Why Collect Donations??

When you believe in something strongly and whole-hardheartedly, I believe it's only natural to want to share it with the world. I want to make it my business to touch as many lives as possible doing something that I actually happen to be very good at(and people need.)

Mental illness is REAL. By creating a gofund me campaign, I'm not just raising money for a van, I'm raising awareness to mental health. I also hope to inspire other therapists to provide similar services as transportation can be a major barrier to overall good health. In addition, lack of convenience can also be a barrier to good health and this is an obstacle that my campaign could help to overcome.

I am not, nor have I ever been concerned with making a lot of money. I do know my worth but I'm not completely money driven. I share my idea because I WANT other people to copy it. I WANT other people to be inspired by it and create even better ideas that can help battle mental health in our communities.

If I simply “raised the money on my own” my idea would just be a good one. By reaching out and trying to gather donations, my idea becomes a GREAT one. Supporting me supports the idea that we as humans need to be more connected as a whole. I want to encourage people to work together for a common cause. Ideally, I'd like to have 4,500 people all donate a dollar because that means that 4,500 people are aware of the desperate need of mental health services in our communities. People who are aware can spread awareness to others and the cycle will continue.

Perhaps by seeing me do something, I can inspire someone else to get more involved in THEIR community. I fully intend on being the change I want to see. I want to live in a world where people care about their neighbors be they neighboring homes, states or countries. I plan on doing whatever I can to encourage an environment where humans feel connected to their fellow humans.

I want to make something VERY clear. I am not trying to raise money simply because I quit my job. I'm GOING to continue to work. I will be working UNTIL this happens. I am a LICENSED clinician so just because I quit working as a therapist for a certain company does not mean I have quit being a therapist. As a licensed clinician, I am qualified to provide mental health services to any person who deems me to be a fit provider. The client base is already there and I will seek them out.

When I came to Nashville, I got a job because I was looking to learn more about my community and I wanted to get a good feel for how the community operated. I could have very easily just handed out business cards and immediately went into private practice; I chose not to because I wanted to learn. Some wondered why I even worked there BECAUSE everyone knew that I was licensed and could rather easily go into practice on my own.

I know I could go the traditional route and save money or borrow from a bank but again that would not bring enough ATTENTION to what I am doing. I have CHOSEN this path because I want to start a movement...

Please if you can check out the link below

http://www.gofundme.com/8g6bf0

Thoughts about Big Business

I am a hippie...a modern day hippie but a hippie nonetheless and all that entails. 

I finally got around to starting a garden yesterday...and I made my plot the old fashion way....my husband and I dug up the grass and pulled the roots up....it is hard work and we are no where near complete. I eat salad for snacks and love to love. I stand by my convictions and am more concerned with enjoying life than with acquiring things. I don't shop at Walmart or eat McDonald's because they're both terrible corporations. I don't drink bottled water because many of the mainstream water bottling companies buy water from poor communities and then sell it back at rates they can not afford.

I know there are some corporations in the world that are “good” or at least better than the average but overall, I prefer to support small business. The reason being is that small businesses seem to place higher value the individual experience compared to corporations which tend to value money/profit. Some corporations are so focused on money that they will risk the health, sanity or financial stability of the customer for the sake of profit.

Money is a man made construct and in and of it self has no value. It's the services and the goods that you receive in exchange that have tangible value. Money is only valuable in theory.

Any who, my old job was productivity based...which makes sense except I worked with people...people who struggled with substance abuse addiction so their attendance was not always....reliable per say. In order to meet productivity expectations, you would need to see at least 7 people a day for 40 minutes sessions. That doesn't sound so bad right? well remember that attendance inconsistency I just mentioned, in order to have a chance at meeting our productivity requirements, we would schedule at least 14 people a day because inevitably someone would show up.

My workload bounced back and forth between two extremes...having nothing to do and having EVERYTHING to do...more times than not, it was having everything to do. When things started to become overwhelming, i initially tried to pretend as if things weren't that bad...truth be told though, it was terrible for me...

Because instead of being looked at as a person who provided a service, I was looked at as a robot that performed a function...and it seemed like all the people on top cared about was whether or not the robots were working as efficiently as they could.

When you take this and combine it with the fact that my job was to help people cope with their problems, it certainly makes for a stressful  situation. 

I was able to handle all of this stress until the sudden suicide of my supervisor last month. After his untimely demise, it became increasingly difficult to cope with the various happenings at my former place of employment. Though I was certainly appreciative of his presence while he was alive, I regret that I did not fully realize the positive impact he had on our work space until he was no longer apart of said space...

and so I made the most impulsive move I've ever made in my life...The Queen of responsibility walked out of a stable job because it did not line up with my personal values and beliefs. I only have one life to live and it is so important to me to make sure that everything I do supports everything I am. 

