Today we’d like to introduce you to Andreanna Duron
Hi Andreanna, 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?
Entrusted Counseling PLLC was created by me in 2020 as I found myself working as a contract therapist in a group private practice setting. I continued my work as a contractor until 2023 when I decided to use my PLLC to start my own private practice. The journey leading up to private practice had its own winding path. I grew up in El Paso, TX and went to college at the University of Texas at El Paso for my undergraduate degree in psychology. After college, I moved to the Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) metroplex and attended Southern Methodist University to complete my master’s degree in counseling. I received my intern license after graduation and worked in mobile crisis providing assessments for individuals, and families in the community, hospitals, and mental health facilities. I then transitioned to working with clients struggling with eating disorders at a center that provided inpatient, residential, partial hospitalization, and intensive outpatient treatment options. One of my goals was to eventually work in private practice so I had more freedom to choose the population of my clientele and had the ability to do deeper work with my individual clients.
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?
People go to graduate school to learn to be therapists, but are not taught how to be a business owner nor receive any business 101 classes. Being a therapist that owns their own practice can be intimidating and has its challenges. I have had to seek out information about how to run my own business. It can provide a lot of challenges initially and eventually starts to come together as you make mistakes… lots of mistakes. I’ve learned that it is so important to create a community of support through other therapists and small business owners in order to share and receive what you can. I am never shy to ask what other’s have used to become successful. On the other hand, I also try to offer what knowledge I have to others who ask. It has made me a more intentional person in general. I support small businesses regularly since I understand the importance of community support.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Entrusted Counseling?
My private practice officially started in July 2023 as I began to see clients through telehealth as well as in person through a shared office in Grapevine, TX. I work with adults 18+ who are struggling with anxiety, depression, eating disorders, trauma, and also work with first responders. I have been trained in a trauma modality called Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART). ART works to desensitize specific memories, snapshots, or sensations that our brain stores when we experience trauma. Trauma affects many individuals and I feel excited to be able to use ART to help my clients sleep, function better, or even live their lives without carrying the symptoms associated with it.
As an intern, I worked at an inpatient eating disorder facility while I was trying to acquire licensing hours and learned so much about the role eating disorders play in people’s lives. Through my job, I was able to provide meal support, group sessions, individual sessions, and chart for patients. I received training in almost every level of care for eating disorders and grew to enjoy working with that population in private practice. I’ve continued to seek out education and provide creative ways to reach my clients during sessions.
My training as a crisis clinician peaked my interest with providing assistance to people in the community who have experienced trauma. I was connected with a local non-profit, 3FTL, that specifically provides support to first responders. I worked alongside first responders at times during my crisis work as they were already present on my arrival or needed to be added in for a situation that had escalated or required medical intervention. As a therapist who was counseling first responders, I really found value through my interactions with them and the ability to provide a service for people who were helpers in the community. It was unknowingly a population that I loved working with and wanted to continue. I now attend meetings with the DFW First Responders Support Network who connects clinicians and other providers with first responders in order to provide support and connect them with services.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I have been lucky to have made connections with wonderful colleagues in the DFW area. There have been several times I have met the same therapist at a different event and we were then able to connect on similar specialties and counseling methods. The office space that I currently use was provided through my colleague (now friend) who I met at a training for ART. Her and I connected on working with eating disorder clients and continued to stay in touch. I have also been lucky enough to work with many great therapists throughout my internships and other counseling jobs. These therapists have become part of my support system as well as really great friends.
Pricing:
- I provide a free 15 minute consultation over the phone to ensure it is a right fit.
- An initial intake session is $175 for 90 minutes.
- Individual Therapy sessions are $150.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.entrustedcounseling.com
