Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Eiseman.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Jessica. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I have always felt deeper and was deemed “more sensitive” and have had an inherent drive to help others. I took a Psych 101 course in high school and I was hooked. I majored in psychology at the University of Houston- Go Coogs! During that time, I started working with children in the CPS system and then at-risk youth. It was about a three-year gap before I figured out that I wanted to go back to school to obtain my master’s degree. When I was applying for programs, I was working in clinical research with individuals with schizophrenia at Baylor College of Medicine. When that study ended, I transferred over to the neuropsychology department there. My love of assessment blossomed from this roll. I worked with mostly veterans assessing them for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. I finished up my master’s degree in counseling from the University of Houston-Clear Lake, became licensed as Licensed Professional Counselor-Intern and began working toward my 3000 post-graduate licensing hours at a partial hospitalization program in Third Ward.
There I ran groups with the most psychotic and aggressive clients. I then moved on to work with adolescents and their parents. I dabbled a little in a group private practice for a bit and then was fortunate enough to go back to Baylor College of Medicine where I worked through the Harris Health System community clinics off and on for about ten years. It was here that I received a lot of my knowledge as a clinician. It allowed me to work with the spectrum of disorders, it was very diverse; at one clinic sometimes I would see clients in five different languages in a day! (Unfortunately, I do not speak all of those languages, we had translators). One of the best things I learned from doing translational therapy is that no matter our race, religion, skin-color, gender, or sexuality-the core of being a therapist (empathy, unconditional positive regard, authenticity) transcended all barriers. I will never forget I saw an elderly woman from the Middle East, we had our session with the translator, we finish the session, the translator hangs up. This woman comes over to me as we are leaving my office, grabs my face with both hands and plants a huge kiss on my lips! It took me by complete surprise as normally that kind of affection is not permitted in my line of work, but she wasn’t anything but so grateful just that I listened to her story. I really loved working there.
However, we saw a huge caseload of clients and over time that took a toll on me and I was burning out (which is unfortunately all too common in my field). I was able to handle it until I came back from maternity leave after having my daughter and realized I did not have the energy like I did before and needed to do something different. While I was on maternity leave, I had a colleague and friend of mine talk to me about helping with asylum immigration cases. This began my love for immigration mental health evaluations and expert witness testimony, which I did on the side. I found a job working more case management from home for about a year and during that time, I began opening my private practice, Ajana Therapy & Clinical Services, where I have been for the past eight months.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Not at all. Is anyone’s smooth? I was the first to get my Bachelor’s degree and the first to go on to grad school in my family. I have always hustled… and then have always had a side hustle to my hustle. I think we think that other’s journeys are smooth and straight like an arrow, but most, like mine, are messy, scribbles or if you can picture a bowl full of spaghetti, all the pieces touching. The cool thing is, though, is that we all end up getting to where we need to be. We may not like it, it may be uncomfortable, but we get there. That has been my journey and I am still on it. My career has always been a priority for me. I wasn’t the best at school, I have always been more common sense/street smart which I later learned meant more that I have higher emotional intelligence. When I got into graduate school for counseling, I found my passion.
When I started working at the community clinics upon completing my intern hours, I felt so fortunate. The mental health world in Texas is not the best, most places are overworked, underpaid, understaffed and the environment/work culture reflects this. So, I was grateful to be working in a place where that was not the issue. We did see a lot of clients, but that was the nature of working in a community health system, but I always felt supported and worked with an amazing integrative team. I felt like I had “made it”, so to speak. Then a few years ago, I became pregnant and had my daughter (she is now 2). No one talks about how much your brain changes during pregnancy and after giving birth. “Mommy mush mind” or “mom brain” is totally real. It really took me by surprise along with my unexpected pregnancy in general. Not everyone knows this, but I struggled badly with depression during my pregnancy and after giving birth (thank goodness for my loving and supportive husband, Danny). I had a really traumatic birth, which is more common than we think. And then, there is such an identity shift in being a new mom. Luckily, I was able to receive help with my maternal mental health. This also shifted my perspective on what I felt I could handle with such a big caseload and navigate being a mom in the state I was in. This is where I started getting more interested and seeing the need for maternal mental health practitioners and have been gaining more education in this area to put into my private practice.
