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

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?

I was late to come out as a gay man, at 23. There was bullying, but never about being gay, there was no homophobic trauma, there was no specific reason for me not to come out, it just took me a while to get there and be able to speak about it. It derailed my early college life and I dropped out of my second year of school with a dismal 1.9 GPA. I was lost. While I was trying to find myself, I went back to job I had in high school, which I was good at, but hated. I climbed the corporate ladder and became the youngest district manager for the company at age 20. There was a sense of accomplishment, but I knew this wasn’t for me. What this experience did provide was an awakening for a passion in finding what motivates folks to be productive. I fell in love with the psychology of motivation. Pursuing a path to become a psychotherapist just seemed like a no-brainer at this point and that’s what I did. I knew from the start that I wanted to work with my community in helping folks explore and live their authentic lives, whatever that may be.

My first job as a licensed therapist was at Houston’s leading queer social services agency and I loved my work, truly. The sad part of working for a non-profit is you are grossly underpaid, and Daddy had a huge school loan to pay off. In 2016 I started to pivot into private practice at SWPA. During this time, I was also very surprised to find, even at a queer-specific agency, how many of my peers were uncomfortable speaking with their clients about sex. I suppose I had a bias and story in my head that all therapists had worked through their own issues/hangups about sex and were doing this work with their clients. I was oh-so-wrong. In this discovery, I found this to be my calling – to fill that gap of coverage for our community, and I pivoted into pursuing the proper education to call myself a sex therapist. Today, I hold two certificates as a sex therapist, and am about to graduate with my PhD in clinical sexology. I’ve also found the traditional LGBTQ+ alphabet soup is too limiting for my practice, since I also work with folks in non-traditional relationships. I cast a wide net, and specialize in working with the Gender, Sexual, and Romantic Minority (GSRM) communities. This includes all my queer folks, but also includes more-than-monogamous, polyamorous, and kinky relationships. As far as I can tell, I am the only (soon to be) PhD level sex therapist doing this specific work in the entire state of Texas.

A couple years ago, I started talking with the then-owner of SWPA about her upcoming plan to phase out and retire and her plans for the company and we quickly came to the same conclusion that she would sell the practice to me. We closed on this in March of 2022. Currently we have 8 therapists, and a psychiatrist with plans to expand. We pride ourselves in not just being simply affirming to any population, but being competent to do the work we do. Each of us is a specialist in our respective areas of focus and are sought after for that expertise. Further, we all share the collective belief that our work is not just a job, it’s a calling and truly love the work we do with our clients. It’s a privilege and honor to walk with our clients as they do the deep dive into themselves to be their authentic self and pursue their happiness.

Hi Ty David, thanks for joining us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

Here’s an industry truth: you can be an absolute brilliant psychotherapist and be a horrible business person! Going through school to become a psychotherapist does not set you up to run a business. For folks going into private practice, there is a STEEP learning curve in how how to establish a run a business. Most of us are self-taught in creating policy and procedures, creating a brand (which as a therapist, YOU are the brand), making and maintaining a website, navigating a social media presence, and perhaps the most daunting of all – how to market yourself and your business. Thankfully, in another lifetime, I was a district manager and had some experience with running a business. Certainly more influential for me was marrying a partner who is a marketing exec who had also run non-profits. I learned a lot – and continue to learn a lot from him as we trudge on through life. Last spring when I closed on acquiring Southwest Psychotherapy Associates, the group practice I have been a part of since 2016, I was tossed into a whole new world of business that I knew nothing about. The business loan alone was a risk and was scary AF on paper (honestly, it still is). However, I did my research, I leaned into smarter folks than myself with lots more experience, and allowed myself to be guided, mentored, coached, and sometimes shoved into making smart and intentional choices. I’m happy to say, over a year later, that we are booming and business is great. In paraphrasing James Beard award winner Chris Shepard, “If we are diligent and intentional with our research, we aren’t really taking a risk at all.”

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

In my master’s program, one of my professors told me that networking was the secret to building a reputation and robust professional practice. I was young and a bit socially shy and awkward, so never really pursued that line of thinking very far. However, while I was agency work and began to transition into private practice, I found this suggestion to be far more true and necessary than previously thought. In diving into the referral history for our practice, I found that nearly half of all referrals that came into the practice were from colleagues. Now the previous owner had been in the business and city for over 30 years, and been on the Oprah show a couple times and a semi-regular guest on Houston’s morning talk show, so to say she had built a name for herself was an understatement. Part of the appeal of purchasing her practice was her name and reputation that came with the business. I learned from her model, and continue to nurture relationships and network on a regular basis, especially with peers with whom we exchange referrals with on the regular. This is the one piece of advise I would give new therapists – find the leaders in your area and take them to coffee or lunch, and develop those relationships. Plug into professional organizations, and dive into leadership. Building your reputations with your local peers is an investment that will reap dividends as long as you keep up a presence.

How’d you meet your business partner?

This is case in point of why networking is so important. I met the former owner of my practice through a friend/colleague from my master’s program. She was working with the owner at the time and knew I was phasing into private practice and thought I should meet her. It was a turning point in my life. Not only was this person one of the best networked therapists in the city and I continue to meet so many people through her, it also led to us becoming deeply connected and great friends, and eventually us deciding that she would sell her practice to me – and here we are.   

Contact Info:

• Website: www.swpsychotherapy.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swpa_tx/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SWPsychotherapy
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/southwest-psychotherapy-associates/

Image Credits
Chip Gillespie