Today we’d like to introduce you to Jamie White.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Jamie. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My first counseling job out of grad school was in 2007 working with families with complex, sometimes generational trauma. Needless to say, it was super intense, and even more so because I was such a newbie! I did agency work with families and adolescents in a few different places before deciding to give private practice a try in 2015. When I was starting my own business, I honestly was pretty burned out from doing such demanding work for the first eight years of my career, but at the prodding of my husband and some supportive friends I gave it a shot. Doing private practice has really re-energized my career because I am able to work with people that I really feel are a good fit for what I have to offer and I am able to design my business in a way that feels good to me and doesn’t lead to overwhelming and burnout.
Has it been a smooth road?
Not so much! Like I said, when I started out in private practice, I was pretty burned out and didn’t have a lot of confidence in my skills. But I listened to my gut (and my friends/partner) that was urging me to just give it a shot before I walked away from the counseling profession altogether. Like many other therapists, business and marketing were foreign concepts to me because: 1) I am not wired that way, and 2) we do not go near those subjects in grad school. But I had a group of other women who were going into private practice at the same time I was and we all kind of figured it out together. I hired a business coach, marketing coach, did my own therapy and started to shift my mindset away from “I suck at this” to “I think I have something to offer people.” Another mountain I had to tackle was shifting from being oriented around pleasing a boss and excelling at doing what I was told, to really owning what I am meant to do and create a business out of that. That was really disorienting and terrifying! But I’ve really come to value freedom and using my own creativity that comes with running my own business.
My advice to women just starting as entrepreneurs is to find your tribe– women who are doing something similar, have a similar mindset or are even one step ahead. Coaching has been very valuable to me as well. You don’t have to know all the answers, and there are people who are really passionate about supporting entrepreneurs!
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into Jamie White Counseling story. Tell us more about it.
I help women in nursing and health care professions feel inspired and fulfilled in the work they do, while also have a satisfying life outside of work. So many of these women get to a certain point in their careers where they realize how exhausted and checked out they are, and they start to wonder if they are in the right place. I help these amazing and very much needed professionals to feel good about staying in a career they are committed to (and have a spent a lot of time and money getting into!) and also feel like they can really live their lives and enjoy their relationships when they aren’t working. Nurses and healthcare professionals are exposed to more vicarious trauma– i.e. really terrifying, life-threatening, overwhelming situations– than the average person. However, their training rarely prepares them for how to deal with this, besides being told: “you’ll get used to it.”
I love it when I am talking with a client about what happens in our nervous systems when we are exposed to traumatic situations repeatedly, and their eyes get big and they say, “Oh my gosh, that makes so much sense! I just thought there was something wrong with me that I couldn’t handle this.” I love it when we find ways for a client to actually enjoy and re-energize on their days off instead of just numbing out and dreading going back to their next shift.
I use a technique called Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) that is really effective at healing and desensitizing traumatic experiences. I am also a yoga instructor and integrate yoga into sessions. This could look like using restorative postures to gently bring awareness to what is being held in the body, finding a felt sense of safety in the body, breathing exercises for regulating the nervous system, or mindfulness, among other things.
Also, I occasionally offer Yoga for Anxiety workshops where we explore what is happening in the brain and body with anxiety and experience various yoga practices that help with regulating the nervous system.
What do you feel are the biggest barriers today to female leadership, in your industry or generally?
I am really proud to be in a field where female leadership is common. Most of the thought leaders and academics who have heavily influenced my philosophy of therapy and the techniques I use are women!
In general, I do think that women are still struggling with figuring out with partners what true equality looks like in the home. Whether it’s a “second shift” or doing the bulk of the “emotional labor”, women are often juggling their career with managing the household (even if their partner “helps” or is willing to do something if they are asked).
Pricing:
- $120 per 55-minute session
- Some insurances accepted
- Clients can get started by scheduling a complimentary phone consultation
Contact Info:
- Address: 4380 Harlan St., Suite 200
Wheat Ridge, Colorado 80033 - Website: jamiewhitecounseling.com
- Phone: 303.594.5960
- Email: jamie@jamiewhitecounseling.com
- Facebook: @jamiewhitecounselingyoga
- Other: linkedin.com/in/jamiewhitecounselingyoga
Image Credit:
Joe and Bonnie Barlow
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