We recently connected with Tammy Berman and have shared our conversation below.

Tammy, appreciate you joining us today. Was there a moment in your career that meaningfully altered your trajectory? If so, we’d love to hear the backstory.

It has been a long journey for me to arrive at this spot in my career and it is only a result of all the amazing relationships and mentorship I have found through the relationships built in the Collaborative Divorce community. Currently, I am the President of the Collaborative Family Law Professionals of South Florida-a Collaborative practice group in Broward County. Prior to 2009, I had never known about the Collaborative Divorce process. Back in 2009 I had marketed myself to the local family law attorneys as a way to grow my therapy practice and months later one attorney reached out to me by phone to introduce herself and to thank me for the introductory letter she received. She asked me if I had ever heard of the Collaborative process and I said “no,” but was intrigued and this attorney proceeded to spend 1 1/2 hours on the phone with me educating me about a process that, as I began to understand and envision it, was going to change the world. I am not joking. I saw the potential of how this process could not only be our future way to resolve conflict in the home, but could change the legal landscape and the way we resolve conflicts in every facet of life… And I believe it to be so… As a child of a bad divorce with life long effects, I recognized how this process could have saved my family from so much pain and hardship and has the potential to do so for families going forward. I knew I wanted to be a part of this process and so I began the journey into the world and the community of the Collaborative process. I just kept showing up at meetings and trainings and offering my help to support the movement to educate the community about this new emerging alternate dispute resolution process whenever I could. Since that time I have grown as a Collaborative professional and now specialize in helping people through the divorce process. I am an “Accredited Collaborative Professional” and participate in many efforts to educate the public about the Collaborative process.

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 always knew I wanted to help people in some way and cared about that more than “making money.” In college I followed my interests, the courses that I liked the most, and declared a double major in second year University (Anthropology and Psychology). After meeting with professors and learning that Anthropology had little chance to give me a career where I was engaging in the field, I dropped that major and focused in on psychology. I started a program in Toronto Canada at the Adler Graduate Professional School and completed my Masters in Mental Health Counseling at Nova Southeastern University in Florida. My then boyfriend, now husband, brought me down to Florida and since graduating I have worked in community mental health starting with the severe and persistent mentally ill population, to then a dual diagnosis (someone having a mental health disorder and an addiction disorder) teen population and then to private practice where I began to work with a variety of clinical populations. Initially, I was contracted with every major insurance company and didn’t specify or specialize in any one issue or clinical population but after some major cuts to provider fees in the insurance industry, I transitioned my business to fee for service and began to specialize in the clinical populations I was passionate about: working with teens, providing Dialectical Behavior Therapy and Collaborative divorce. When COVID hit the need of support with the clinical populations I served “blew up” and as a result I expanded into a group practice having five clinicians working under my mentorship and taking on clients coming into the practice. I am very proud of the work we do and the business I have been building. There is a lot to learn about the business aspect of running a therapy practice and I am proud of what we have achieved so far. Our interest is to be of service and do good work and we all specialize in working with teens, divorce related issues, Dialectical Behavior Therapy and treat many clinical issues like anxiety, depression, grief/loss, relationship issues/conflict etc. What perhaps sets us apart from other generalists and other mental health practices is the ongoing trainings we do throughout each and every year to enhance our competency and clinical integrity and because we love to continually grow and meet our client’s challenges in an effective, supportive and competent way.

If you could go back, would you choose the same profession, specialty, etc.?

There is no greater gift than to be able to make a living doing something you love. I find meaning, inspiration, and continual stimulation and growth in the mental health field. I love to be of service and truly help people struggling in a significant and effective ways. Perhaps the only change of what I would do differently if I could go back would be to learn a little bit about business and finance to be better equipped to run the business aspects of the business we do!

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

I have a saying taken from Maya Angelou that is part of my email signature line and it reads: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” I believe the most helpful aspect of our work that lends to our success is leaving people with the sense that they are truly cared for and supported. The power of intention and connection is huge. Therefore the ability to establish rapport and to leave our clients feeling a sense of hope and possibility and a feeling that we have their back and will do the best we can are the ingredients that have helped us to thrive. Of course having a high level of training and competence in evidenced based approaches helps too :)

Contact Info:

• Website: www.MyCounselingConnections.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mycounselingconnections/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MyCounselingConnectionsInc/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tammy-berman-lmhc-ncc-53209a8/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@mycounselingconnections1103

Image Credits
Heidi Bernard Photography for headshot