Today we’d like to introduce you to Madeleine Vaughters.
Hi Madeleine, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
The field of psychology was something that was of interest to me for a long time. I love people, I love talking to people, and I’ve found from an early age that people tend to enjoy talking to me as well. The phrase “never met a stranger” was something that fit me, as I would meet new people and build an instant connection to where they felt they could share their life stories with me. I took that passion for helping others and my natural instincts as an empath and decided to turn that into my career. I had always wanted to end up in a career that focused on some sort of “healing art”, but I had always assumed that to become a therapist you had to go all the way and obtain a doctoral degree. It wasn’t until I had graduated with my undergraduate degree and was trying to figure out how I was going to help support my growing family that I decided I would seriously consider looking into graduate school. I found my graduate program in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and began my journey in the healing arts. After graduating in 2019, I obtained my LPC Associate license in 2020 and completed my internship working with my local Community Mental Health Provider going into the county jail to provide incarcerated patients with Mental Health Services as well as working at Prosperity Counseling Services part-time to serve my local community’s mental health needs. Over the past three years, I’ve gained my full LPC license, walked alongside clients from all walks of life as they heal their wounds, and grown in my own therapeutic journey in continually transforming into a better version of myself.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It was not the smoothest ride, but I wouldn’t change the experience for sure! From struggling to pay the bills during graduate school, working two counseling jobs, having three kids, quality time with my husband, and try to have some sort of social life, it has been tough! I’d be lying if I said that I never dropped the ball, that’s for sure! The hardest times were definitely in that Internship phase where you’re willing to work any and all hours to meet your licensing and supervision requirements and finally achieve that long-awaited goal of becoming a fully licensed therapist. The biggest help was getting support not only from friends and family but getting my own therapist! Having my own therapeutic space for my own healing has been so imperative to my continued growth not only personally but professionally as well! I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it a million times, therapy is for EVERYONE!
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Oh my, I feel like I do so many wonderful things! As a Licensed Professional Counselor, I strive to be whatever it is my client needs at that moment. Therapy is so unique, just as we are all unique and individual in our own way. I feel like “traditional” therapy is always seen through a very clinical lens, and though there is an important piece to that clinical lens it should not dictate the whole therapeutic relationship. I focus on creating a long-term healing journey with my clients, based on their timeline of healing, not on some checklist of symptoms to be resolved.
Part of what I love most about Prosperity Counseling is our focus on shifting away from that “traditional” approach to therapy and focusing more on meeting the client’s needs. In my work at Prosperity Counseling, I work with clients ranging from 12+, focusing on anxiety, depression, and trauma utilizing Jungian Processing, Psychoanalytic, and Person Center Therapy. And Dialectical Behavioral therapy.
Another amazing way I’ve been able to grow is by helping to shape the next generation of healers! Prosperity Counseling has welcomed several counseling students into our therapeutic spaces to help them learn what it takes to work with real-life clients and how to take these concepts and theories learned in the classroom and apply them in real-time sessions. Learning how to find their therapeutic rhythm and seeing them explore makes my heart soar! I love teaching and sharing the things I’ve learned with them!
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
I am always on the go, so it’s hard for me to sit and read an actual book! You’ll most likely find me listening to a wide range of audiobooks, from professional books on therapeutic approaches to romance novels and even the occasional psychological thriller or true crime podcast!
Pricing:
- Individual Therapy $150/ session
- Group Therapy $50
- Couples/Family Therapy $175/session
Contact Info:
- Website: Prosperitycounseling.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prosperitycounseling/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/prosperitycounselingservices
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/madeleine-vaughters-1b2048155/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/JamieWi54368027
Image Credits
Lanza Manage Photography
