Today we’d like to introduce you to Melanie Storrusten
Hi Melanie, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Most of my career was in addiction treatment, both in hospitals owned by publicly traded corporations, non-profit organizations, and venture capital startups-ups. When my latest program – which had been so wonderfully holistic and client-focused – got purchased by a large Fortune 500 hospital group that I had previously left due to a values mis-match, I knew I had to go. It was painful to see them begin to immediately dismantle the program I’d built, and begin to exploit and extract, not caring about clients or staff, only the bottom line.
So, I started my own private practice, and slowly grew from a small part-time shared office into a full-time space and then a larger one to accommodate my mission of bringing other therapists along. No one should have to work in exploitive environments, and the financial, administrative, and fear-based obstacles can keep folks from feeling comfortable taking the leap.
I’ve recently opened a second location for our holistic and integrative therapy practice in Thomasville, Georgia, and I have a consulting branch of my business dedicated to providing start-up support to clinicians wanting to start or expand in private practice.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Not a smooth road at all! I had a full on existential crisis when I moved the office from Buckhead to Tucker and had to make the decision to go in-network with insurance. I’ve had staff leave under great circumstances – I’ve always seen Align Wellness as a stepping stone for clinicians to entrepreneurship, if that’s their goal. I feel great about “graduating” folks out of more capitalistic systems and into small business ownership, especially women! I’ve also had departures happen in ways that screwed me over.. not everyone understands the investment and risk involved in owning a small business, and the mutual trust necessary for it to work for everyone. When I started out, I made my contracts very loosey goosey and trusting, against the council I’d gotten. It didn’t take long to learn that those terms that had felt too legalistic had a very good reason for being there. I think we have achieved a good balance of fairness and protection now. It’s always my goal to create win-win-win situations – where clients, staff, and the business all benefit. I trust my gut a lot more in hiring, and am more thorough in reference checks. I am also super up front and conservative in the promises I make to folks coming on board. Even in private practice, this is not a get-rich-quick profession.
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?
Our Atlanta-based practice is a holistic and integrative practice that provides therapy and other services (yoga and coaching) for deeper healing. We are systems-based and trauma-focused, using somatic practices and here-and-now processing with the goal of connecting folks more firmly to their innate and free-flowing healing. We are social-justice minded and strive to decolonize the way we do therapy. We have six therapists who all take some types of insurance in an effort to remain accessible in our increasingly challenging economy,
In addition to seeing clients in our Thomasville office – in rural South Georgia, where there is a shortage of mental health providers – I also provide Clinical Supervision and training for newer clinicians across Georgia and Florida, as well as consulting and coaching for therapists wanting to start or expand their own practices.
I feel so strongly that high quality, non-stigmatizing care should be available to clients, and that the best way to do that is to take very good care of clinicians.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
Our industry, like most industries, is in great danger from venture capitalists coming in to extract and exploit. Currently, this looks like large companies owning most hospitals and treatment centers, and over-working and underpaying staff to boost the bottom line. Increasingly, these companies are buying up outpatient practices as well. And, tech companies infiltrating our field looking to make the most profit without understanding our profession, the skills required, or our ethical principles. Companies claiming to provide online therapies, amassing large rosters of clinicians to be on their insurance panels, using data from video sessions and files to teach their AI programs how to provide therapy… it’s an ethical minefield right now and makes succeeding in private practice harder (though it removes a lot of the barriers to entry), and makes finding an actual, local, in person therapist a lot harder! (And it was already hard!)
My prediction is these companies will flop within a few years. They’ll be sued, and also their models just aren’t sustainable. Therapists in private practice will have to continuously adapt their marketing strategies and financial models in order to stay in the game.
But, I have zero fear of good therapists being replaced by computers. There is a magic that happens when one human’s pain is witnessed and held in the presence of another live human being. I would encourage everyone looking for a good therapist to not give up! I have had my own share of bad therapy experiences, and great ones. I am always happy to help people find good therapist options – sometimes it helps to speak the language when sorting through profiles.
Pricing:
- Therapy sessions in our Tucker office (and virtually throughout Georgia) range from $140-180, with some sliding scale spaces available, and prioritized for BIPOC and trans clients, and we have clinicians in network with Aetna, Ambetter, BCBS, Humana, Medicare, and UHC
- Whole-hearted Coaching available in Tucker or online anywhere in the world $125
- Online couples sessions w Melanie $200
- Virtual Clinical Supervision (individual) $200; (group) $100
- Private Practice Start Up Support Coaching and Consulting $200-400/hr
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.alignwellnessatl.com and www.therapywithmelanie.net
- Instagram: https://Instagram.com/alignatl
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-storrusten-lcsw-36766536
- Other: https://www.alignccc.com
