Today we’d like to introduce you to Shanna Reeves.
Hi Shanna, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I grew up in rural central and west Texas. I’m talking about small towns with zero stoplights and grocery shopping involving “going to town” to the nearest reasonable-sized place with full-sized grocery stores. My dad was a school administrator, and my mom was a school secretary. The school is the heart of small towns. I loved school from the beginning but had friends who certainly did not. They struggled, whether it was for behavioral reasons or learning issues; their experience was very different from mine. Fast forward to my time as an undergraduate, and when the letter came in the mail that I would be barred from registration if I did not finally declare a major, I stumbled upon psychology. I had just taken my first course in general psychology, so I declared and never looked back. Working in laboratories and as a teaching assistant, I realized more about how fascinating we humans are. I gravitated towards young people from my time in the infant development laboratory or as a “lunch buddy” at a poor school district with at-risk students. I had always clicked with little ones–my mom tells stories about how babies in their mother’s carts would smile and try to engage with me even when I was a little girl (probably in no small part due to the big old smile I was beaming their way–tiny humans have always drawn me in!). Being the practical country girl my parents had raised me to be, I figured 1) if I could learn to work with the minds of little ones, helping them in their most vulnerable times, surely the grown ones would be a piece of cake, and 2) if I focused on educational and school psychology, I would never be without a job school are always hiring. So I began applying to doctoral programs, with my dream/reach program being the nationally recognized, top-rated School Psychology Doctoral program at the University of Texas at Austin. I completed my undergraduate degree at Texas A&M and got to Austin as soon as possible. Plus, what better way for this fifth-generation Texas girl to start her career–being a hybrid of the two largest, internationally-known public state universities. I had to pinch myself when the letter came inviting me to visit campus, and when I arrived on the Forty Acres, it was one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever made, a natural fit blending the educational and developmental processes of childhood and adolescence into the science of how to support their individual development best within the systems in which they’re embedded, including their schools, classrooms, and families.
I was also fortunate to land a top-ranked internship at the University of New Mexico Children’s Hospital; this experience shaped me tremendously as I became much more attuned to the cultural factors that influence people’s beliefs about their inner experiences. Communicating not just with parents but tribal council leaders on the treatment of children from Native American reservations was eye-opening and humbling. I earned their trust by advocating for the ability of these individuals to perform healing ceremonies alongside the psychiatric or medical care those children were receiving, participating respectfully in whatever form I was invited to, and listening, really listening, to the concerns they had with the care of their children–it was profoundly impactful. Though I loved my time in the southwest, I went into my internship experience with my husband, knowing in 12 months, I’d be homeward bound to Austin.
What to do next, however, was a mystery until near the end of my time there. Having had a diverse experience with psychiatric and medically hospitalized children, outpatient therapy, and rehab patients, I was now longing to get back to school, so I sought an experience with a local school district near Austin that provided an opportunity to support students, parents, families, and staff alike. But a 40-hour gig in a school as a psychologist is more like a 60-hour situation–I remember writing reports late into the night and leaving my house at 6:45 so I could get to one of my campuses when classes began at 7:30, and getting home at 5:30 and needing a nap to the evening news before I could even think of mustering the energy to make or eat dinner! It was such a rewarding opportunity. My career wound back again to hospitals as I took a part-time position in children’s oncology. Still, as a mother, I wanted more and more flexibility to parent and be home with my little ones actively. My thinking is this: I could work as much as I want when they’re older, especially when they’re grown and flown, and I would never get this time back. So that is when my private practice journey began. I worked in a couple of group practices over the next decade or so, and while I learned so much and greatly enjoyed the work, I began wanting to stretch myself in ways that were not part of the private practice sector. I wanted to do outreach and engagement with populations that may still need to get ready access to quality mental health care. The practice where I had given so much of my time and energy was increasingly focused on a profit-driven model that was evolving to exclude more and more of the population from accessing our services by bloating the model with very high overhead. I felt I was growing farther from the reason I had entered the field in the first place. I knew I had to get out, but I still did not know where I would land. So for a month or so, I trod water and did my own thing, seeing clients via telehealth and figuring things out, when I began to be contacted by former colleagues who, after I left the leadership, were increasingly dissatisfied by what was happening there. They were asking, “what are you going to do next, and can I join you?” so then I had to figure out, and quickly, the answer to that question. So I sought some help and consultation of my own. A wonderful consultant helped me through a series of intense conversations hone in on the idea of what it would like to be able to bring my full self to work every day–what kind of practice could I nurture and grow that would bring me joy, fulfill my passions, and not leave me feeling “the ick” of the corporate, profit-driving model. Out of this and the support and hours of conversations with my most-trusted and beloved colleagues and friends, the Texas Psychology & Assessment Center was born.
We are a private practice with a simple mission: To do good work, to be good humans, and put people first all day, every day. We are guided by that mission in everything we do in our interactions with our patients, our care of one another, and our desire to give back. Part of our practice is devoted to providing sliding fee scale services to those who cannot afford them. Another is providing completely free services to nonprofits in rural areas of the state. We offer no-cost presentations to community groups seeking to learn more about mental health. We are currently working to partner with a foster-care nonprofit to provide psychoeducation and consultation. My team and I are so excited to be in a position to donate some of our time to these causes, and our full-fee patients know that when they choose care with us, they are helping be a part of a larger mission of advocacy and outreach to those who have been traditionally underserved. We are still looking for ways to increase our impact in this area. We’ve only been open for 6 months, and seeing what the team has accomplished in such a brief amount of time is humbling.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
See above. They are numerous! But overall, I have been in a position of privilege, and I do not miscount that when assessing my professional journey so far.
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about Texas Psychology & Assessment Center/TPACenter?
After working for several years in various settings, the psychologists and professionals at TPACenter came together united by a common mission: to do good work, to be good humans, to advocate for the underprivileged, marginalized, and underserved, and to support each other whilst doing it. This is our passion and our purpose.
OUR STORY
Texas Psychology & Assessment Center is the dream of our founder, Dr. Shanna Reeves. Dr. Reeves hails from rural Central Texas -where there are more cows than people – and she longed for a way to practice psychology while giving back to rural communities where it is very difficult to access mental health care. After spending some time in a corporate, private practice setting, Dr. Reeves was inspired alongside friends and colleagues to create a peaceful practice that puts people first – supporting our patients, supporting our colleagues, supporting the training of future psychologists and helping professionals, and reaching out far and wide to support the great people of the State of Texas. We are a committed team of psychologists and helping professionals who love to collaborate.
We live to help individuals and families of all designs make positive changes. TPACenter is committed to providing the best in neuropsychological testing, therapy, executive function support, parent training, and general psychological care. We are committed to increasing access to services and having a robust teletherapy presence. Committed to bridging the gap of accessibility, we offer simple payment plans and charitable work with nonprofit agencies in rural pockets of Central Texas. We also commit time to the supervision and training of future helpers. We seek to do our best, and we want our impact to be felt long after we are gone and well beyond the city limits. When you seek care with us, you are helping fund efforts to support future helpers’ training and provide care to people who could otherwise not access or afford it.
OUR MISSION
To do good work, be good humans, and put people first every day.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc.?
The Whole Brain Child by Daniel Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson; The Family Brain Podcast by Megan Gipson; Daring Greatly Podcast by Brene Brown; The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison; The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
Contact Info:
- Website: www.TexasPsychologyCenter.com
- Instagram: @tpacenter
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089320791498&mibextid=LQQJ4d
Image Credits
Bridge Picture: Matthew Johnson. This bridge represents our mission to help “bridge the gap” in accessibility to quality mental health care and education.
