Today we’d like to introduce you to Melissa Wesner.
Hi Melissa, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Some therapists dream of opening their private practices from the time they start grad school. On the contrary, I had no idea what I wanted to do once I finished grad school. During my last year of grad school, however, I was fortunate to have found a counseling position that I loved. It was here that I got to provide drug and alcohol treatment in Baltimore City for 7 years. I eventually moved on to teach at a local university, but it was there that I realized I needed to return to the work that I loved…counseling.
I knew I didn’t want to return to an agency where I didn’t have decision-making power, and by this time, I was confident in my skills. While meeting with former colleagues at a potluck, we made a collective decision to open our practices and share office space. This is where my entrepreneurial journey began.
After a few years, my practice was full, and I was turning people away. Since I didn’t know many of the other providers in the area, I felt bad about referring clients out as I couldn’t vouch for the type of care that they would receive at these other practices. That’s when I decided to start hiring and growing my team. Today, I have an amazing administrative and clinical team, so when clients call us, I know they’re in good hands! Because the practice has grown, we can serve an even larger number of clients, not just in the Greater Baltimore area, but across the state of Maryland.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road has not been a smooth one. When I opened my practice, I was the sole breadwinner as my partner was attending college as a non-traditional student. When my head hit the pillow at night, I felt the weight of this responsibility as my family’s financial stability depended on the success of my new practice. It was sink or swim, so I swam!
And, then there was the time that my partner accepted a position in another state. For a year and a half, we lived in different states, and I eventually moved to New Hampshire to be with him. This meant that I needed to manage my entire practice remotely, and this was before the pandemic occurred, so managing a counseling practice remotely was almost unheard of. Thinking about this transition and communicating it to my team was incredibly stressful. Just months after I moved, the pandemic hit, and the whole world (literally) started working online.
And, let’s not forget the hiring challenges experienced over the pandemic or the many staffing transitions we’ve experienced as the pandemic lifted.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about LifeSpring Counseling Services?
LifeSpring Counseling Services’ mission is to provide hope, healing, and empowerment through the collaborative process of counseling. We provide online and in-person counseling services to children, teens, and adults who are dealing with depression, anxiety, trauma, stress, and difficult life transitions. To ensure that counseling services are affordable and accessible, we are in-network with major health insurance companies, and new clients can schedule appointments from our website 24/7 at lifespringcounseling.net.
We regularly hear people talk about how difficult it is to get an appointment with a therapist who accepts insurance. At our office, we make scheduling super easy, and people regularly thank us for answering the phone and returning their emails. We try hard to eliminate the barriers to seeking treatment and try to ensure that people have a quality experience.
When we hire, we look for people who care about their clients and love the work they do. As a practice, we are very intentional about who we hire and about creating community and connection through gatherings and other rituals. If our team feels supported and cared for, that will trickle down to the care that they provide to their clients.
Brainspotting (BSP) is one of the things that our office is most known for. While Brainspotting has been around for over 20 years, very few people still know about it, which is unfortunate. BSP is an incredibly powerful brain and body-based treatment modality that doesn’t even require someone to talk to do therapeutic work. It can be used to help people work through difficult emotions and experiences, but it can also be used to help people access creativity and expansiveness. As Brainspotting fans, we would encourage anyone interested to try it out!
We also have a private, mini-podcast series that answers some of the most commonly asked questions about starting therapy.
A year ago, I began offering cultural immersion workshops for mental health providers in Mexico. Now, I am offering a wellness-based business retreat for entrepreneurs in Costa Rica! Business owners’ well-being is crucial for so many reasons, and yet it’s rarely discussed as an important element in business strategy. At The Ultimate Business Refresh, the 6-day all-inclusive retreat that I’ll be hosting, we’ll be changing that conversation!
We love surprises, fun facts, and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
Generally speaking, I think friends, family, and colleagues tend to see the tip of the iceberg of accomplishments. They see the projects I’m putting out there and will congratulate me on them. What people don’t necessarily see is how hard I’m working behind the scenes.
As therapists, sometimes our clients assume that life must always go well for us. The reality is that life happens to all of us, and we are all tasked with the responsibility of figuring out how to navigate our thoughts, feelings, experiences, and relationships in wise and healthy ways.
Pricing:
- Individual counseling services: fees vary based on one’s health plans.
- The Ultimate Business Refresh: a 6-Day Retreat for Entrepreneurs–$3,297+
Contact Info:
- Website: lifespringcounseling.net
- Instagram: @lifespring_md , @melissa_wesner_
- Facebook: @lifespringcounselingservices
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/lifespringcounseling
- Private Podcast: https://lifespringcounseling.net/private-podcast
- Other: https://lifespringcounseling.net/small-business-owners-retreat-in-costa-rica
