Today we’d like to introduce you to Lakeisha Gatling.
Hi Lakeisha, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
Since I was a young girl, people seemed to always come to me to share their stories, and even to ask for advice. It wasn’t until I got older that I realized I had a special gift; several gifts actually, which were being a good listener, sharing kind and calming words, having compassion, and having a passion for service to others. I did not think that I would be a psychotherapist though.
However, after seeking my own counseling in my early adult years, I shared with my therapist who was also Social Worker, that I was interested in becoming a Social Worker to help people in the way in which she had helped me. At the time, I was already a working adult and didn’t know where to begin. My therapist encouraged me and shared some of the ways in which I could begin.
With her support, the support of my husband and my sister-in-law, I started going to college, to begin the path to becoming a Social Worker. Because I was a working adult, my quest, for education to become a Social Worker came with long nights, and weekends filled with studying and writing papers. It often felt as if I were working two full-time jobs.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I come from a family of working-class people which meant college was not a first choice option after graduating high school. The expectation was to find a job and hope to secure a job that could meet my financial needs.
In addition, my mother has worked through intellectual disabilities for the majority of her life, and my father left the school system when he was about 14 years of age therefore he did not complete his education. My father also struggled with addiction and a life of being in and out of prison. I also had a younger sibling who was born physically disabled and needed full-time assistance with his everyday living.
Unfortunately, my brother died during my first year of graduate school and my father died during my second year in doctoral school. With all of that being said, It has definitely not been a smooth road for me, and obtaining my college education was not an easy feat.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
I am the owner and founder of LDGatling Counseling and Consulting, PLLC which offers individual therapy services to women of color, specifically African American women and those who are in the mental health profession, executive leadership, and entrepreneurs. I specialize in trauma-informed culturally sensitive therapy, anxiety, depression, self-esteem, self-love, and relationship issues.
I am also the owner and founder of The Nourish Haven, LLC which offers wellness services that include restorative yoga, self-care coaching, and wellness education and retreats. The Nourish Haven provides a sacred space for caregivers like my mother, and those who are in the healing and helping profession to Nourish themselves as they do for others.
Both companies encompass a mind, body, and spirit approach to mental wellness and help women create the life that they want to live by way of self-care, boundary setting, and addressing unresolved trauma and childhood issues, anxiety, depression, and self-esteem/worth issues. I am most proud of helping to reduce the stigma within the African-American community regarding seeking therapy/mental health services. I became the face that I and others in my community needed to see.
I got to where I am today by doing my own work which means, creating my own healing journey, being unapologetic about asking for help and support, and working through my own struggles with trauma, fear, and self-confidence, while allowing vulnerability to take place in my life and share things that were and may attempt to hold me back from being my most authentic and best self.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
Helping women find their own path to healing matters to me the most. There are many pathways to healing that are external; I believe true healing begins when self-discovery happens.
To witness and support women, specifically women of color with their personal growth and healing journey is inspiring, amazing, and empowering to know that I am able to provide a safe, soft space for women to heal and create and live the life that they deserve.
Contact Info:
- Website: ldgatling.com
- Instagram: @dr.lgatling
Image Credits
Ken Jones Photography, Sound Bowls, and Erin Cummings
