Today we’d like to introduce you to LaKeshia Grant.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Growing up, the dream was to be a doctor or a nurse, but I did not enjoy any of my science classes in high school or college. I took them and passed them (barely, lol) because I had to. But still, I’ve always wanted to help people and I’ve never met a stranger. In high school, I took an AP Intro to Psychology class and loved it so much that my teacher and advisor both let me take it twice.
I went to college at Texas Tech where I crossed as a member of Delta Sigma Theta and completed my BA of Psychology in 2009 and then my MA in Counseling at DBU in 2012. During grad school, I worked at a Psychiatric Hospital in Dallas, in the Adult Psychiatric Emergency room, where I was introduced to the world of mental health crisis stabilization.
I completed my graduate school practicum work at a local church’s counseling center in Dallas, doing individual therapy and group therapy. During this time, I met a woman named Gwendolyn Jones, who had a women’s support group for survivors of sexual abuse/incest trauma. I finished my final semester of grad school doing counseling at OCBF and working full-time still at Green Oaks in the spring of 2012. I completed my 3,000-hour internship at Green Oaks Hospital as well and became a fully licensed professional counselor in July 2014.
In August of 2014, Mrs. Gwen reached out to me saying she had created her own non-profit organization, Arise, with the same mission as the group she had at OCBF and asked if I would join her as a co-facilitator. I have been co-facilitating the group with her continuously since the fall of 2014. In August 2016, I transitioned from Green Oaks Hospital to Children’s Medical Center Dallas on the inpatient psychiatry unit where I currently work during the day as inpatient psychiatric care coordinator.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Noooo, not at all. But in all honesty, if it was smooth, I wouldn’t want it. Not saying I enjoy the various struggles and (sometimes very random) outbursts from frustrations that have come along but I know its necessary for growth. I’ve learned a lot about people, myself, and this entrepreneurship life along this journey.
Time management has been a struggle. I haven’t completely mastered it but I have gotten a lot better. And I mean, time management in the sense of, I still work a full-time job Monday through Friday. So, trying to find the time and have the energy to start a business on the side that also requires a lot of you mentally and emotionally, balance has to be maintained.
One of the other things that I’ve struggled with most, and still do, is believing people will notice me or want to entrust me enough to be their therapist. If you do a google search or psychology today search, there are hundreds of therapists in Dallas. Why would someone pick me? But in true therapist fashion, I try to reframe that thought whenever it pops up into “There are hundreds of therapists in Dallas and still, they chose you.”
One of the mantras or sayings that I tell myself often now since the start of this journey is “No mud, no lotus.”
Please tell us about Mindfully Restored Counseling.
I knew I wanted to have my own counseling practice one day yet didn’t pursue it seriously right out of grad school. I enjoyed helping people to stabilize from their immediate crisis in the hospital setting, but over the years and through various life events of my own (and the world around me), I became more aware of the need for people to have, explore and experience therapy for themselves, especially minority women. And especially to be in therapy with someone who looked like them as well.
In short, Mindfully Restored Counseling is counseling for women to renew your mind and restore your soul. I specialize in life transitions, anxiety, trauma history, depression, and crisis of identity. I believe that my empathic nature is what makes me so passionate about helping others work through their emotional discomforts and challenges. Life will present its difficulties to each of us on its own, however, no one teaches us how to work through those difficulties in a healthy and productive way. I, by no means, do not have all the answers to be able to do such a thing, but I do have a skill set and willingness to help those that would like to learn better ways of coping through therapy.
There is so much that can be benefited from being in therapy, even when you’re not in crisis. And representation is key. So, I launched and opened my own counseling practice to be able to provide counseling to women ages 17+; for women of all races, but especially for millennial minority women/women of color. That’s what I’m most proud of about my company, is being able to give a voice to and help those that look like me and show them therapy is for us also. It’s also what sets me apart, I am my ideal client- a millennial woman of color. I had a client call looking for a therapist that she felt she could relate too, she called it “a mocha mental health sister” and I loved that.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Spending time with my grandmother. I was born in Camden, Arkansas but we moved to Texas when I was two and a half years old. I don’t remember much of those early years of course, but the summer breaks of when I was in late elementary through Jr. High, my cousin and I would spend a few weeks each summer back in Arkansas with our grandparents.
I loved being with my grandmother. We’d go fishing, we’d bake cookies and brownies or make homemade preserves; she’d press out our hair and let us dress up in her jewelry, broaches, and turbans; we’d help her in her garden and snap fresh peas in a bucket, she’d play pitty-pat (a card game) with us for cookies, and in the evenings we’d sit outside together in the large swing in the front yard and she’d sing to us; we’d run errands with her and as we got older we’d go to the bingo hall with her, lol.
She was just great. She never went anywhere without her perfume sprayed, lipstick on or her nails painted; garnet was signature color for both. She always had gum in her purse. We have a running joke in my family that Wrigley’s pink gum and white diamonds is the smell of home. Haha.
She passed away when I was 14yrs old, right after New Years. I was a freshman in high school. I still miss her so very much. Looking back now as an adult, she taught me a lot about the importance of having a routine and still being able to have fun. Much of what I have done since her passing, and still do, is for and to honor her.
Pricing:
- Free 15 minute phone consultation
- 80-minute Initial intake session for $120
- 50-minute ongoing session for $85
- Telehealth therapy sessions coming soon
Contact Info:
- Address: 13355 Noel Road, Suite 1100, Dallas TX 75240
- Website: www.mindfullyrestoredcounseling.com
- Phone: 469-848-7535
- Email: lakgrant@mindfullyrestored.com
- Instagram: @mindfully_restored
- Twitter: @lakgrant
- Other: linkedin.com/in/lakeshia-grant-94b779173
Image Credit:
Elise Portley & The Esile’ Agency, Arise! Int.
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