Today we’d like to introduce you to Curtis Hill.
Curtis, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I am originally from South Dallas (Zip Code 75215) where pride runs deep being a graduate from the historic Lincoln High School. Although I was parented-alone by my mother – also an entrepreneur and domestic worker – the village (or community) was kind to me. I had many surrogate fathers that included neighbors, teachers, and coaches. But my grandfather, Rev. W.A. Bell, filled in the gap in a huge way and was the patriarch of our family. He engendered the entrepreneur spirit as well by having a lawn care business which is when I first heard of the term “overhead.” We were not strangers to hard times as the struggles of life taught us resilience and grit. It is this grounding that helped me venture into entrepreneurship today. I am literally in my third professional career that included serving as an accountant, educator, and now psychotherapist.
My tenure as an accountant was short-lived and came to be by default. I started college with the intent of becoming an electrical engineer but was derailed by my passion for an intense social life. And becoming a father at nineteen years of age re-directed me to Texas A&M University-Commerce (formerly East Texas State University) which at the time did not have an engineering program. So, I jumped into the accounting profession and formally learned about “overhead” introduced to me years earlier by my grandfather. But, I found my true calling working in higher education being appreciative of the immediate impact of serving people. I devoted more than twenty years in higher education, moving up the career ladder, starting as a coordinator, director, and finally as a senior-level student affairs officer. Ironically, my career path included service as a Counselor and Director of Counseling while working within the community college system.
The salary and prestige of administration in higher education can be quite seductive, yielding a six figure income. I had reached the pinnacle of my career in gaining the title of Vice President of Student Services. I carried this title for more than six years before suffering the fate of being forced to resign or be demoted. I played the horror of that movie over-and-over in my head reliving the shock of that experience which caught me by surprise. However, I was confident of recovery as my credentials and experience would result in another opportunity to serve. I explored moving back into administration year-after-year but unfortunately that opportunity did not materialize as planned. The frustration and disappointment of not being able to land another administrative gig weighed heavily on my heart and mind. The heaviness of this career, if not, identity crisis pushed me to begin leaning on my background as a counselor. I tried to bridge the gap of hope by picking up part-time teaching positions at the community college and university level.
And it would keep me connected to higher education if an opportunity emerged to jump back on the proverbial horse of working as an administrator. I even filled in the employment gap by taking a temporary position as a paralegal with the Small Business Administration, an arm of the federal government. Yet, the fire to fulfill my purpose was burning and I was in a quandary where to turn. The resilience and grit that was part of my maturation in life was on full display which leads me to revisit my roots. I began to reassess and evaluate where I came from and where to go from here. The spirit of an entrepreneur has always been a part of my life and legacy. I saw this with my grandfather, whose lawncare business served to employ so many young people in the community that helped keep them from getting into trouble. I saw this with my mother the domestic worker who started her own business she branded as “Maid of Honor” and employed her children, teaching us to appreciate hard work.
So, my idea was to integrate what I already knew with my passion and purpose. Then I recalled my vision before starting to work toward my master’s degree in counseling. (“I can develop a private counseling practice part-time after completing the program, and dedicate time to the practice fully once my career is over in higher education.”). That original vision has escaped me when I began moving up the career ladder. The thought of starting a private practice came back to the forefront of my mind a few years ago. The reality of starting over again at 60 years of age was frightening. I had a successful career in higher education and why not simply wait on retirement which is right around the corner. I could continue to simply make ends meet by teaching part-time and scale down my standard of living. All this self-talk made sense but I felt like there was more and maybe this forced-choice was really the springboard to my initial vision coming to fruition. And an added incentive was that my oldest daughter had started a private practice herself as an LPC-Supervisor (Therapy Inspired). Now, I have started my own private practice called “Relationships Refocused, PLLC,” and in my second year.
Alright, 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?
Launching a startup always have challenges. My initial challenge was identifying a space to see client. Initially, I shared space with my partner in life who is a Licensed Marriage and Therapist (LMFT), seeing clients in the evenings when she did not occupy the space. The other challenge was identifying space that would allow me to conduct group sessions. The workspace she had was very limited with availability for only six individuals.
However, I learned about a shared workspace community for rent called “Common Desk,” which was a blessing in disguise. Once I committed to renting office space with “Common Desk,” my ingenuity received a big boost. Common Desk shared workspace has multiple locations across the Dallas/Fort Worth area. And since I had access to each location, this gave me an opportunity to be innovative by becoming a mobile therapist. Although my hub is at the Richardson location, I was able to see clients in Downtown Dallas in the Trammel Crow building as well. When I began to get some traction with my business, COVID-19 hit which created a whole new set of challenges.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Relationships Refocused?
While serving as an administrator, I leveraged my clinical skills to teach as an adjunct faculty member through the graduate counseling programs at Prairie View A&M University and Southern Arkansas University for more than a decade. My counseling and life coaching experience extend beyond higher education, where I continue to work with various marginalized communities. This work included being in spaces that allowed for me to facilitate support groups for “non-offending” fathers with Dallas County Child Protective Services; Bill Glass Prison Ministries where I once worked with offenders on death row in the State of Texas; and providing leadership in the Free at Last support groups in the Counseling Ministry with mega-church Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship—Anger Management, Boundaries, Premarital Counseling, Relationship Strongholds (Co-Dependency), and Satisfied Singles.
I am a lifelong learner and continued to develop my relational skills, evidenced by becoming a Safe Conversations Master Trainer under the tutelage of Imago Therapist founders Drs. Harville Hendrix and Helen LaKelly Hunt. Relationships Refocused, PLLC is dedicated to providing counseling, coaching, and consulting services to individuals as well as organizations. My lifetime of experience and training using “safe conversation dialogue” has prepared me to offer the best care to couples struggling in their relationship. Also, I give focus to men’s issues that deal with anxiety, depression, infidelity, and self-worth.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
I draw from a number of resources to gain access and develop personally and professionally. I read the information presented by The Gottman Institute, GoodTherapy, Psychology Today, American Counseling Association, and The Trauma & Mental Health Report. I access frequently use apps like LinkedIn, Google, Talkspace, SonderMind, American Psychological Association, and Common Desk. I have an inventory of books that change regularly. Independent of textbooks that are used for teaching. I frequently pull Appreciative Leadership off my bookshelf, and more recently, Relationship Goals has been a go to book along with Boundaries by Cloud & Townsend. I still hold onto my “25 Great Books” list which was required reading for my doctoral program at Baylor University. One of my favorite authors to cultivate my spiritual life is Dr. Miles Monroe and Understanding your Potential is my classic. My most recent read is “Livewire: The Inside Story of the Ever-Changing Brain” by David Eagleman.
Pricing:
- Individual Counseling = $70 per session (50 minutes)
- Couples Counseling = $120 per session (60 minutes)
- Pre-Marital Counseling = $300 flat rate (3 sessions)
Contact Info:
- Email: therapist@relationshipsrefocused.org
- Website: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/curtis-o-hill-richardson-tx/486154?sid=5fd26de66dd64&name=curtis+hill&ref=1&tr=ResultsProfileBtn
Image Credits
Kamilah Hill = Family Photo
