Today we’d like to introduce you to Jason Drake.
Hi Jason, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
In 2019, I was the regional executive director for a foster care agency overseeing residential treatment centers (RTC) for girls ages 12-17 who had experienced complex trauma. One day, one of the Executive Directors of one of the RTCs approached me and suggested I give private practice a try. She thought I’d like it and be good at it. My response was, “Where am I going to find the time?” She suggested I start out with seeing 2-3 clients. So, I did.
In January of 2020, I started seeing clients in private practice. I began with 3 clients and loved it. It felt like a hand-in-glove fit for me, so I started seeing more clients. A few months into private practice, I wanted to open a group practice specializing in teen, young adult, and family therapy. In October of 2020, I had so many referrals due to the need for therapists who specialize in this area that I opened Katy Teen & Family Counseling.
We started with four offices in an office condominium. In January of 2022, we moved to a space with 8 offices. In September of 2022, I started Katy Counseling for Men which is located inside the same office space as Katy Teen & Family Counseling. And in August 2023, I started Sugar Land Teen & Family Counseling where we specialize in teen, young adult, and family therapy.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has not been completely smooth along the path that I took to get here. I think one struggle I had was work/life balance in the beginning. Starting a small business as a sole proprietor takes a lot of work. I had to wear many different hats and it took up a lot of my time. As a new small business, it can be easy to fall into the trap of devoting too much of your time and life to the business. I found myself working 7 days a week for much of a year and a half.
Because of my hard work, it helped the practice grow and thrive. However, it also meant that I was not able to spend as much time with my family as I would have liked to. It also led to burnout and a bit of founder’s depression for a period of time.
Looking back, I believe I could have accomplished the same goals, been able to spend more time with my family, and prevented burnout had I focused more on work/life balance. Sure, it may have taken a bit more time, but the tradeoff would have been well worth it.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next, you can tell us a bit more about your business.
I’ve been providing therapy to teens, young adults, and families since I started as a therapist in 2003. Specializing in this area, I wanted to provide group practices for the community where parents can find specialized counseling, support, and help.
Katy Counseling Specialists, PLLC has three businesses doing business as Katy Teen & Family Counseling, Sugar Land Teen & Family Counseling, and Katy Counseling for Men. Our main office is located in Katy, Texas.
At Katy Teen & Family Counseling and Sugar Land Teen & Family Counseling, we specialize in teen, young adult, and family therapy. We also provide couples counseling and neurofeedback.
Providing counseling to teens is much different than providing counseling to adults. It takes a specific skill set and training to effectively counsel teenagers. Not every therapist has this, and not every therapist chooses to specialize in working with teens. It also takes the right personality and the ability to connect and build rapport with teens and their family.
There are many practices who work with a wide variety of age groups, however, not many that specialize in teen, young adult, and family therapy. And this is where we come in. We hire those therapists who are devoted and dedicated to providing therapy for teens, young adults, and families.
We also seek out those best practices that are supported by research and shown to be effective. We have therapists who are trained in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Eye Movement Deensitization & Reprocessing, and Accelerated Resolution Therapy. I am also Board Certified in Neurofeedback, which has been a very effective approach in helping people overcome the struggles that keep them stuck. We also have another therapist who provides neurofeedback as well.
In working with teenagers and young adults, we have found that some parents request and benefit from couples counseling. It can create stress and strain on a relationship in parenting a struggling teen. Couples counseling can help shore up that relationship as well as provide support in helping the parents better help their child.
There aren’t many practices that specialize in men’s counseling. We wanted to fill that gap. So, we started Katy Counseling for Men specifically as a place men can find counseling support for the challenges in their lives.
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you, and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
I started private practice in January of 2020. right as the COVID crisis was ramping up. I opened our first group practice in October of 2020.
One thing the pandemic has taught me is the impact it has had on teen, young adult, and adults’ mental health. I would get feedback that starting a small business during the pandemic was not the best move. Maybe in other industries, but the pandemic increased and created a great deal of anxiety, depression, and other challenges for many people.
To me, there was no better time to start a small business providing counseling services. And we are still feeling the effects of the pandemic in relation to mental health to this day.
Teen and young adult anxiety, depression, and other challenges have skyrocketed the last several years. The National Association of Pediatrics, the National Association of Child & Adolescent Psychiatrists, and the Children’s National Hospital came out with a joint statement in October of 2022 declaring children’s (teen and young adult) mental health a “national emergency.”
College campus counselors are unable to keep up with the counseling requests from their students. There is such a high demand they are needing to refer out.
There is hope as there are counselors in the community who are skilled and talented at what they do. And being able to address these challenges during the teen or young adult years will mean that these challenges will not follow them into their adult years.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sugarlandtfc.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sugarlandteenandfamily
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sugarlandteenandfamilycounseling
