Today, we’d like to introduce you to Robyn Reyna.
Hi Robyn, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Today, I am a speaker, group owner, and therapist. My path here felt chaotic as it was happening, but in hindsight, it was pretty clear and straight. Originally, I mostly knew that I liked helping people fix things that were wrong and that I was excellent with details and facts. When I went into college, these skills led me to pick Forensic Chemistry as my major, but when I took a Psychology course for general credit, I absolutely fell in love with it.
I held on to my interest in law and crime throughout my schooling, obtained a Criminal Justice and pre-law B.S., and went to law school. During this time, I also got a B.S. in Psychology and an M.A. in Counseling. While in my M.S., I was exposed to play therapy through my mentor, Lisa Dykes-Harrell, and it was simply the perfect fit. Working with children to heal the struggles they have because of trauma or systems that don’t support their needs is exactly what I love doing and my skills with details and facts make me excellent at understanding the neuroscience behind their development and healing.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
While my path was fairly straight, I mentioned it didn’t feel that way. Throughout my journey I felt torn between finding a stable life career, following my passions, and wanting to connect with kids and families. Most of my struggles came from following steps the people and institutions around me told me were the right steps to success. The more I learned to do what felt right instead of what sounded right, the easier my path became.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My work is focused on helping our communities create a world that raises happier, healthier children so they can be more confident and connected adults. Ironically enough, this involves working with the parents, healthcare professionals, and educators of this generation to be more confident and connected because that is exactly what raises those healthy, happy children!
I do this through a variety of services. Most recently, I launched my group practice, Calming Communities Counseling and Wellness, PLLC. I have also published therapeutic group manuals, children’s books, articles on child development and parenting, videos on child mental health needs, and infographics to support our kids and families in growing together. Finally, I run a training institute focused on training other therapists and mental health professionals in the neurobiology of child mental health to help spread awareness and skills to a greater community.
The focus of all these projects is to teach our communities about the brand-new neuroscience we have been getting for the last 20 years. All these neuroscientific advances, such as the EEG and fMRI, have allowed us to learn so much about child development that our parenting and teaching strategies could be exponentially more effective than past generations, but unfortunately, this information can be difficult to understand or find for more adults who don’t spend their career reading science journals. My entire career has been focused on increasing access to information about child development, mental health needs, and effective parenting strategies so that we can help children develop more regulated nervous systems and the positive behaviors that come with regulated nervous systems.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
The most surprising thing people may not know about me is that I didn’t mean to create a brand a platform, or a counseling agency. One of the benefits of being neurodivergent is the tendency to hyperfocus on details and problem-solving. Each new training I took, each book I published, and each business I started were just a solution to a problem I wanted to solve for the children I saw in my community. I think most people assume I am very ambitious and had these grand-scale goals for years, but I see all these things as mini projects, not as a life plan.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.calmingcommunities.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/calmingcommunities
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/calmingcommunities
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/Calming-Communities
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/robynrausch8
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@CalmingCommunities
