Today we’d like to introduce you to Kabian Brown.
Hi Kabian, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started this walk of life in 2002 when I first graduated undergrad at LeMoyne University in Syracuse, NY. During that time, I interned for a Traumatic Brain Impairment (TBI) agency and loved the work that I was doing graduated with an undergrad degree majoring in Psychology and minoring in Philosophy. I went on to work at the Boys and Girls Club in Queens NY doing youth services. From there, I was hired to do case work with Steinway Child and Family Services. This was an introduction to fieldwork and it was exciting to me. I was a young, black male professional making a difference in the lives of others. My journey then took off when I went back to school at Adelphi University, Located in Garden City, NY, to pursue my Master. At this time, I was working for a Foster Care agency called Heartshare Human Services, Located in Brooklyn NY. This was the best experience I could ever get and I had one of the best supervisors, Ms. Jacqueline Perrier. I learned how to do court reports, case plans treatment plans, assess and ask therapeutic questions. I learned how to be an advocate for my clients and I also learned how to find resources as the main foundation for social work is People In Environment. This was not an easy path. I would work during the day (in office or community) then take the Long Island Rail Road to go to class. The train ride was like an hour from work. I hade class from 630 to about 950 and had to make it to the train stop to catch the 10pm train. That ride was about 2 hours and sometimes long going from Long Island to the Bronx and I had to do it for what seemed like a lifetime. To top it off, the first year I interned at Rikers Island and was there every Saturday from 9-5pm. What I learned was invaluable. I was now working with inmates.
I never forget how nervous I was because I am sitting across from people who have committed all types of crimes and it took a while for me to not be intimidated by the fact that I was in a jail and get acclimated to the fact that I am providing services for those who are incarcerated and will soon be released. During that time, I met so many people and also had to truly advocate for my clients, self, and peers. This is when I learned that My Voice is My Power and sometimes the power of others who do not know that force that their voice has. I did this for a year and then went on to my next internship, all while still maintaining my full-time case management position.
I interned at SCO Child and Family Services as an Intensive Case Manager under Hasan Perez and was hired as soon as my internship concluded. I was ecstatic. I was seen for doing great things. I took this opportunity to grow and learn the case management role from the preventative services side. In this role, I was trying to keep families together rather than trying to get them back together. I learned so much more about the reasons that families are separated. It was life-changing. During this time my fraternity brother, Prince, knew of what I was doing and the fact that I was always trying to excel to the next step. He set up an interview for me to be a Youth Services Specialist with the Army Reserve under Beverly Arah. This is where I was able to take what I learned and apply it to military families. I remember doing to interview on the phone in November and Ms. Arah was like, “You’re hired, can you be in Texas by January?” Talk about nervous. I was super happy that i “leveled up,” but also super nervous to go across the state and be by my own… However, I love challenges and opportunities, so of course I took it. Me and my mom went to Texas in December, scouted places and me and my father drove from NY to Texas in January so that I could start my new career. We made it 5 minutes before my furniture did. This career allowed me to see the world and go places that I would have never thought to visit. I was not until one day doing summer camp when a youth had a meltdown and I was able to go into full social worker capacity and he actually ended up staying at camp and enjoying it.
That experience made me say, “You went to school for that… how can I do that and this?” Unfortunately, I couldn’t do both so I made the choice of asking for a transfer to Georgia where I worked with another base and soon resigned from the position to go back to my foundation. While in Georgia, I learned that I would be a contractor and not have a W2 position. This was a huge adjustment as I had never heard of a contractor before. I was extremely nervous. One of my colleagues in NY new of my work drive and referred me to work with CDC doing Ebola Outreach. I loved it. I was a Care Ambassador and was responsible to making sure people were safe and that they knew what to do in case they were affected by Ebola. This contract also concluded and I had to find work in Georgia. I worked with many agencies as a contractor until I was hired by my first Georgia W2 job at Bethany Christian Services (BCS). This was another monumental time in my life because I finally had benefits. I worked there doing CORE counseling and was one of the top three billers for my time in that role. In 2016, I passed my LCSW exam and was promoted to be the IFI supervisor at BCS and I did that for about a year with huge success. In 2018, I left there momentarily and worked as an assessment supervisor with New Heights Counseling Services and was able to improve their assessment rating. My fiancé, at the time, decided that she wanted to open up a private practice and she did in the summer 2018. Around September of 2018, I joined with her and we shared a one-room office as we were up and coming. We simply made it work.
