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