Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Meagan N. Houston.
Hi Dr. Houston, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
Well, first let me thank you for featuring me in your magazine! I appreciate the opportunity to share a little about myself as Psychologist and my practice!
Initially, when I established my private practice in 2010, it was a part-time venture. I’d already been employed with the federal government, as a correctional psychologist in Beaumont, Texas, for about two years and I enjoyed my job.
It was an interesting position as I had the dual role of psychologist and federal law enforcement officer (correctional officer first!). I had to train for a few weeks in Glynco, Georgia at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) and learn how to manage weapons, (9MM,’s M-16’s and shotguns), learn self-defense and the inner workings of a correctional setting. I had an opportunity to serve on special teams like the Hostage Negotiation Team, and work with FANTASTIC colleagues!
But there was still something missing. While I always wanted to work in the forensic realm, the fantasy of the job and the reality of the day-to-day operations of the job were TOTALLY different!
As we all know, BIPOC(Black and Indigenous People of Color) are disproportionately represented in the penal system due to systemic racism and other socially constructed factors. I chose to pursue a career with the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) because I wanted to help make a difference in the lives of those suffering from mental health concerns either prior to being incarcerated or caused by the trauma of being incarcerated.
I imagined that treatment would be well received by the inmates, mental and emotional rehabilitation would always be supported and recidivism rates would be reduced! It was going to be great!!! Making changes from the inside out!! But the reality was that I found myself, mostly, implementing behavioral management plans, assisting with the orderly running of the institution, and navigating agency politics. So, often, I would end my days, feeling disillusioned, frustrated, and unfulfilled.
I knew that being a psychologist was my calling, I would tell people (and still do!) I didn’t choose this profession, it chose me! And I knew that working in this setting, with all its restrictions, red tape and bureaucracy would not allow me to show up like the mental health professional of which I aspired. I knew I needed the freedom to decide what kind of Psychologist I desired to be, the freedom to decide how I showed up for the community and the freedom to integrate inclusivity and diversity into the services I provided to my clients. I was also aware that I needed a supportive space to grow into my professional identity. These ambitions led to the founding of my practice, Houston Behavioral Health, PLLC!
In the beginning, I wanted to take the opportunity and time to learn the ins and outs of private practice life while remaining financially secure. Thus, I still worked as a correctional psychologist for six years while maintaining my part-time private practice. I have always enjoyed having options, being flexible and having a variety of challenges presented to me. And so, I accepted every opportunity of which I could manage in my private practice! For the first few years, most of the work I accepted were independent contracts, providing psychological evaluations for various agencies and working in various settings to include skilled nursing facilities as a geriatric psychologist. But as my skill set and interest began to expand, so did my work in the practice.
As I was growing my practice and developing into the psychologist I envisioned, I chose to take the opportunity in the correctional setting to develop a specific area of expertise in self-harm and suicide prevention. In this high-risk setting, the management of suicidal and self-harming behavior was essential and it was an area of which I was extremely anxious and fearful. I wanted to do everything in my power to master this fear of losing a client to a suicide death. In response I immersed myself in everything suicide! I became a suicide companion prevention coordinator, trained my colleagues, and developed assessments and interventions to help manage these concerns
In 2013, a good friend and colleague approached me about providing suicide prevention training to other mental health professionals for a company named “PESI.” It was an amazing and fulfilling experience! And after four years of providing training across the country, in 2017, I published a workbook for mental health professionals titled: Treating Suicidal Clients and Self-Harm Behaviors: Assessments, Worksheets, and Guides for Interventions and Long-Term Care.
As my private practice continued to expand and grow, I knew it was time for me to leave the prison setting and embark upon new experiences. But I was not yet ready to pursue full-time private practice. So, in 2014, I joined the Houston Police Department (HPD), as a Police Psychologist in their all-civilian psychological services division. I felt that this position was systemic in nature and an amazing opportunity to effect change from the inside! If an officer’s mental health is managed and cared for this increases the likelihood of more positive interactions with the community!
