We were lucky to catch up with Yurilka Hernandez recently and have shared our conversation below.

Yurilka, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about the best boss, mentor, or leader you’ve ever worked with.

The best boss/mentor and leader I ever had has been Yaberci Perez Cubillan a fellow social worker. I will never forget the first time I met her; I had just graduated from NYU and was looking to start in a clinical field. I showed up to the interview with a folder full of trainings and certificates I had previously obtained in preparation for this job. She was then a program director, but I was blown away by her, she represented everything I wanted for me, like me she is Dominican, she was young, ambition and a first-generation graduate. She also held a different position that was different from the traditional field work. One of the most impactful contributions of Yaberci to my toolbox was the humanity in leadership. Yaberci ability to help you see your own potential and treat people who work on your team with dignity has been unmatched. She speaks in a soft voice and with honestly, her leadership style allows many people under her team to raise to positions that they desired. She ensured that we were ready for the challenge by allowing us to fail and be successful, never taking credit, advocating, and humbling us when we needed the most. I learned early on my career prior to her the type of leader I did not want to be, with her I learned what I wanted to be known for.

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

I am a psychotherapist for individuals, family, and couples. Prior of me going into private practice I was working solely as an administrator for mental health crisis programs for a non- profit, I still work for this as Vice president, it’s work that I like, and I love to do. However, after COVID hit, I found myself, like many other people around the world, looking for a therapist. And it was a hard to find a therapist that would take insurance/affordable, or that a therapist that I could relate to. I was looking for a person of color, ideally, someone who understood my background. A person that had similar experiences as a first-generation Hispanic woman. Everybody was only taking cash. The prices were very, very high everywhere I went, an average session was around $300 for a session. Um, mean therapy was in high demand, so I understood that need for that. Finding a therapist within my needs was impossible. So, I decided after 2020 to open my own practice but only take insurance and provide low-cost fee to make therapy accessible for everyone who wants it. I saw a need that needed to be fill and I wanted to contribute to fill this gap. I was very overwhelmed when I first opened my practice by all the requests I received. I brought in a team of people. I recruited my mentees, throughout my years and I knew they could provide the best service possible to my patients, I needed to do expand the services. Shortly after my practice went from being one to five people. Male and female therapists fully trained, people of color, we speak Spanish, English, Portuguese. My average patient is anyone really. We see all type of people. I personally see many couples; especially biracial couples are very popular in my practice. Enjoy what I do. Therapy has become a bash of honor for many people and from many people embracing therapy has been incredible. One of the most popular things that I have seen is male. patients looking for therapy and engaging in meaningful work. Men mental health continues to be stigmatizing however this new generation is embracing it and really taking advantage of what therapy can offer. To see men taking ownership of breaking the ceiling and control of their health is very. Therapy is very intimate, and the intimacy that comes from it is delicate and it needs to be treated with a lot of respect, holding a safe space for another human being is the most rewarding part of my job.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

What has helped me is that I am very honest with my patients from the moment we meet for consultation, in those first 15 minutes I allow them to describe what they believe the need and why they are looking for therapy now. I never take patients for the sole purpose of making money, if I don’t think I can provide what they are looking for or what they need isn’t within my skill set, immediately let them know and offer to referral to a colleague who can be better suited for them. Therapy is a service that you can’t refund or void it. In therapy someone will let you in their most intimate secrets, the darkest part of themselves and hopefully their worse, that requires a lot of trust, and people should have good experiences for them to feel safe and even if it ends, they know that therapy works, and they can ask for help again.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

The most effective way has been word of mouth. I have a lot of friends, family members, and colleagues who have work with me and feel confident that I can treat their loved ones or patients. Having the type of reputation that allows others to trust you is the best way to grow your practice.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.psychotherapy-today.com
• Instagram: Yurilka_LCSW
• Facebook: Yurilka A Hernandez
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/yurilka-hernandez-lcsw-casac-sifi