Today we’d like to introduce you to Shae Ivie-Williams.
Hi Shae, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I started my career in community mental health in 2012 as a paraprofessional. After visiting the homes of many families, the stories began to sound similar. I constantly heard women tell me how their relationships with their mothers were at odds or they were molested when they were younger. Some of their stories mirrored my own surrounding difficulties with expressing emotions when they were younger or their parents using negative comments meant as motivation only to be echoed in their adult narratives. Training at that time was limited on trauma in the community sector and I knew traditional talk therapy wasn’t working. The women and families let me know that trying to challenge their negative thoughts or use affirmations didn’t change how their past impacted them. After my start in community mental health, I decided to obtain my masters’ in counseling to become a licensed therapist.
During this time in school, I also worked in utilization management, which I really enjoyed. I never thought I’d be a counselor. I always thought I’d have a comfy job working a 9-5, however, I was never satisfied. Once I took my first trauma course, I got my “ah-ha” moment. I received the missing link that I didn’t have many years ago. The fact that trauma is held in the body and how traditional talk therapy may not help in processing trauma. Once I understood this, I took it and ran with it. Anyone that knows me knows that I am a nerd. I LOVE to learn. I went on a learning and training rampage to learn more about how to work with trauma and how to help others release trauma from within. After many years of being unsatisfied in traditional job settings and realizing my desire to work with women who struggle with childhood trauma, I took a leap of faith. I began to work within a group private practice to build my skill set and obtain further experience. More recently, I opened my own private practice, The Healing Spot, to bring trauma-focused modalities to black women and marginalized communities.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
There have been plenty of challenges along the way. The primary challenge that I have struggled with the most has been my own internal struggle. My inner critic often rears its head and makes me think twice about sharing my story or about my ability to help others. It has held me back often as I have tried to make myself smaller or hide my talents. I would often compare myself to other counselors and think I wouldn’t be as good as them. I used to think, who would work with a counselor who struggled through depression or had their own trauma? Instead of continuing to struggle with these negative thoughts about myself, I decided to do something about it. I got my own counseling over the years to help me work with my own trauma, anxiety, and inner critic. Once I got to the root cause of my issues, it felt like being set free and being able to regain control over my life. This feeling gave me the ability to take the leap of faith I needed to believe in myself. I began to make the moves in my personal and professional life that were needed to allow me to be the therapist I am today.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about The Healing Spot?
At The Healing Spot, I provide virtual individual trauma therapy. I specialize in helping women with adverse childhood experiences along with PTSD, ex-military and active duty, anxiety, OCD, trichotillomania, and intergenerational trauma. I am able to help my clients not only because I am a therapist but because I’ve been there. I know from personal experiences with generational trauma, domestic violence, and social injustices, I know how valuable therapy can be. I take my experience and use it to help women and marginalized communities heal from past trauma. At The Healing Spot, we are proud to offer trauma-informed therapeutic modalities aimed at working with trauma from within the body. We believe that everyone has the ability to heal from within and we help guide you to it to release it. We also take insurance: Cigna and BCBS.
How do you think about luck?
I don’t necessarily believe in luck, but I do believe in life happening as it should. I believe that everything in my life, whether it was seen as positive or negative at the time, happened for a reason. These past events happened as they should have and they have brought me to where I am today. From adverse childhood experiences, becoming a single mother at 19 to meeting great mentors and friends to guide me along the way has played a significant role in my life and business. These experiences have put me where I exactly where I should be in life.
Contact Info:
- Email: hello@healingspotatl.com
- Website: www.healingspotatl.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/traumahealher
Image Credits
LaSondra Spears