As a police psychologist, I was able to provide mental health services to police officers, their loved ones, and civilians employed with HPD. We provided individual therapy, couples therapy, marital therapy, family therapy, as well as psychological and psychoeducational evaluations. We would assess officers involved in critical incidences (shootings, etc.) to screen for PTSD or other concerns. We provided trainings at the police academy to cadets and seasoned officers on a variety of topics. We performed psychological evaluations and screenings of recruits attempting to become police officers.Toward the end of my tenure, we even began to respond “on scene” if psychological services were requested following a critical incident. We were a mental and emotional wellness “one stop shop!”
Though I enjoyed my job immensely, I continued to feel held back and stifled as a psychologist in this setting. I concluded that agency work, is agency work, no matter the name or mission of the agency. As a clinician navigating agency work, you remain bound by the expectations, politics, standards, guidelines, general orders, standard operating procedures, rules or whatever you want to name the “red tape” assigned by that organization. And, for me, I never lost that desire for freedom. Freedom to be the best psychologist I desired to be. The freedom to grow. The freedom of expression. The freedom to make choices and decisions. The freedom to be inclusive. The freedom to just be. And to provide the best possible care for my clients without jumping through bureaucratic hoops.
In 2019, I decided I was finally ready to take the leap of faith and pursue full-time private practice work! I provided my supervisor with a 2-week notice and I retired from HPD in January 2020.
Pursuing private practice has been one of THE BEST career decisions I have made. I am finally able to show up, genuinely and unapologetically ME! I am no longer held back by others’ opinions of me, bruised egos, or blocked opportunities for growth. I can be the kind of psychologist of which I have always desired. I can provide top notch services to my clients and be as creative as I choose in my interventions and methods. I am finally able to do what this profession chose me to do.
As the practice grows, I am continuing to learn something new every day. I have been blessed with family, friends and loved ones who have provided guidance and encouragement on this new adventure! And I am looking forward to the next decades of growth and continuing to have the honor and the privilege of assisting others with their own personal journeys!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I wouldn’t say the road has been completely free of twists and turns. There have been a few bumps along the way. As early as graduate school, I discovered that the skin I live in would determine how people judged my competence, compassion, abilities, and desire as a mental health professional. Early in my career, I continued to realize how my age, gender and ethnicity would lend themselves to many encounters with the “tyranny of the isms.” Whether that be ageism, sexism, or racism. I have experienced many missed opportunities because other folk felt as if I didn’t quite fit their mold or image of what a young, burgeoning psychologist should be.
What these experiences did do for me, was continue to fuel my desire to pursue private practice work and create my own spaces wherein my age, ethnicity, and gender would be deemed as assets rather than detriments to my career path. These encounters reinforced my choice to stay on the path to entrepreneurism and the development of spaces for others that allow for growth, affirmation, and congruence.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Houston Behavioral Health, PLLC?
Houston Behavioral Health, PLLC (HBH) embraces a generalist approach in providing treatment for those who experience an array of emotional and behavioral concerns. Vital to HBH’s mission is to provide culturally appropriate and holistic mental health care services to adults, adolescents, children, and families-Healing mind, body, and spirit. Specialized services offered by HBH include the treatment of law enforcement personnel, suicidal ideation and behavior, self-harm behaviors, sexuality, and gender concerns (LGBTQI+ Ally). HBH also provides services promoting relationship health (couple/marital/premarital therapy), and the treatment of mood disorders, eating disorders, trauma, women’s issues, men’s issues, sex addictions, spirituality, and substance abuse concerns.
I believe that what sets HBH apart from other practices is its commitment to social justice, diversity, inclusiveness, training, and continuing education of mental health professionals. We are proud allies of the sex positive and LGBTQI+ community and strive to provide culturally competent services to all our clients. While I have no doubt that other mental health providers are fully competent and capable of providing adequate services to their clientele, HBH welcomes clients who present with dynamic and unique concerns. We take an integrative stance in providing services to our clients, respecting the therapeutic relationship, and tailoring each intervention to their specific needs.
