was born.
Looking back now, I felt that I could have asked more questions and allowed my intuition to guide me, but I also know that hindsight will always provide a clearer picture of the landscape. I believe that uncertainty and mistakes walk alongside creation, and I have learned to accept it. For those of you who are starting out, trust in yourself, trust in your work, and trust in your intuition. Be patient with the process and don’t lose sight of your vision, even when you are feeling that nothing is working, hold on to hope and faith. They will be your shelter during those stormy days.
Paola Andrea, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Paola Andrea Rodriguez, I was born in Bogota, Colombia and migrated to the United States when I was 12 years of age, along with both of my parents, my brother and my sister. My profession as a psychotherapist was born as a result of my ongoing curiosity about people’s behavior. I was a thinker since I was a little girl. I always asked a lot of questions and spent much of my young adult life acquiring the proper education and degrees to be able to turn my restless curiosity into a solid profession. I became a licensed clinical psychotherapist and later decided to specialize in Sex Therapy. Sex Therapy has been an amazing journey for me. I am grateful for my mentors in Boston for sparking my interest in such a dynamic field. In my practice, Life Discovery Psychotherapy, I work with adults and provide individual and couples therapy. My sessions are geared to help people understand and accept themselves. I help my clients explore their view of sex by addressing cultural, societal, familial and gendered messages. For many of my clients, this is where their sexual narrative begins. In my work with couples, I assist them in reviving their sexual/intimate connection by introducing sensual techniques and mindfulness. I also offer webinars to educate the public and clinical workshops for therapists who want further training and guidance in the field of couples and sex therapy. There are a couple of things that make me unique. I am one of the few Latina Sex therapists in Miami and the only bilingual/bicultural sex therapist that completed their training through AASECT (American association of sexuality educators, counselors and therapists.) I also invest a lot of time in the cases that I see, whether it is through training, private supervision, conferences, or my own reflections. I see myself as a talented tailor with the mind of an artist. I often tell my clients that I am tailoring their “suit”; in other words, no two cases are the same. Even though treatment for certain issues can be comprehensive, the creativity that entails doing my job well, is a major part of how I do therapy. My newest endeavor is creating a YouTube channel called Sexxions with Paola. This platform will allow me to reach more people and have a voice in the Latino community. I believe education is power, and sexual knowledge is a human right.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
As a Latina woman I come from a culture that believes that you must be a “strong woman.” I learned that being a “strong woman” meant that I had to “endure” regardless of the circumstances. It meant that I had to move forward and be productive, even if I was hurting or struggling, and that asking for help was a sign of weakness. When I was a young clinician, I didn’t know how to find balance. I worked in nonprofit agencies where the set up makes it difficult to succeed and instead of asking for help, I dealt with all my grief, doubt, and pain in silence – like the “strong woman” I thought I was and was expected to be. When I think of those times, they seem so far away now, but significant enough to remember. Life has a way of showing you things when you least expect it, and I am grateful that it did. Today, I can assertively say that I have redefined a lot of things for myself. I realized that keeping myself busy was a way of avoiding a deeper connection with my wounds. I learned that being strong means looking at my pain directly in the eyes, acknowledging that it’s there, and mastering up the courage to lean into the discomfort of understanding it. Finally, asking for help has been such an important part of my professional and personal growth. It has normalized a lot of my experiences and given me the space to take risks, because I know my support system will be there to catch me if I fall. I am happy to share that my support is made up of an amazing supervisor and personal therapist, my companions in life, my friends and my partner and my family who have always provided unconditional love. It takes a village to keep a human living, loving, healthy and happy.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
The primary and most effective strategy to grow my clientele has been to showcase my work, my talent, and my gift. I grew most of my practice through referrals from other clients or clinicians that I have worked with in the past. I also began to look for opportunities and made it a point to say “yes” to any talk, podcast, gig, or television show, and it didn’t matter how small or how important it felt, the work that I put in was always my best and the answer was always “yes!”. In many ways, I am replicating what I learned from my father when he came to the USA to build his accounting firm. He grew his firm back in the 90’s by being who he is and believing in his work. I watched him say “yes” when that was one of the few words he knew in English. I am fortunate to have grown up with two leaders in my home who modeled love, compassion, hard work, and determination. I am certain that these tools will help me travel to all the places I dream of.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.lifediscoverypsych.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lifediscoverypsych/ SexxionswithPaola
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Life-Discovery-2113321442217505
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paola-andrea-rodriguez-51176320/
Image Credits
Photos by: Michael Hursey