After coming back from maternity leave, I made a difficult decision to leave my Baylor job and work from home for an insurance company. I knew I would either love it or hate it, and I hated it. But this is where being so uncomfortable pushed me into greater things. I never wanted to be in private practice. Now reflecting I think I have always been afraid of not being good enough or worse, failing. I think that is a very common fear, so it keeps us from pursuing what we really want and are capable of. I just heard this quote, “Stop shrinking to fit places you’ve outgrown.” If that doesn’t hit home. Now, having my own private practice has not been easy, I have had to learn everything on my own. Who to ask, what to ask, where to look… but I am here. It’s definitely a rollercoaster as an entrepreneur; one day you feel like okay I finally got this, then the next you’re like crap, I was wrong, this is so hard! But there is something beautiful about owning your own business, I have never been happier, even on the days I am worried about bills, or clients, or my other clinicians.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Ajana Therapy & Clinical Services – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
A lot of people wonder why the name Ajana, instead of my own name. One, this practice is not just about me, we have an entire group of clinicians, that without them, this would not be possible. Two, I heard this quote on a random TV show that said, “Never fear the ajana, for that is where the good stuff is.” It was something that I wrote down at that moment and it stuck with me. And so, when I finally decided to go into private practice, it was the name that came to me. I looked up what “ajana” was in Bengali and found out that it means the unknown, being uncertain. And that’s very much where I felt I was. I think that resonates with a lot of people because what brings people to therapy is the uncertainty, the unknown; and sitting in that and recognizing that there are good changes, positive ones that can come after that.
Ajana Therapy & Clinical Services is an inclusive and multiculturally competent counseling practice that offers mental health therapy, consultation, supervision, assessment, and training. We have a group of empathetic, knowledgeable, and authentic clinicians that specialize in trauma, life transitions, depression, anxiety, stress management, relationships, addiction and crisis. I also have a special clinical interest in maternal mental health. We are an affirming practice for our LGBTQ+ community and also offer mental health immigration evaluations. Additionally, we provide online therapy and are in the process of offering trauma-informed yoga practices soon!
What I’ve tried to do in conjunction with making this practice with our amazing fully licensed clinicians is to create a teaching practice—and a very community based one. We give back to the community by providing various pricing levels for individuals who might not be able to go to therapy. Because we are a teaching practice, our interns and graduate students are able to see people at a more affordable cost without using insurance.
We are also unique in that we currently have a grant in conjunction with the Houston YMCA International to offer free therapy to individuals who are in their legal program seeking asylum. Through this grant, we are also able to offer trauma-informed care to the legal team, which has not been done before.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Being in the entrepreneurial mindset, it is so difficult to not look at the future and plan. I am also working on not getting carried away with “the idea fairy” as one of my mentors, Kate Walker reminds.
That being said, we are already getting cramped for space, so within the next three years, I hope to have a larger space, serving more people. I hope my work with the immigration community continues to grow, as after this pilot with the YMCA International we are hoping to apply for bigger funding. Ajana’s clinicians, Kristen Suleman, Sanna Khoja, and Rebecca Martinez have been vital in helping me with this project. We will soon be offering Trauma-informed yoga, as one of our clinicians, Leah Singer, is a level 200 yoga teacher and is recently certified in trauma-informed yoga. We want to continue being integrated into the community, which include the Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce and the Houston Metropolitan Chamber. Additionally, I am in the very beginning stages of working on integrating counseling into a few medical private practices in the area. I love creative ideas trying to find ways to let people know how important mental health is, so I am definitely open to additional collaborations!
Contact Info:
- Address: 1638 W. Alabama, Suite 2, Houston, TX 77006
- Website: www.ajanatherapy.com
- Phone: 832-387-5735
- Email: info@ajanatherapy.com
- Instagram: @ajanatherapy
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ajanatherapy/
- Other: Blog: https://ajanatherapy.com/blog/
Image Credit:
Daryl Nacalaban , Jessica Eiseman, Leah Singer
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