Today we’d like to introduce you to Moses and Sonya Chism.
Moses and Sonya, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My husband and I are considered to be what they call a “dynamic duo,” who’s been successfully married for 23 years with three boys. We meet in college but dated while in ministry attending the same church… at the time, he was an ordained minister and I was a dedicated gospel solo artist pursuing a career in music.
After a two-year dating process, we grew in love and became inseparable. We married and made things official, even though our family dynamics were quite different we overcame obstacles most relationships would have deemed difficult to overcome. We started our beautiful family and relocated from Arkansas to Dallas in 2005 seeking better career opportunities. Fortunately, we haven’t looked back. We reinvented our lives and decided to continue our education and invest in family.
After working in both the health field and corporate we became committed to doing what we both are passionate about and that’s helping people. One of the common denominators we share is our compassion for people. Though we both started out in ministry, whether I was encouraging someone through song and he was speaking life to a hopeless individual, we would always end up trying to find the answers and solutions to other’s problems. This is when we discovered that mental illness was a huge issue in society and we wanted to bring about awareness. So after completing six years of continued education and training in the field of mental health, we decided that it was time to think about our legacy and become intentional about our future by seeking God’s plan for us. With Purpose in mind, we were blessed to open up our own mental health office in January 2011, Innovative Centered Counseling Inc., located in Duncanville, TX. As a private practice, we have been serving the DFW community and abroad for approximately ten years, counseling youth, individuals and their families, connecting with Church organizations and surrounding schools offering our assistance in community mental health programs and to mental health awareness educational programs.
Dr. Moses Chism Jr., certified by the Texas State Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors – is a Licensed Professional Counselor- Supervisor and clinician with a Ph.D. in Human Studies and I, Sonya Chism, serves as Director and as a Master Life Coach to our business. Within ten years of practice, we’ve witnessed many of our clients transform and change their life for the better. And as a team, we’ve managed to keep a business and customer service rating of 4.5 stars, with little marketing. Most of our clientele are referred by word of mouth. Our goal is to help people find “Purpose beyond their Pain”.
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?
The challenge was balancing our family life and trying to build a business at the same time. The obstacle was overcoming health issues, financial hardship and depression in our marriage that could have lead to a divorce. But because of our relationship with God and a close friendship between one another, we managed to bounce back with a Purpose beyond our Pain.
Innovative Centered Counseling – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Our business is privately owned and family operated. Our clients love our innovative approach to treatment. We are a relationship-centered office and before we tell our clients how much we know we show them how much we care. We conduct psychotherapy which is a more intense therapy. We seek to find the root of the underlined issue.
Dr. Chism is a problem solution styled therapist, we evaluate, bring about awareness, and educate our clients about their diagnosis while providing them with the proper coping skills. We are very hands-on, our client loves how we assign homework for them to do throughout their treatment. Once treatment is completed we offer life-coaching to our clients to help guide and direct them into receiving clarity about their purpose in life. We treat Depression and Anxiety, Grief, ADD, ADHD, Bipolar, etc. and provide all general standard treatment to adolescents, individuals. We also specialize in couples, marital, family counseling and divorce recovery.
We are most proud of our reputation and client testimonial of our effective treatment, which is the reason why we’ve been able to stay in business for ten years and not have to spend hundreds of dollars on marketing! We truly treat all of our clients like family and they know that we truly care about them. What sets us apart from others is our innovative approach, we customize every treatment according to the needs of each individual client. We are down to earth, even down to our office attire. We believe most clients feel most comfortable when they feel you can relate, so in our therapy, we believe in being transparent we don’t mind sharing our own life experience and struggles.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
After one year in business, we were able to expand to a much larger office, without the help of a small loan. I remember thinking “who would have ever imagined” things spinning off so fast and desiring to never have to work in corporate again.Dr. Chism receiving his Ph.D. on March 20, 2020. “This year was also a very proud moment for me and my family in spite of the pandemic., “I was able to complete and achieve the highest level of education in my career. — Dr. Moses Chism Jr.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1102 Santa Fe Trail Ste 3, Duncanville, TX 75137
- Website: www.iccounselingtoday.com
- Phone: 469.454.2859
- Email: schism@iccounselingtoday.com
Image Credit:
D. Lacey Photography
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