Today we’d like to introduce you to Neathery Falchuk.
Hi Neathery, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I have always been guided by an innate knowing that I wanted to be a helper. From a young age, I experienced and witnessed the damaging effects of generational traumas that were direct consequences of systems of oppression. I also grew up without the language of being able to claim being queer and non-binary. My body knew things I didn’t know how to metabolize which created a great deal of pain, confusion, and loneliness.
I became a social worker knowing I wanted to be a source of support I wish I had when I was growing up. I know so much of what I have experienced and my family (and so many other families) has experienced is due to the impact of oppression and I want to be a part of changing our world to be a more just and equitable world. I founded Ample and Rooted to offer a healing home of inclusive therapy in the pursuit of the liberation of diverse lived experiences. We are a “home for the whole you” which honors all identities and believe that healing and growth happen when you are truly seen, heard, and understood. I also wanted to offer an inclusive work home for other therapists who are aligned with our mission and want to be a part of our team. It is far too common to hear of burnt out therapists or therapists continuing to be harmed by outdated systems that do not affirm all identities. I know from personal experience that not all social service agencies are accepting of marginalized identities and I definitely wanted to offer a place where other therapists are valued, nurtured, and nourished.
Whenever I hear a client or colleague share that they were able to take a deep breath after looking through our website, I am reminded that I am doing what I need to be doing. I believe in the power of collective care and I know that powerful change can happen when we take care of each other. It’s truly an honor and a joy to be a part of someone’s journey of healing and I am so grateful for the amazing clients I work with and the incredible team we’re building at Ample + Rooted.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has been a very bumpy road! I have gone through quite a bit of my own personal therapy which has been challenging and super rewarding at the same time. Starting out as a new therapist is a very vulnerable time. I definitely was not always treated with respect by my employers and experienced many painful interactions with clients who were judgmental of me being queer.
Moving into private practice was one of the best decisions I have made. It was quite a learning curve figuring out how to run my own business and then expanding into a group practice and hiring other therapists was an even bigger learning curve. I am just starting to feel a little more steady as a business owner and I know I have so much more to learn.
Running a business is super hard in general and we are also still humans who experience the painful moments of life. COVID has certainly been a stressor as a business owner and as a human. The most challenging experience so far is that in the last two years, I have experienced the deaths of my brother and my nephew who both died due to unjust and traumatic situations. Learning how to give myself time and space for healing and grieving while also running a very new business in startup mode has been a huge challenge. I am still trying to figure it out yet I know to offer myself so much compassion and to trust that to take care of my business and my employees, I need to be taking care of myself first.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Ample and Rooted?
Ample + Rooted provides an affirming and welcoming home for diverse individuals to reclaim their inherent worth. Through therapy, mindfulness practices, courses, training and events, we support, guide and hold space for our clients to feel valued, nurtured and nourished. As an inclusive therapy practice, we cultivate a safe and welcoming space of compassion and connection. Our practice is rooted in Health at Every Size®, Body Trust®, fat-positive, sex-positive, LGBTQ+ affirming, harm reduction, trauma-informed, and anti-oppressive frameworks. We are poly and kink affirming and allied with those engaged in sex work.
We believe healing and growth happen when you feel truly seen and understood. Even now, some folx experience a sense of shame around seeking support through therapy. We’re here to change that by providing an affirming and welcoming home for diverse individuals to reclaim their inherent worth.
The name of our practice grew out of the belief that each of us is whole and beautiful as we are; that it is our birthright to inhabit, trust and honor our physical selves without shame; and all that we need to learn, heal and grow is already inside of us. We are bountiful. We are expansive. We are ample.
Our therapy practice promotes connection within ourselves and with one another. It is a space, whether experienced virtually or in person, for becoming grounded in ourselves and the greater world. Here, we are connected. We are mindful. We are rooted.
WE ARE AMPLE + ROOTED.
At Ample + Rooted, we believe it is our birthright to inhabit, trust and honor our physical and emotional selves without shame. We believe in cultivating a healing home for the whole of you and that this healing and belonging is profoundly vital in creating a more equitable and just world. We believe compassion, pleasure and embodiment lead the way toward healing and liberation.
How do you think about luck?
In both life and business, I have been so fortunate to meet truly incredible people. Not just the clients I work with but colleagues who wholeheartedly believe in me. These are colleagues who then become friends who then become family. Owning a business can be lonely and being surrounded by such badass individuals helps me remember that I am also somewhat of a badass.
I also feel incredibly lucky to have met my wife, who is also a therapist! There is just no way I could have started Ample + Rooted without her support.
Contact Info:
- Email: hello@ampleandrooted.com
- Website: www.ampleandrooted.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/ampleandrooted
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/ampleandrooted
Image Credits
Chelsea Francis
