Today we’d like to introduce you to Lacey Castilleja Fisher
Lacey, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
As long as I can remember, I wanted to work in a helping profession. In the third grade, my grandmother died after a battle with breast cancer and from then, the intent was to become a medical doctor. I was the first in my family to attend college and when I was accepted into UT Austin, it felt like all of my dreams were coming true. In a matter of months, everything I had planned for seemed to start falling apart and I found myself struggling emotionally in a way that I had never before. Long story short, I started therapy and it changed my world and my path. I wanted to do exactly what my therapist had done for me, help me learn things about myself that I never known before and ways to cope with childhood trauma. I shifted gears and focused on human development for my degree. By the end of my time at UT, I knew I wanted to work with survivors of sexual assault and to be a play therapist. I applied to Texas State as they have an amazing play therapy program. I took all the play therapy classes and started volunteering at agencies that worked with sexually abused children to get my foot into the door. My internships were in children’s advocacy centers and after graduation I worked part time at The Williamson County Children’s Advocacy Center. After some time there, I served as clinical director and absolutely loved the work I did. Again, I experienced a feeling of all of my dreams coming true. For multiple reasons, I made the heartbreaking decision to leave the agency after three years to start my private practice. At my private practice, I continued working with children with histories of sexual abuse and trauma for several years, but during the lock down, I made another heartbreaking decision to stop practicing play therapy to focus on perinatal mental health, which is now my specialty. Just like my focus when I first started my counseling career, many life experiences led me to this new specialty area and I truly love and value the work I have done with these different populations. As my practice grew, so did my love for mentoring others and I became a clinical supervisor to guide new associates after their graduation from their master’s program. Some of my associates wanted to stick around my practice after they were fully licensed and before I knew it, my small solo practice became a group practice. In addition to working with clients and supervising associates, I have discovered a new passion in sharing my knowledge with other professionals looking to learn about reproductive mental health and sandtray therapy. I hope to create more workshops and trainings to continue sharing that knowledge.
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?
Many parts of the journey have been smoother than I expected. When I first left a steady paycheck and consistent hours, I was terrified that I would fail and not be able to take care of my bills, but I survived it. There were some challenges along the way. When I first started, I missed working at a children’s advocacy center so much because I missed the community I had created with my co-workers, that I tried working at another CAC to reduce the isolation that can come with private practice. In the end, I decided that remaining in private practice would be the best road for me. One of the hardest times I experienced was in the time of the lockdown during the pandemic. During that time, I never felt so helpless and unsure of what to do to help others as I was experiencing the exact same confusion and grief as my clients were. I wasn’t sure of how to offer hope. But it helped remind me of how human therapists are and that it is okay for us to not have all of the answers. Many clients even expressed how nice it was though to have someone to talk to that they felt was human and could be real that this time was hard on all of us. There were times I wasn’t sure if I could provide counseling services anymore because I was so burned out like many of my colleagues during the height of the pandemic. Luckily, I have worked hard at creating a community of therapists that were close by and it helped make private practice and the pandemic easier. I have several groups of colleagues that I lean on, and they lean on me, when things get really tough and it makes the stress easier to cope with.
As you know, we’re big fans of Open Heart Counseling of Austin PLLC. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
If you were to ask my close colleagues what I am known for, I think they would say, “She’s the pregnancy and postpartum sandtray lady.” Yes I am! I love using sandtray therapy with my clients, especially those that are grieving pregnancy loss or experienced a stillbirth. There is an assumption that sandtray therapy is only used with children, and although it is technically a play therapy modality, it is an expressive arts therapy that works with people of all ages. When clients see my sandtray collection, they either think it’s really awesome and cute, or they think I am quirky and just have weird obsession. I am quirky, and it is kind of an obsession for sandtray therapists, we love collecting miniatures. Most of the clients that use the sandtray to process their trauma or grief end up being surprised at how powerful and deep their counseling work gets when using this modality. I recently have been training people on how to incorporate sandtray therapy into their counseling practice, because I believe in its therapeutic powers so much. Many of the associates that work with me are trained in sandtray as well. In addition to this, I think there are so many things that make Open Heart Counseling of Austin special. I love that our agency is able to see people of all ages and a variety of metal health concerns so we can reach many people in the community. Our therapists are all trauma-informed and have unique areas that they specialize in. Being trauma informed is one of the most important requirements for being part of Open Heart Counseling of Austin. Survivors of trauma often feel worried that they cannot share their experiences with others because it is too difficult to hear. I tell my clients that I am able to sit with them to hear their story as many times as they need to tell it. No stories are off limits, no words are off limits. In fact, I love when clients use very colorful language in session because I too speak with a lot of color. Most associates that have reached out to me for supervision or to work at Open Heart Counseling have done so because of my expertise in reproductive mental health and in childhood sexual abuse. One thing that super important for me and those that I bring on is that we all practice cultural humility and we value identities of our clients that make them who they are. I think the thing I am most proud of about Open Heart Counseling is the variety of backgrounds that each of our clinicians come from. I think that brings so much to the community that we are serving.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
I am a constant learner and love the professional development aspect of my profession. I get to be a lifelong learner and attend awesome trainings, then I get to call it a business expense. I have traveled to some amazing cities to learn new topics and connect with other professionals with the same areas of interest. My favorite resources are these trainings because I get to learn from someone, that I have probably followed on Instagram, and sometimes you feel like you’re meeting a rock star. I hope to be at their level one day. I recently felt like a rock star as I was selected to present at an international conference in Chicago and my little breakout room was full of participants that loved learning about sandtray for reproductive mental health.
I also found a ton of value in the Pregnancy and Postpartum Health Alliance of Texas. They are a local organization that offers education and mental health services to families struggling with perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. I served on the board as their Clinical Director for 4 years as a way to give back to the support I gained from them during my postpartum journey. I now serve as an advisory position. Honestly though, some of the most valuable resources to me are the therapists that I call friends as they have so much knowledge and unique perspectives on our profession and life. It’s truly a privilege to have them in my world.
Pricing:
- We accept Aetna, Cigna, and Humana
- $100-$185
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.openheartcounselingatx.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/openheartcounselingofaustin
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/openheartcounselingofaustin/
- Twitter: Lacey@openheartcounselingatx.com
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/theperinatalsandtraytherapist
Image Credits
Lindsey N DuBose Photography
