Today we’d like to introduce you to Julie Ayala.
Julie, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Life has been an adventure for me filled with ups and downs, but it’s been in the messy parts that I’ve grown and learned the most, and ultimately changed for the better. It took vulnerability joined with becoming known for the deepest parts of my healing journey to begin, for wounds to be healed, and for beauty to emerge. I became passionate about coming alongside women in their vulnerability and messy parts of their lives. This ultimately led to me going to graduate school and earning a degree in professional counseling after a decade of working in the business world. Upon graduation, I enjoyed working for a counseling center for six years in the community before taking the plunge to start my own private practice counseling center, The Counseling Collective Fort Worth. Libby Marler and I both work as counselors at the practice and enjoy being friends as well as colleagues. My business background was invaluable in getting The Counseling Collective off the ground and running while Libby brings more social media and marketing skills to the table.
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?
Honestly, it’s been a much smoother road than expected but toward the beginning, struggles surfaced as we were getting the business on its feet. At first, the learning curve was high and created quite a bit of stress. For instance, in the beginning, I was writing two to three social media posts each week and barely getting them in for the deadline each day. But now, we have developed a system of dividing our work and progressing ahead individually; where Libby plans out monthly social media content calendars and I write an entire month of content in one day and submit it for posting. Another challenge at the beginning was making a wise choice in where to invest money. Do I hire out the website, social media, website photography, accounting, etc? Deciding where Libby or I could use our backgrounds and develop things on our own versus hiring out for critical business decisions that could affect finances and our overall financial stress. So, while the stress was peaked at the beginning stages of starting the practice, I now enjoy fairly smooth days and weeks.
Please tell us about your practice.
The Counseling Collective Fort Worth is a private practice counseling center. We hire women Licensed Professional Counselors (LPC’s) who each have a unique field they specialize in. We believe specialization within the larger counseling field allows for greater care for the clients. We make and implement specialized treatment plans for each woman that choose to see us for counseling services.
I am a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) who offers individual therapy to women to support the treatment of relationship issues and emotional pain and specialize in trauma and marriage betrayal. I also have training in EMDR for the treatment of trauma.
I have one colleague, Libby Marler, who is an LPC-intern, under the supervision of Rachel Rosser, LPC-S who specializes in women’s issues including maternal mental health, parenting, grief and loss, as well as anxiety issues. She also counsels teenage girls struggling with various life issues as well.
We are known for being a place for women who identify as Christian and further provide a safe and compassionate place for them to seek counseling services. We believe that the most effective counseling approach addresses the entire person holistically. The Counseling Collective Fort Worth utilizes a Christian worldview to counsel the spiritual and emotional challenges faced by our clients while incorporating an understanding of how our physical bodies are impacted by our mental health.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
I think our intentionality behind the scenes has been the most important factor in our success. The intentionality starts from the very moment a client begins looking for a counselor and progresses all the way to the week to week interactions with our clients. We strive to make sure women in the community can find us through optimizing our website and maintaining a consistent voice on social media. We have been intentional on our website and social media platforms to create and write content for our potential clients and aid them in determining whether we are a good fit for them. We have been intentional in making it easy to book first and subsequent appointments directly on our website to alleviate any hurdles in seeking help. We are intentional in creating an office space that is both hospitable and professional. We have been intentional about seeking additional training as counselors in the areas of field we specialize in. You get the idea; we immerse intentionality and thoughtfulness behind everything we do to create a space were women can feel safe and comfortable to seek out counseling services and subsequently have an experience that supports their growth and healing during the counseling process.
Pricing:
- Per Session Cost $125-150
Contact Info:
- Address: 1751 River Run Suite 227
Fort Worth, Texas 76109 - Website: www.thecounselingcollectivefw.com
- Phone: 817-402-0217
- Email: info@thecounselingcollectivefw.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecounselingcollectivefw/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thecounselingcollectivefw/
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