Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Riley Cochran . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Riley , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

I believe that part of my mission in life is to help as many teenagers and families as possible. This mission was formulated from a teenage experience far from ‘normal’. Excelling in sports as a youth gave me an early sense of identity and self-assurance, but grappling with depression and anxiety was an entirely different challenge. While society is making strides in normalizing mental health discussions, there’s still a long road ahead, especially in educating younger generations about these issues. As men, societal norms further complicate our understanding of what constitutes ‘normal’ struggles versus serious mental health challenges.

Growing up in a family where men never discussed emotions or mental health, I found my own struggles bewildering. As a teenager, unable to articulate my internal battles, I turned to risky behaviors, substances, and social distractions to cope. Fortunately, despite our family’s generational silence on male mental health, they recognized something was amiss and sought help, albeit through traditional therapies that didn’t quite resonate with me. It wasn’t until I was removed from my high school and familiar environments and placed in out of state therapeutic programs that I began to truly look inside and heal.

With the guidance of a dedicated basketball coach and therapeutic group leader, I began to embark on a journey of self-discovery and growth. This transformative process ignited a deep passion for healing and helping others, prompting me to delve deeper into psychology. However, my professional experiences exposed me to the darker sides of the mental health field within non-profits and larger agencies, where individuals are often reduced to statistics and funding quotas.

Motivated by these observations, I envisioned a practice aimed at dismantling barriers to mental health support and providing a truly personalized experience. My approach is centered on meeting individuals where they are, fostering genuine relationships, and above all, offering unconditional support in their healing journey.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

As perviously mentioned, I got into this field originally based on my own teenage experiences and challenges with depression, anxiety, and substance use. After being introduced to the field personally and professionally, I began to see challenges that people face when trying to get support and meaningful therapeutic services to help them heal and grow. My professional experiences combined with my personal experiences helped me see that therapy is not a one size fits all model and the approach often misses an authentic relational component to it that can even be restricted by the settings it is offered in. As someone who experienced some of the most therapeutic moments of my own life outside of an office with a trusted adult that I authentically connected with and felt genuinely seen and understood by, it helped me realize that we can and should be trained and knowledgeable of all the therapeutic techniques and modalities that will help us help someone heal and grow, but that if we remain rigid on how and even where we work with people we will miss the healing powers of genuine and authentic connection. We offer therapy with a focus on 2 core aspects, we provide it in a multitude of different settings such as in the home, in school, in the community at a park or basketball court, in our office, over video platforms, etc. etc. and we focus on connecting you with the right person for your needs that includes your mental health needs and also incorporates your personality and the different aspects and intersections of your identities such as gender, race, language, sexual orientation, interests, hobbies, goals, family dynamics, culture, etc. etc. When we can get you connected with the right person for you and meet you in a setting that is designed with you and by you that is specific to your needs at that time we can provide a connected, creative, and intentional therapeutic experience that really does see you as the individual and meets you where you are at.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

When I was pursuing my licensure to be a therapist after grad school the non-profit that I was working for decided to close the adolescent program I was working in. They gave us a 30 day notice and we all needed to get ready to find another place to work. As someone who puts everything they have into the things they are passionate about, this program closing was extremely difficult for me to accept and understand. At first I was hurt and frustrated but after a few weeks I began to try and view this as an opportunity to follow my dreams and create a program and practice of my own. I used my resources and connected with some co-workers and we decided to form what would be my first business in the field of mental health and counseling. We built a substance use outpatient treatment program that was developed specifically for serving youth and families struggling with substance use. I had no background or previous learning of the business side of mental health but knew that my passion and purpose is to create resources and opportunities for youth and young people to heal and grow. It was within this first business that I really got a crash course in the administrative and business management side of things related to running and growing a mental health practice. After helping get it started it got to a point where me and the co-owner no longer saw eye to eye on certain aspects of the client and organizational experience so I stepped away and formed Resolute Counseling Center, formerly known as Resolute Youth Services. I am grateful for all of the what not to do experiences I had as an employee because they really helped shed light on why so many people in todays world have been burned by the mental health field and are no longer interested or open to the idea of therapy. It also helped ignite my passion to provide a different type of experience to people that clearly and undeniably demonstrates a desire to help people in any way shape or form that we can as a trusted professional. This starts with a phone call or even with a stranger on the bus or in a coffee shop. We have opportunities to help people navigate the field of mental health regularly and I fully recognize that Resolute Counseling Center can be a great place for some but even more importantly can always be helpful to someone by working to understand their barriers and create a plan and a support that assists them in finding and developing a healing experience that is unique to them in that moment, with us directly or by connecting them with the place that better fits their needs.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

I firmly believe that one of the only reasons I am where I am at today is because I have been willing to put myself out there. I have been extremely nervous about connecting and putting myself out there at times but I have a mission and a purpose that is bigger than how “Stupid I might look” or silly I might sound. I have made many many mistakes in putting myself out there in an effort to try and connect with people and let others know that we are an available resource for people in need. Without putting myself out there in person, in social media, in networking events, in trainings, etc. etc. I would not be as comfortable with it as I am today and I would definitely not be as clear and informed about how to get strategies about intentionally marketing and connecting with others. I really do try and embrace a “fail and figure it out” mentality when it comes to learning how to put yourself and your practice out there and I have definitely failed but I have also succeeded at times. I personally have found my mission and my purpose to be what helps me push myself when I am anxious or nervous or unsure about trying some new way or forming a new connection.

Contact Info:

• Website: resolutecounselingcenter.com (Will Launch at the end of June)
• Instagram: _rctherapy_ and ResoluteCounselingCenter
• Facebook: Riley Cochran and Resolute Counseling Center
• Linkedin: Riley Cochran

Image Credits

UnderExposed Danielle Uhl