Today we’d like to introduce you to Cheryl Edinbyrd.
Cheryl, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Life for me changed when I found myself pregnant at the age of 15 years old. Due to not having healthy ways to process my emotions due to trauma I experienced as a child and adolescent, it manifest in pregnancy at the age of 15 years old. I remember being in denial but realizing something was changing with my body. Months had gone by and it the mother of a friend from school who exposed my pregnancy to my father. Even that moment became a traumatic moment for me. I do remembering thinking to myself that I will have someone who will love me unconditionally and I will fight to do what I can to love and protect that child.
The birth of my first son at 16 years old was an added trauma in which at the time, I faced what I now know as a disparity in healthcare, which further scarred me emotionally and mentally. I remember being proud and reminding myself that I would graduate and go to college, even though I was a teen mom. I was excited when my father offered the opportunity for us to move to West Texas. It was there that my life was forever changed by a trauma that I would not shake for over more than two decades; I witnessed my father commit suicide by shooting himself in the head and die. The worse day of my life. I decided that I would press forward to accomplish my goals and at that moment, it was to graduate and go off to college. I did not take into consideration that the support I need to go away to college wasn’t there and failed out. It was then that I moved back to Dallas, TX.
Returning to Dallas, Texas had more disappointment and discouragement and I found myself doing what I have always done and that is to fight just to survive. In Texas is where I met my ex-husband and was blessed to have two more children. I also remained in a physically, emotionally and sexually abusive marriage because I wanted more for my children than what I had growing up but it was my children that gave me the strength to leave with nothing and be determined to build something. It was leaving that allowed me to tap into my entrepreneurial side. I opened a candy house where I sold sweets, drinks and burgers baskets, link baskets, and chicken wing baskets to support my children.
Even though I was truly broken, my goal was never to allow my children to see or feel any of it so much of it remained bottled up. It was meeting my husband of now 22 years that changed my life. It was then that I realized there was someone in my life that was there to love me unconditionally, not for what I had to give but to actually pour into me. He was the person who allowed me to soften my heart and allow the Lord to start to mold me and reset my mindset. It allowed me to regain my strength and have a better outlook on who I truly am.
When my husband asked what did I want to do in life, I wanted to finish my education. Finally, the support I needed was there… he made sure the boys were cared for as I finished up and Associates in Childhood Development, Bachelors in Sociology and Rehabilitation, Masters of Education in Counseling, and Doctor of Philosophy in Christian Counseling.
After working at Baylor University Hospital for nine years and realizing there would be no professional growth even though I developed professionally, I decided I wanted to take my professional growth in my own hands. I decided to leave and start my private practice in December 2012, working as a Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor and Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor. While working with a client and working with on my own emotional healing, I realized there are things that get stuck within us that need to be approached from a mind, body and spirit modality and decided to allow touch, yoga, health, and fitness to be a part of my journey and offered in my practice. I was able to further my professional knowledge base and continue my healing as I studied to become a Licensed Massage Therapist, Certified Yoga Therapist and a Fitness and Health Coach. This allowed me to find modalities and provide modalities to my clients that work with healing the whole person.
It is while working with my clients as they move from spaces of being single to pre-marital to marriage that I realized that my educational journey wasn’t over. As clients asked me to be a part of their birthing stories, I would push back with stating that is out of the scope of my practice. There was a particular time when a client who asked the previous year if I could hold that space with her, in which I declined, sat across from me to announce she was pregnant again and due to anxiety experienced at her previous birth that caused complications she really wanted me to see what I could do to provide that support. She actually mentioned something I never heard of before called a Doula. I researched it and decided to take the training in 2016. It was at my first birth as a Doula that I realized this was the first step to something greater. As I continued to work with clients as a Doula, someone mentioned me being a Midwife and it designated in my spirit.
