A Dream Come True
Today is a special blog because it is the fourth business anniversary of @therapywithmo!
Thank you to everyone I have met along the way to come to this moment. I am thankful for the constant expansion of my business, including the creation of the Undoing Toxic Blog in 2023. Creating and writing this blog is something I have thought about for years. To finally be doing it week after week is a dream come true. I am thankful for the feedback and support I get on the various topics that I write about.
Reflecting back, I think of many moments where I took a leap of faith and bet on myself. Often times we expect others to invest in us first, before we see the value in ourselves. It was Summer 2020 and I just hosted my pandemic birthday dinner at a Black-owned restaurant in Harlem with 10 invited guests. Two of my friends whom I also have the pleasure of being professional colleagues with told me that for my birthday, they gifted me my first year of malpractice insurance for private practice.
“Monique, it’s time to get started.”
The truth was, at that time, opening private practice was one of the farthest things from my mind. I said after 10 years in the social work field, maybe I would think about it. I had also graduated couples and therapy postgraduate training in 2020. So, what was I waiting for? I went home, I thought about it for a few weeks, and I got started…eventually. I spent many nights staying up until the next morning, working on my online business that you now know as @therapywithmo.
Analysis paralysis— We often spend so much time thinking about all that has to be done instead of starting somewhere. That was me.
This wasn’t perfect yet.
That wasn’t to my liking.
I’m not ready to open the doors of my business.
Who’s going to book?
I had many questions and I had many doubts. I kept thinking… my friends thought so much of me who were also my colleagues and there were so many more people waiting to work with me. Do it scared and do it anyways. On September 22, 2020, I opened the virtual doors of @therapywithmo.
I thought getting an education was not for the weak— running your own business is not for the weak, either! But like going to social work school, opening my business has exposed me to so much. I have met people that I would have never met and traveled. Some of them have become great friends and colleagues.
Just because something is hard, doesn’t mean you can’t do it.
I often joke and tell people that I started my business by buying a laptop and getting a zoom account. In 2020, that’s kind of all you needed. And a ring light for content creation.
I obviously know now that it was more than that.
Today is special. Anniversaries are reminders of where we have once started. In business, in love, birthdays, and even memorials of when our loved ones have departed…we are reminded. There is something about a date. I believe September 22, 2020, was at or near the change of seasons, summer going into fall. It was no accident. We all want to remember our special moments. The anniversary of something coming together is a moment we never want to forget. My staple question for my business is: What season are you in? I think about the many seasons that have come and gone since I first opened. I think about changes, I think about growth, and I also think about where I am headed next.
I don’t know what it may be for you, but I hope you know that anything that anyone may pick up to begin comes with a lot of fear, anxiety, doubt, and sometimes even sabotage. Sometimes we may fear our own success. They say Rome was not built in a day and good things take time.
Thank you for helping me create a good thing. Through my private practice business I have reached and helped so many. I look forward to those that I will reach in the future when it is time for our paths to cross.
A once quiet, daydreaming girl who made herself small, who didn’t always believe in her voice is now the owner and face of her business! I took my love for family and therapy to help people break personal toxic personal and family relationship cycles. Thank you for being on this journey with me.
Want to connect? Email me: moniqueevanstherapy@gmail.com
Accepting individual, couples, and family clients (self-pay and select insurance via headway.co- Monique Evans, LCSW)
For social work clinicians, I also offer clinical consultation meetings (Not to be confused with clinical supervision for licensure hours) at any level of practice.
Thank you for reading today’s blog and supporting me in another year of business!
Disclaimer:
The intention for using social media for social workers and other mental health professionals is for marketing, education, advocacy, thought leadership, and providing content in a technologically changing field. We want to do this while making potential therapy-seekers aware of the risks and benefits of engagement on social media and Internet where mental health professionals are present. A therapeutic relationship is a professional relationship and in today's technological climate, a social media presence or following your therapist on social media is not to be confused with a relationship outside of therapy. Ethical, professional, and therapeutic boundaries must be followed and honored.
A counseling social media page or blog is not psychotherapy, a replacement for a therapeutic relationship, or substitute for mental health and medical care. A social media presence as a counseling professional is not seeking an endorsement, request, or rating from past or current clients. No social media posts or blog should be considered professional advice. The information contained in posts is general information for educational purposes only.
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988- National Suicide Prevention Hotline (24 hours a day, 7 days a week)
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