We recently connected with Vanessa Bellamy and have shared our conversation below.

Vanessa, appreciate you joining us today. If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.

The pandemic was truly a defining moment for me, as I imagine it was for many. I had been dealing with some personal and professional challenges that predated COVID, but it was during this time that I had to make some important decisions about the trajectory of my career and what kind of life I wanted to live.

In 2020, I quit my job at a college counseling center and went into private practice full time. I had started my practice part time the year before and wasn’t sure if I was quite ready to fully commit to it as my sole source of income. It was scary to leave a stable job in the middle of a pandemic and take a leap of faith, but I knew that I had to do it for my health, my peace of mind, and my future self. Leading up to the pandemic, there had been many instances and signs that the way I was working was no longer working for me. I found that I had much more difficulty with focus, attention, and task completion. I also became more irritated and frustrated by systemic challenges showing up in the workplace and had a hard time leaving work at work. As a Black woman in higher education, I had learned ways to navigate such challenging and oppressive systems in the workplace and in the world and still try to preserve my own mental health. But the coping mechanisms that had once allowed me to press on were no longer working. I was burning out. Soon after the pandemic began, I lost a colleague and friend who I had witnessed give her all and then some to the institution for which I worked. Her passing really rocked me and was a large part of my decision to no longer try and force my body to do work that was proving unsustainable for me.

After leaving my full-time job, I experienced a combination of relief and sheer terror. Thankfully, I had started to build up a solid caseload in my private practice, but now I had to REALLY make it work. Luckily, I believed in myself to take the leap, and I am so glad I did. Today, I have a thriving and growing practice. I have also started a coaching and consulting business to help other Black women and marginalized professionals enhance decision making, reduce burnout, and redefine success on their terms.

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 name is Vanessa Bellamy (she/her pronouns). I am a licensed psychologist and executive coach, and I own a private practice as well as a coaching and consulting business. Empowering Black women and other marginalized communities is my passion. Prior to working in private practice, I worked in higher education and college mental health settings for the last decade.
In my private psychology practice, I currently provide individual and couples therapy. My specialties include trauma-informed care, ADHD and executive functioning challenges, as well as career, identity, and relationship concerns. In my coaching and consulting business, I help burnt out professionals enhance decision making and redefine success on their terms.

What I am most proud of is my determination to relentlessly pursue my dreams. This determination is what led me to start my private practice and coaching and consulting business, and it continues to guide me in my personal and professional endeavors. I want people to know that I am a believer in self-care as a form of community care, and I try to model this for my patients and coaching clients. Though I am still a work in progress, I am committed to showing up for myself so that I can also continue to show up for others.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

A lesson that I am still unlearning is that you don’t always have to just push through even when you are struggling. I think I learned early on that you have to rise above adversity and keep pressing on when things are tough. This conditioning was a product of my upbringing as a child of immigrant parents, and as a Black woman who internalized messaging around the need to be strong and fearless. Now I am much more open to the idea of slowing down, acknowledging when I am not okay, and resting when needed. Something that I am also still learning is that my vulnerability is not weakness, but it is where my strength resides.

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

In addition to training/knowledge, I think my compassion helps me to be successful in my field. I have always been a compassionate person, ready to offer empathy and support to people in need. Becoming a trained therapist has no doubt enhanced my capacity and skills to provide clinical care and compassion to others, but I also believe that my compassionate nature has always been a part of who I am.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bellamypsychology.com/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drvanessabellamy/

Image Credits
Photo credits: Michael Bellamy