How I Started my Psychotherapy with Dra. Nancy Rodriguez
Meet Dra. Nancy Rodriguez, founder of Healing Corazones Psychotherapy. She is a DACA recipient from Guadalajara, Mexico and is a licensed psychologist in California. Her practice is focused on psychotherapy for adults, and she is working on expanding her services in the future.
How does it feel to be your own boss?
There are a lot of wonderful things about it because I get to dictate my business, say who I want to work with, and really hone in on what I want to do. But it's also really difficult. It's a mixed experience and can be challenging at times.
Why did you start your business?
When I got licensed, I did some work at a non-profit. It was wonderful, and I learned many things, but it also wasn't the perfect fit for me. I was pushed to work with clients and had the training to help them, but that was out of necessity rather than being a good fit. Later I worked for a private practice and learned about a business that was already set up and learned many things. These experiences pushed, pushed me to open my own practice to serve the community that I wanted.
Did you know what you were getting yourself into?
As far as doing clinical work, I had the experience to make it work. However, in terms of running a business, I didn't know anything; there was no manual or guidelines to follow. I made many costly mistakes in the beginning, but it's a learning curve. Being an immigrant especially, there are limited resources or knowledge that is available to us, and that's an added challenge.
What do you enjoy about what you do?
I really enjoy working with clients and witnessing their stories and supporting them in navigating their emotions and trauma. I also really enjoy rediscovering psychology and pulling away from the white person-centered ideology. There are so many conversations in our community that are really powerful and beginning perspective. So in my private practice, I get to decolonize and show up differently in my work.
What advice would you give to someone who is thinking about starting their own practice?
The main thing I would say is to go for it, I know there will be a lot of unknowns and mistakes that might happen but the reality is that you can do it. There are resources, there are people who can educate you. Also, there is power in the community who you can hire or ask about things you don't know how to do.
If you’d like to support Nancy, follow her Instagram @healingcorazones_psychotherapy, and watch the full story on our YouTube channel. If you are an immigrant-origin entrepreneur and would like to collaborate with us, email contact@preparejobs.com.