If you could take out some time to visit http://www.gofundme.com/8g6bf0 and check out my fundraising campaign to help start my mobile therapy business it would be greatly appreciated. I think it's a worthy cause and I am excited about being able to help my community. 

Peace & Love

-Atiya

Help me Help the community!

Allow me to introduce myself

My name is Atiya and I am 27 years old. All my childhood life I wanted to be a teacher...I really was a "nerd" growing up! I truly enjoyed things like playing school and books were my best friends. My mom said that she used to have to force me outside and when I did go, I took books and a blanket...lol (i think there are pictures to confirm this). I vividly remember doing workbooks at home(and enjoying it) and also playing school with my cousin Nakia (I liked being the student).

When I was 10 years old, I saw a movie called Harriet the Spy (Its an awesome movie you should check it out if you haven’t seen it btw) In one part of the movie, she was forced to see what I believe was a child psychologist. He sat down with her and asked her about her feelings and his room was filled with games and toys. That was the day I changed my mind about what I wanted to be. I decided that I wanted to be a Therapist, I wanted to talk to people about their issues for a living.

I could go on and on about what happened in the 17 years that I transpired between that decision and now but long story short, I earned a couple degrees, got married, moved away all while meeting some fantastic people along the way. So fast forward to today...Or yesterday rather. I quit my job.

After spending an entire hour dreading going to work, I realized that I had laid in the bed feeling like that too many times before going to work....especially since the unexpected suicide of my former supervisor about a month ago. As I sat pondering as to whether or not I really wanted to live the rest of my life like that, I did what many people do when they're looking for advice...I called my mommy.

I told her I think I want to quit my job...and she basically said go for it! So with no back up plan, no next step, I walked into my supervisor's office and told her I quit. That is like a SUPER huge deal for me because as my family friends will tell you....I'm the poster child for responsible decisions.

I still totally want to do therapy but I have a few other talents too. As I was pondering with my husband as to what I wanted to do next, I came up with a fantastic idea...and that brings me to the purpose of this message. I want to provide therapy for people who need it but not at the expense of changing myself as a person. There's no other way to say it...I don't shop at Walmart because I don’t support who they are as a corporation...and somehow I found myself working at the Walmart of mental health. I do not want to live my life in contrast to my beliefs so that I can “make a living.”

But I need your help to do it. I want to provide therapy for people where I can come to them and we can meet on site in a van. That way people who have trouble with transportation can still receive the psychotherapy services that they need. Also, for people who don’t have the time during their day to go and meet with their therapist, a mobile therapy service could meet them where they eat lunch.

The van would provide people with a safe, comfortable space to address their mental health concerns with qualified providers at a time and place that is convenient for them. I know some people have concerns about confidentiality and people being seen but I plan to utilize an unlabeled van and on the inside, you would never know you were in a van. Now I know some of you are thinking “why should I help her?” Here's 3 reasons why:

1. Anyone who knows me knows that I make it my business to support small business especially community business. By supporting me, you will not only be supporting me, you will be helping me to support small business. I plan to give back to the community by donating advertising spaces to the different businesses in my community instead of advertising myself on the van. Also, if a person would happen to be seen getting into the van, it would further protect their confidentiality because it would not indicate that it was a mental health van. I will also use the money I earn providing therapy to continue to support the small businesses in my community. 
2. I'm not your “typical therapist” and what I mean by that is this:  I don't believe in labeling people and doping them up. If it weren't for insurance requirements, I honestly wouldn't diagnose at all. I believe in respect for people their thoughts and differences. The types of therapy services I provide focus on helping people to appreciate the person who they are and cope with the symptoms they have. Though I believe that some people can benefit from medication, I do not/am not trained to prescribe it and I firmly believe that many mental health concerns can be appropriately addressed with psychotherapy alone. My primary focus is helping people to make sure that the behaviors they are displaying are lining up with the outcomes they seek.
3. Once I am more established as a private clinician, it is a personal goal of mine to develop a barter system so that people in need of mental health services will be able to offer goods/services in exchange for treatment. This would be done instead of requiring people to pay money or utilize insurance benefits.This way, no one is prevented from having access to beneficial services that they may need. Eventually, this will help lay the groundwork for communities that are more sustainable. 

I just want to live out my dreams...and they say you never know what help you can get until you ask for it. I never ask for help, but I also never quit my job either soooo there's kinda a first time for everything right? I wrote this blog to give people some quick background information because I'm starting a fund-raising page to make this happen. I have not been blogging lately but I also plan to do a series of personal “get to know me better blogs” for anyone who may be interested in knowing more about me...I do have a lot of free time now...

Please check out my fundraising site at http://www.gofundme.com/8g6bfo