Meet Natasha Trujillo, Ph.D. of NPT Therapy & Violet Echoes Press

Today we’d like to introduce you to Natasha Trujillo, Ph.D..

Hi Natasha, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
In a nutshell, I am currently a licensed counseling and sport psychologist as well as a newly published first-time author. I’ve been in the mental health field since 2011, where I first started working at a residential treatment facility for at-risk youth. During that time, I was finishing up my undergraduate degrees in Elementary Education and Psychology at the University of Wyoming, and then I began a Master’s program for Clinical Mental Health Counseling (also at UW). I worked full-time in residential care while also completing practicums in a couple of different facilities at the university, where I was able to gain exposure to working more closely with college students while conducting a variety of research projects and refining what my research agenda would be for my doctoral studies. After my Master’s I moved out to Indiana where I completed a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology at Purdue University. During my time there, I built specialties in grief/loss, self-injury, and performance psychology with collegiate athletes. I received training in university counseling centers, community mental health centers, alternative high schools, and in Purdue’s athletic department. I also taught undergraduate classes while taking my own classes and writing my dissertation which was focused on parental absence, unmet needs, and non-suicidal self-injury in first-year college students. I then completed my APA-accredited internship and post-doctoral study at the University of Northern Colorado where I provided individual, group, consultation, and crisis support services in both the counseling center with the general campus community and in the athletics department working with individuals, teams, coaches, and administration. My time in collegiate athletics helped me develop a stronger specialization in both grief/loss and eating disorders, which led me to take a position as a therapist and program lead for a PHP/IOP program for high performance athletes with eating disorders.

Now, I have been in private practice for about 3 years full-time. I see individuals, teams, and organizations. I provide education, consultation, and supervision, and I have written and published my first book under my publishing company, Violet Echoes Press, that is focused on examining how we experience and move through grief/loss throughout our lives. It is focused on helping readers build perspective, learn about grief, and provides opportunities for reflection alongside tools to help grievers adapt and integrate loss more fully into their lives.

I am PSYPACT certified meaning I am licensed in almost all 50 states now and working primarily remote with current and former collegiate, professional, and USOPC athletes. I am also part of the USOPC and NFLPA mental health registries.
I am a member of the Collegiate Clinical/Counseling Sport Psychology Association (CCSPA), the American Psychological Association, the American Psychological Association’s Division 47 (Exercise & Sport Psychology), and the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC). I also sit on the advisory board for Danscend, a LA based organization focused on mental health education and resources for dancers.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Of course not… is anything worth pursuing a smooth road? A lot of my struggles start with me. I am a perfectionist and there have been times where this has added a lot of unnecessary stress, expectations, and pressure on myself that was simply not needed. In fact, exploring perfectionism through the lens of grief and loss is so important to me that a whole chapter of my book is dedicated to talking about this! Pursuing this level of education certainly comes with sacrifices, and sometimes you have to make decisions when your needs and priorities conflict that are hard to implement. For example, it was really hard for me to move across the country for my doctoral studies coming from a family where this was not normal nor desired. I am a first-generation college student and most of my family has never moved from the town I grew up in. I have changed the mold in many ways, and those are not always celebrated or seen as strengths in the moment.

Making the move to private practice full time has also been a challenge. The stress of owning a business, running a business, starting a publishing company and writing/publishing a book simultaneously has brought a lot of unforeseen obstacles and lessons. Overall, this move was right for me and I am so glad that I took the risks. Managing boundaries, taking time away to recharge, and trying to turn down the over-achiever parts of my brain remain things that take a lot of effortful focus. I don’t succeed all the time, but I recognize the importance of it.

I would also say that my work is very challenging. I specialize in grief/loss, eating disorders, trauma, perfectionism, and performance psychology. When someone makes the brave decision to come to me for help, the road isn’t a smooth one. The complexity of these issues cannot be understated. I love what I do but it is also really serious business and requires me to be sure that I am taking care of myself, staying on top of the best treatments, and coordinating care as best as I can with other provides to ensure my clients truly get better. It is immensely rewarding but far from smooth!

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I have already mentioned what I do and what I specialize in. I think I am building a niche for myself as someone who is known for treating elite athletes with eating disorders and/or those coping with grief/loss (death or non-death).

I think what sets me apart from others is that I show up as I am. I am a real person and I recognize that I am the biggest tool in my work with others, so I try to lead with an authentic commitment to listening, learning, and sharing what I know to best serve the needs of the people that I work with. I am willing to admit my mistakes, when I am wrong, and when I don’t know something and try to create an environment from the get-go that allows for flexibility, imperfection, and the messiness we can’t avoid. I also thinking branching into the world of publishing and becoming an author has given me an additional edge. I have had to take risks and demonstrate more vulnerability than I ever thought that I would. I have many clients in my years of doing this work to thank for that. I continue to be in awe of the courage each person shows when they show up in my office and let me into some of the darkest corners of their minds. To work alongside them and help them be with the things they can’t change and elevate the things that they can change is what keeps me waking up in the morning.

I am most proud of the brand and business I am creating. Adding the word author to how I describe my career has been a surreal moment. Having it as a tool to be able to have a bigger reach and impact is something I am still wrapping my head around. It has just proven that there is power in vulnerability and that when it comes to grief, community is a key to moving through it and learning to live with it.

I’d like readers to know that I am approachable. That I realize life is hard and that I won’t pretend for a second that I have it all figured out. I take time and care to get to know the people who seek me out and strive to work WITH you to bring about the changes you want to see in your world. My tagline is “elevate your doing, transform your being” because I believe that we have to pay attention to both the human being and human doing within each of us. I am not done yet either! I am obtaining an additional certification to become a Certified Thanatologist (study of death and dying) and am in the process of creating a course for grievers to help guide them through the challenges that great loss brings.

Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
That nothing in life comes without both gains and losses. All desirable events have painful moments, and all undesirable events present opportunities for growth and transformation (in time). You cannot have one without the other and to fully live means you must be able to appreciate and adapt to both.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.npttherapy.com
• Instagram: @npttherapy
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/npttherapy/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natasha-p-trujillo-phd/
• Other: https://andshewasneverthesameagain.com

Image Credits
Angelina Butler (Pryde Designs)