By 2019, we advanced to the office we are in now. From a one-room office to an office with seven rooms, an office manager, a billing team, a human resources department, and almost ten service providers to include Nurse Practitioners and one clinician in New York. We have been able to also fortunate to create a sister company that is ran by my wife Rebecca Morgan Brown called A.O.S. Healing and Wellness Center. We worked hard! During the Rise of our company, I studied billing profusely. I mean I went to bed dreaming about CPT codes and understanding insurance and the lingo. I felt I had to know how to do my job effectively as a Mental Health Professional. A lot of people forget that we Mental Health Practitioners are considered to be a part of the medical field, the behavioral health department. We have Service (CPT) codes and they have set prices per insurance. I ensured that I was able to provide the Medically Necessary services especially during the Pandemic. Counseling and Billing… the combination of the two are still to this day exhilarating to talk about and to teach to other clinicians about .
While building S.O.S. Counseling and Consultation Group, LLC. I also went back to Bethany Christian Services as a Fulltime supervisor over their Community and private practice counseling programs. I was able to take what I learned though my private practice and influence and educate on a corporate level. My drive to learn new things and set new trends has always been enormous and I thank parents that pushed me to always think “What’s next.” I am now the National Clinical Program Manager working with the refugee population.
Moving to Georgia has been an instrumental part of my career and my personal. I met my wife, got married, had a daughter all in Georgia. I became licensed, own a business, teach continuing education classes, and continue to grow as a clinician here in Georgia. I met other Brothers of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc and Sisters of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. I have joined the Counseling Brothers of Atlanta and continue to grow as a person and as a professional here in Georgia.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It was not always a smooth road. The struggles that I first experienced when moving to Georgia where understanding the difference between a contractor and a W2 employee. I had never heard of this being that I am from the Bronx, NY and all the jobs I had ever worked were W2. I had to figure out how to do taxes and that was interesting. LOL. I laugh because I ended up taking tax classes so that I could learn how to file taxes and also do that on the side… I did that until we started SOS. I had to figure out how to be a contractor…
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about SOS Counseling and Consultation Group, LLC?
In 2018, I left there momentarily and worked as an assessment supervisor with New Heights Counseling Services and was able to improve their assessment rating. My fiancé, at the time, decided that she wanted to open up a private practice and she did in the summer 2018. Around September of 2018, I joined with her and we shared a one-room office as we were up and coming. We simply made it work. By 2019, we advanced to the office we are in now. From a one-room office to an office with seven rooms, an office manager, a billing team, a human resources department, and almost ten service providers to include Nurse Practitioners and one clinician in New York. We have been able to also fortunate to create a sister company that is run by my wife Rebecca Brown called A.O.S. Healing and Wellness Center. We worked hard! During the Rise of our company, I studied billing profusely. I mean I went to bed dreaming about CPT codes and understanding insurance and the lingo. I felt I had to know how to do my job effectively as a Mental Health Professional. A lot of people forget that we Mental Health Practitioners are considered to be a part of the medical field, the behavioral health department. We have Service (CPT) codes and they have set prices per insurance. I ensured that I was able to provide the Medically Necessary services, especially during the Pandemic. Counseling and Billing… the combination of the two are still to this day exhilarating to talk about and teach other clinicians about. We offer in-person and virtually.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
Atlanta has a lot of interesting locations and Eateries. My wife and I do different restaurants from the taste of Atlanta. I also think another thing that is interesting is the belt line. It is so relaxing and interesting all at the same time. What I like least is the distance between everything. It’s not like NY, where you can take the train everywhere and at any time. The trains in GA cut off at a certain time and do not go everywhere. That’s def my least favorite thing.
Pricing:
- 150 Self-pay therapy sessions
- 175 Initial appointment
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sosccg.com
- Instagram: @kbnsigmalcsw
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sosccgllc
