Today we’d like to introduce you to Kate Fowler.
Kate, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Fear got me where I am today. Being afraid to put my foot on the ground, to take that first step, to jump again. I felt utter terror to rejoin volleyball practice after injuring my knee. I had amazing physical therapists helping me strengthen my knee so that I could return to the team before the playoffs, but I had no one helping me conquer the mental challenges of returning to the sport.
The combined truths of having to take on all my own mental and emotional problems by myself and also being the cliche person everyone around me would go to talk about their problems led me to taking psychology courses. I knew one thing in life, I was good at understanding people. After deciding forensic psychology was not for me, I learned about sport psychology, and it clicked. This is what I want to do. I want to be the person I needed and didn’t have. I want to help athletes work on and overcome their mental and emotional struggles so that they can focus on what they love most and excel at it.
After making that discovery, I found a mentor, Jack Llewellyn, Ph.D., in Atlanta, GA who I interned with for a summer. He told me to go get a master’s in counseling instead of going straight into a Ph.D. program for sport psychology, so I ended up at UNT in Denton, TX where I met my now business partner, Stephanie Lindsey, MS, LPC, CI, NCC. First day of class, I heard her say she wanted to do sport psychology, so I turned around in my desk to introduce myself and tell her “So do I.” Little did I know, four years later, we would open our own private practice that combined traditional talk therapy and sport psychology with a dream to grow and include more disciplines to create a holistic, one-stop-shop kind of practice. In the future, we would love to include professionals specializing in nutrition, physical therapy, massage therapy, yoga therapy, chiropractic care, and medication management.
In that 4 years leading up to opening our own practice, I also worked to specialize in eating disorders. Now I work part-time at Children’s Health Medical Center in Plano, TX in the Psychiatric Eating Disorder Program. I currently run the intensive outpatient program 3 days a week and work private practice the other two days a week. The dream has evolved, like all dreams do when working them into reality, to working with teens and adults struggling with eating disorders and/or sports performance.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Like any dream you fight for, the road to accomplishing your dream is full of twists and turns. My dream started out as “I am going to get my Ph.D. in sport psychology and work with professional and Olympic athletes.” Well, that didn’t quite happen. I got my master’s in counseling instead of a Ph.D. Yes, I still could get my Ph.D., but after completing my master’s, I was burned out and didn’t have the desire to pursue more education. So, I adjusted my dream. I figured out how to make a master’s work for my dream. This route presents its own challenges, but I decided I would be happier taking on the challenge of getting notoriety and clients rather than having to complete 4 more years of school.
Completing a master’s program in counseling is like taking a magnifying glass to yourself, your friends and family, and the world. Becoming so aware of mental health is not something you can unsee or become unaware of. I learned a lot about myself in the past 3-4 years. It has not all been easy to uncover, so that is why I have done and am still doing my own counseling work. I can’t do my best for my clients if I have not done my own mental health work. In fact, I don’t trust any mental health professional that has not been or is not in their own counseling.
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?
My business partner, Stephanie Lindsey, and I created The Therapy Lounge and Performance Center (TLPC) to (1) become our own bosses and (2) to build a holistic practice that includes multiple health and wellness disciplines, such as physical therapy, massage therapy, yoga therapy, chiropractic care, nutrition, medication management, etc. We would love to be a one-stop shop for all things mental and physical health and wellness.
Right now, TLPC is less than 1 year old and only consists of Stephanie and me. Stephanie specializes in trauma, EMDR, sport psychology, life transitions, addictions, anxiety, and depression. I specialize in eating disorders, sport psychology, anxiety, depression, and professional burnout. With the practice being so new, we are so excited for all of the possibilities and freedoms we get with owning our own practice. We have fun ideas floating around right now about podcasts, books, workshops, and merch to bring to our clients. In the meantime, our Instagram page is full of tips and tricks for surviving mental health struggles. You can find us @therapy.lounge.group on Instagram and Facebook.
Now, envision walking into a house that feels warm and inviting. You enter the living room and sit on a comfy leather couch after making a cup of coffee or tea. Then a lovely professional comes to get you for your session. You go into a private office for a therapy session, out on the back deck for a yoga group, into the kitchen for a nutrition class, or into an activity room to shoot some hoops as you talk. You leave feeling a little closer to your goal or a little more confident in your ability to take care of yourself and live your best life. This is the vision we have for our practice. We want to create a community-like feel in our practice where you feel safe, comfortable, and supported in sharing your story and working towards your goals.
What matters most to you? Why?
As cliche as it sounds, helping people matters most to me. Being caring, compassionate, loyal, trustworthy, a bit sarcastic, but most of all understanding and supportive is what I strive for every day. The people in my life and the relationships I have with them matter more to me than any material object, success, or achievement because nothing would matter if I didn’t have anyone to share material objects, success, or achievements with.
I want to build a life that allows me to be the best version of myself so that I can help others discover and become the best version of themselves. The best version of me enjoys my life, takes the stress and difficulties to therapy and works on them, has achieved a work-life balance, and spends her time doing what she loves and makes her feel good, which is work during work hours and fun or relaxation during life hours. It matters so much to work towards the best version of myself because I have experienced not being the best version of me while still trying to successfully help others. I have found that if I am not taking care of myself, then I cannot do my job or be the friend or family member that my clients and loved ones deserve. It’s like that saying that I hear all the time in my industry, “if you can’t take care of yourself, you can’t take care of others.” I’ve learned that it is not selfish to put myself first and take care of me above all others. In fact, it is actually necessary for me to that. Don’t get me wrong, it is not easy, but it makes my quality of life so much better, which in turn improves my ability to help and support my clients, friends, and family.
Contact Info:
- Email: therapyloungegroup@gmail.com
- Website: therapyloungegroup.com
- Instagram: @therapy.lounge.group
- Facebook: @therapy.lounge.group
- Other: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/kate-fowler-dallas-tx/912072
