Today we’d like to introduce you to Hope Torres.
Hi Hope, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I am originally from North Dakota and was transplanted to Texas in 2006, been here ever since. I am a United States Air Force veteran (SSGT/E-5) where I was a flight weather forecaster, where I provided weather forecasts for aircrafts and support their missions. I had been stationed in South Korea (ROK) for a year and deployed to support OEF/OIF. While being a stay-at-home mom, I obtained my BA Criminal Justice-Homeland Security.
I became a police officer in Copperas Cove in 2010, while there I got divorced and was a single mom for some years. As a police officer, I experienced many things that were difficult and it all made me witness the mental health struggles people face when they cannot talk to a counselor, have to wait a month to talk to a counselor, veteran having to wait to talk to the VA and not feeling important as the counselors always asked them their information all over again as if they never spoke before. I saw the breakdown in the mental health field. My partner encouraged me to take the next step on my career path and he believed in my move to become a mental health therapist.
Near the end of my MS Clinical Mental Health Counselor at TAMUCT (graduated 2017), I became Vice-President of a nonprofit I helped develop, We Leave No One Behind-Veterans Crisis Line. We were able to coordinate with a local police department to assist officers that responded to calls with veterans in a mental health crisis. The officer would call our hotline and I, along with one or two volunteers that were veterans, would respond to where the officer was. The officer was able to return to calls in the city and we stayed with the veteran to talk to them and help stabilize them. We were blessed that of the 23 calls we had there were no reports of any of those veterans committing suicide. When COVID hit, the calls to assist stopped and the nonprofit diminished.
I started working as a counselor trying to find my footing and find where I belonged in the field. I knew I wanted to work with veterans and first responders, I also wanted to work with those who have been through different levels of trauma. I eventually ended up at Rula where I engaged clients via telehealth. I obtained my training and certification in complex trauma (CPTSD) and personality disorders.
Then, in 2022, I achieved my Doctorate of Education Community Care and Counseling-Traumatology. My dissertation “Phenomenological Study on Use of Sports and Exercise for Veterans with PTSD”, which included the use of MMA, boxing, and weightlifting to manage PTSD, has been downloaded 651 times around the world.
In 2024, I started my own practice, My Journey PLLC and obtained my LPC-S status. I have an LPC Associate working for the practice, 4 LPC Associates in supervision, and 1 grad student in our mentorship program during her internship semester.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road, life happens. I struggled a lot with imposter syndrome, not sure if I was truly doing good for others. I stopped working out for many years as I tried to find my footing as a counselor and taking care of family. I put so much focus on trying to succeed that I forgot about myself along the way. There was always pressure on obtaining people (clients), fear of making any kind of mistake, thinking I had to use big clinical words all the time. I had to comes to terms with having adult ADHD and anxiety from PTSD due to time in law enforcement. I also had to deal with my own internal trauma from growing up and early adulthood, which I realized I had not healed, just masterfully repressed.
As you know, we’re big fans of My Journey PLLC. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
We provide telehealth mental health services all across Texas. There is a focus in different levels of trauma ranging from adolescents to adults. We are known for being real and not cookie cutter therapists, we talk to people like we are just having a conversation. There is no one direction we talk on theoretical approached, we take pride on being “taboo” on taking the right “path” for our people (clients), a path that fits their needs not ones we deem are the only way. There is, also, the use of online video games that we offer to all ages – games range from Monopoly, farming, some Roblox, Fortnite, Minecraft, Tetris, games on Steam. We have researched how the use of video games allows for talk on trauma with minimal impact on trauma parts and emotions. Trauma parts work is used and it has been seen as very useful when including cognitive imagery to help our people identify the origination of behaviors.
We are open 7 days a week with a range of times. We work with individuals. Eventually, we will work to develop a group for people to take part in. One therapist (our LPC Associate) offers therapy via video, phone, and/or chat to allow more fluctuation and comfortability for the people she talks with. She also offers an income-based sliding scale to make therapy affordable to those with high deductibles or minimal finances. We see therapy as something valuable to people, to help them find reasons to smile about themselves and enjoy life – we are not in this for the money.
The brand, My Journey PLLC, came from one of my sons. When trying to pick a name he said, “How about My Journey? Isn’t that what you always tell people, that this is their journey?” I use the word Journey to help people see that this is a unique path they walk and a journey is not a fast process but at the end of the journey is the beautiful goal they work towards. This is how I help describe what an individual journey is:
Our journeys are individual paths we walk….
One way to look at our lives is a path through the forest.
There are many forests all over the world and each has their own obstacles different to the individuals.
We cannot compare our lives to the lives of others as our paths are all different. The choices we make in life, our childhood experiences, our adolescent experiences, and our adult experiences are what guide the course of our paths and how we face obstacles/challenges.
When we look back behind us, the path we walked is covered in stones that represent what guided us. We do not go back in life; we would have to relive things. We get stalled with an obstacle, such as uneven ground, a tree limb, a fallen tree, a boulder, a mud hole, etc.
How we approach the obstacle is how we move forward on life’s path. No two paths are alike, comparing them is unfair as there are differences in the stones behind you and differences in what lies in the path ahead of you.
Just because one friend is at a certain status in life does not mean that is where you should be.
You both have had different life experiences and your paths are not the same.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
That we are honest with our people, we do not do a word dance with them for months. Majority of the people we talk to now are referral based from people we still talk to or previous ones. Our real approach, our hard honesty, our lack of sugar coating, and engaging our people like equals (not use all clinical terms) has our people telling us we are “like a good friend I can trust to be real and take care of me”. How we communicate with our people has given them the ability to start their process of growth and moving forward with more understanding and confidence right out the gate of early sessions. We also work to connect with different therapists/therapy practices for referrals, such as Life Chats Therapy.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.myjourneypllc.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/My-Journey-PLLC-61578420563834/
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/R3keprJ4Zm8