HBH has provided trainings for a variety of organizations, to include, but not limited to Facebook, the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC) Foundation, and Nystrom & Associates, Ltd. And we continue to offer consultations and seminars for educational institutions, corporations, small businesses, media outlets, as well as local, state, and federal agencies. We provide trainings in the areas of suicide prevention, self-harm behaviors, survivors of suicide and complicated grief, workplace violence, overcoming anxiety, stress, and depression, conflict resolution, trauma and PTSD and stress management.
Most recently, we have teamed up with Essence Psychological Health Services, PLLC (EPHS), founded by Dr. Jasmine Burton to establish The Houston Essence Behavioral Consortium (HEBC). The HEBC is a training initiative between Houston Behavioral Health, PLLC, and Essence Psychological Health Services, PLLC. The goal of the HBEC is to provide exemplary experiences to burgeoning mental health professionals interested in careers in private practice. Upon completion of training with the HBEC, trainees will be prepared to launch a successful niche or generalist practice serving their desired population. They will have the opportunity to hone their skills in the treatment of anxiety, depression, trauma, addictions, stress management, relationship issues, and grief and loss. In addition, these professionals will receive specialized training in suicide and self-harm, sexual dysfunctions, gender, and sexual identity concerns, couples and family therapy, law enforcement, and women’s mental health. Finally, trainees will gain the necessary business and entrepreneurial foundation needed to launch and grow a successful solo or group practice.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
What matters most to me is suicide prevention. Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States, it is the 2nd leading cause of death for those between the ages of 10-34. It permeates through ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, professional affiliation, age, education, culture, marital status, physical ability or disability, intellect…it has the capability of impacting everything and everyone! It is insidious. It can be impulsive and unexpected, it can be planned and calculated, it can be contagious, and it can change your life…FOREVER.
See, suicide is one of those decisions, that leaves devastation in its path. Even getting to the point where you feel as if suicide is a viable option, speaks to the pain, despair, hopelessness, and helplessness that one feels almost every day. Most people who contemplate suicide are not OK. They may, silently, be dealing with depression, trauma, anxiety, abuse, substance abuse, addictions, shame, guilt, or even worthlessness. And these only name a few of the conditions that may be present when suicide is on the table.
As a mental health professional, I know…no, WE know, that, most often, suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. Even it feels like things will never get better, they do! We just need you to allow us to help you make it to the other side of despair, so you can see it.
A lot of my job really does involve providing hope and a safe space, to assist in helping to challenge those perceptions that lend themselves to suicide. We tend to develop tunnel vision when we entertain the idea of suicide. And my job is to help you see ALL of your options. No, I can’t make it magically disappear, but what I can do, is let you know that you are not alone on this journey. I can be with you on this path to healing and provide you with tools that are healthy and satisfying.
Suicide prevention doesn’t just involve the clients that present with suicidal ideation or behavior; it also involves the friends and loved ones left behind to grieve their loss (suicide postvention). A suicide death often leads to complicated grief. There are so many unanswered questions, feelings of anger, guilt, confusion, sadness, shock, disbelief. The grief process is delayed or it can become debilitating when we are consumed with finding answers.
Suicide survivors need to be seen and helped as well. You never know who may be struggling with suicide or who has experienced a suicide loss. Which is why it is so important to show up genuinely in that room with your clients. To be authentic, and human, and empathic, and understanding. These are key ingredients in providing a platform that allows my clients the space to also be these things! I want my clients to feel like we can talk about anything in that room. Nothing is off limits. And when someone allows you to be into their world to help them, it is an honor and a privilege! Being allowed to do this work is an honor and a privilege and I can’t see myself doing anything else!
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