Meet Latalia White | Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Latalia White and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Latalia, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
The idea to start my own business originated from my own growing realizations of how to be the best therapist possible. Prior to and early in the pandemic, I had no plans to start my own therapy business; I enjoyed working for practices who had staff to help with marketing, scheduling, and billing. However, something shifted in me as the pandemic continued and I could feel myself moving toward burnout. During this time I began to better understand my needs as a marriage and family therapist – and to be the very best therapist possible, I would need to control my schedule, my policies, my finances, and my offerings. To uphold my commitment to bringing first-rate services to my clients every session, I opened up my own practice and focused on both working with clients I can best serve and making sure I am as healthy, focused, and rested as possible. I also realized that no one would take care of me as well as I could take care of myself, and since I am always encouraging my clients to set themselves up for success and get their needs met, I knew I should do the same.

I am so glad I started my own business, because I am now able to tailor my services, schedule, and tasks to my strengths and offer the best counseling services that I can. My work is incredibly fulfilling and I love it, and the field of therapy requires me to take serious care of myself. This kind of self-care and wellness is now possible as a solo business owner.

Something I am really excited about that I could not have done outside of my own business is offering new kinds of marriage therapy services. In addition to standard therapy sessions of 50 minutes, I am now offering couples therapy intensives – extended, customizable, supercharged therapy sessions for couples who want to make a lot of progress in a short amount of time. Intensives are the newest revolutionary service in the field of therapy, and because I have the ability to fully control my own schedule and keep myself as sharp, rested, and educated as possible, I can offer top-notch marriage counseling services for 1, 2, or 3 whole days in a row.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
One of the things I am most proud of is that I know who my business best serves and I am dedicated to providing those clients with the best therapy I can offer. I am not a burnt-out therapist who takes on every kind of client imaginable and crams them into my schedule: I am unique in purposefully doing counseling with fewer clients who are a good fit for me to provide higher-quality services. Like everyone, I learn through trial and error what works best and am constantly looking to improve my clinical and business skills in marriage and family therapy.

My therapy practice focuses on a few different areas: relationship issues and/or general couples therapy; couple and individual therapy for infidelity recovery; and financial therapy for couples and individuals. One of the best and most unique features of my counseling business is that I not only offer standard therapy, but I also offer extended therapy sessions called intensives – because of the way I have set up my practice, I can offer sessions for multiple hours or even multiple days in a row! This is a really efficient way to do couples therapy and allows couples to focus on their needs and personalize therapy to those needs. Intensives are a great option for couples who have difficulty with scheduling a session every week and want to feel change quickly as well as couples interested in one last attempt at therapy before separating.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Here in Colorado Springs, I’d take friends to my favorite restaurants – Shah Kabob House, Monse’s Taste of El Salvador, Taste of Ethiopia. For one fancier meal, we’d go to either Ephemera or Cowboy Star. I also love taking visitors hiking in either Bear Creek Park or North Cheyenne Canon Park. We also would hit up Old Colorado City and downtown for shopping, especially for books! I’m a big fan of Poor Richard’s as well as Westside Stories. As much as I love the Springs, I’d also plan a Denver day, probably with a stop at Star Kitchen for dim sum.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have so many therapist colleagues and friends I could shout out for their support, encouragement, and guidance in transitioning to my own therapy practice. My friends in the field gave me information, lists, tips, and advice for starting up a counseling business. They let me learn from their endeavors and were so generous with their information. They helped me build up the confidence to go out on my own, and they are still my biggest supporters! I also belong to a group of therapists in Colorado who support each other in running small, financially sustainable practices and cannot thank them enough for their insights, questions, and “you can do this” cheers.

Website: https://lataliawhite.com

Other: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/latalia-white-colorado-springs-co/489642

Image Credits
Photography by Cristy
Barefoot Images by Jen