January 17, 2017, started my Midwifery journey. I enrolled with the Association of Texas Midwives Midwifery Training Program. All while working full time at my private practice (The Tree of Life Birth, Counseling and Wellness Center, PLLC.), being on call and making EVER prenatal, birth, and postpartum in a full-time apprenticeship and managing to spend quality time with my family. Listen… this journey felt like the familiar disappointment, discouragement and rejection I am so familiar with experiencing throughout life… and because I was able to recognize it right away, I was able to apply my therapy tools and press my way. May twists and turns, which landed me at over six birth centers in the DFW area (Rockwall, Kaufman, Frisco, Hurst, Garland and then back to Kaufman).
Things changed and I had to adjust, which meant deciding to no longer be a part of the Association of Texas Midwives Midwifery Training Program and go the route of the PEP process, which was similar to what I was doing in the program. I just found workshops on my own. There were many times people, place and circumstances broke me down to tears (none they would ever know of) and had me doubting myself and contemplating if I was capable. It was during these times that the support of my husband would surface and because he knew my strength and who I was he reminded me that I could do whatever I put my mind to and I pressed my way. I took and passed the NARM exam on August 4, 2020.
I forgot to mention that during these three years, I have been working behind the scene on having my center build in a specific area in Dallas. I grew up poor, struggled throughout life, and was never given anything so these three years have been a labor of love. I was told to just move into a bigger space than the one I am currently leasing and I said no, even after considering it and looking at a few buildings. I was told that I wouldn’t be able to find financing and when I did, I was told I would have to come up with money that I wasn’t able to go to family and borrow but the Lord lead me where I needed to go. I was also told to go visit properties and just as I wrapped my mind around signing a contract, there would be liens or the builder wasn’t moving fast enough. Then I found a prime property that I fell in love with and I pulled all my own resources together and made it happen. So as I type and we are now in a pandemic, I am faced yet again with something hindering the process and when we were supposed to break ground in May, then July and now possibly next month, I wait patiently because I know what is for me is for me. I know none of my dreams would be possible without the Lord and the support of my wonderful, supportive, loving life partner, Louis Edinbyrd. I am grateful.
Please tell us about The Tree of Life Birth, Counseling & Wellness Center.
Licensed Professional Counselors, Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselors, Life Coach, Anger Management Specialists, Yoga Therapist, Vaginal Steaming Facilitator, Licensed Massage Therapist, Certified Professional Midwife.
The main goal at The Tree of Life is to positively impact and empower each client to have the quality of life they desire and deserve. I work to empower individuals, groups, and families utilizing the following therapies: CBT, DBT, Integrative Nutrition, EMDR, Yoga & Massage Therapy, Fitness Coaching.
We work with clients who are dealing with everyday life situations and complicated real-life issues, including: Chemical Dependency, Addictions, Trauma (Childhood Abuse & Domestic Violence), Eating Disorders, Families in the Aftermath of Suicide, Marital Problems, Marital & Pre-Marital, Divorce Recovery, Anger Management, Depression, Anxiety, Stress, Adolescent Issues, Behavioral Problems, Compulsive Behaviors.
Depending on your needs, I utilize a holistic approach that focuses on the mind (talk therapy), body (health, wellness, massage, and fitness), and soul (mediation, yoga, and spiritual issues).
Counseling individuals, couples and families for over since 2012. During this time, she has collaborated with other therapists and treatment facilities to understand the needs within the community. She has also utilized this time to go back to school to get certified as yoga, massage therapist, as well as a health and fitness coach to include more of a holistic approach to working with clients.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
Luck hasn’t played a role. Faith has been what has allowed me to hold on.
Contact Info:
- Address: 8035 E. RL Thornton Freeway, Suite 328, Dallas, TX 75228
- Website: www.totallyfit.biz
- Phone: 2149122614
- Email: CECounselingServices@yahoo.com
- Facebook: Facebook.com/CECounselingServices
Image Credit:
Robyn Brown with Robyn B. Snapping Photography
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