This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together.

Here's your host, Millie.

M.

Hello everybody, welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast.

I'm your host, millie M.

Are you in need of a practice that offers mental health, legal and educational interventions that promote a lifestyle of wellness?

Well, one might be closer than you think.

I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, trina, proctor of All About you, counseling.

How are you, trina?

Hi, hi, happy to be here.

Glad to have you.

We are excited to learn all about you and your business.

Tell us more about All About you.

So we are a wellness facility and practice in the Cobb County area that provides mental health, legal and educational interventions that promote a lifestyle of wellness.

So we just want people to be well out here in the streets.

Well, tell me a little bit about how you got into this business.

How did you get into counseling and how did your practice grow to what it is today?

Oh, good question.

Yeah, so I would say I wasn't someone that was just dropped into the lap of mental health and wellness.

I actually chose it.

So it was something that I chose before college and once I actually did a little work in the industry, I realized that it was definitely, definitely my calling and it was something that I knew could touch so many lives and so many people, and since then it's been a rolling ball.

Sounds like a great story.

So who are your target customers?

No, no, talk to me about the myths and misconceptions about your industry or what you do in particular.

Yeah, that's a very good question.

One of the things that I would say is definitely a myth about mental health just in general, is that people think that in order to see a psychotherapist or a counselor, that you've got to be crazy or cray-cray, and of course, that is not the case.

There are times where you just have your everyday life.

That just gets you down or sometimes stresses you out, and sometimes you're not even to the point of being stressed yet, but a counselor or a psychotherapist can benefit you in ways that would prevent that from happening.

Therapists can benefit you in ways that would prevent that from happening.

So it's so much better to catch it before it happens than to wait until something is wrong.

Absolutely.

Maintenance for your mental health is key, and we know that marketing is the heart of every business.

Who are your target customers and how do you reach them?

Yeah, target customers are people usually that we get from referrals.

We do a lot of internal referrals, so people that have worked with All About you Counseling Services are able to refer clients to us.

We also get referrals from some insurance companies and companies in general that provide employee assistant programs.

We also get referrals from other clinicians.

So say, for instance, I get someone that calls me and says, hey, I need such and such, but that's not necessarily a service that we provide.

I would then refer them on, and so sometimes our clients come from those types of referrals as well.

Perfect.

You have such a wealth of information and there's so many different topics, so many different things you can discuss.

As it pertains to mental health, have you ever considered doing your own podcast to get the word out?

Oh, that's something that has definitely crossed my mind and my path, but I don't know.

You've got to be really, really dedicated to do that podcast, because once you start it you've got to keep it going, because people are going to start looking for it.

They get addicted.

Consistency is definitely, is definitely key, but there are ways to get that done, and I think that you can be a help to people out there who are looking for your services.

So let's switch gears a little bit.

Outside of work, what do you do for fun?

Oh, my fun usually involves things that are relaxing, things that make me not think of work.

So, things that I can do that take my mind totally away from the concept of work or mental health in general.

Sometimes that involves being with others you know, friends and family.

Other times it involves just taking my time to myself and, you know, having that healthy balance of making sure that I take time for me.

It's been a pretty fun summer so far.

We'll see what else this summer has to bring.

I agree it's been an exciting summer and it sounds like connection is important to you, whether it be connecting with your family and friends or reestablishing that connection with yourself.

Yes, absolutely so.

Talk to me about a hardship or a life challenge that you overcame and how it made you stronger.

I thought about this question and I definitely would say the most recent hardship or challenge for us as a business all about e-counseling services, was COVID.

Some people, covid, you know, benefited them greatly, in really great ways, and then for some it was not.

And I had a lot of business owners around me who struggled through COVID and so I was one of those business owners that you know, just kind of consistently kept showing up, kept, you know, trying to make sure that my clients got what they needed and in the long run it benefited us because we're still open, we're still here.

But I saw a lot of people and businesses around me that did not make it and that struggled, you know, lost their places where they leased out space, all kinds of things were going on.

So I would say that was one of the hardships the business has endured, but we made it.

So guess what?

come on, no COVID number two well, we are so glad that you were able to rise and able to press through, because that was a trying time for a lot of people and, believe it or not, that's kind of the genesis of where the Good Neighbor podcast started from, is it's just connecting people and businesses with their community.

So we have that definitely in common.

So tell our listeners, serena, one thing you would like for them to always remember about, all About you Counseling.

Well, I would say that it's in the name itself.

We really do try to make everything all about you.

From the moment you walk in our doors, from the moment we make contact with you by phone to the moment you walk out, we're all about you.

We're making sure that you get what you need.

We're making sure that you get all your questions answered.

We're making sure that you get to decide and determine what route or path you want to go when it comes to your treatment or therapy.

All the stuff that the name says is truly what we try to display.

That's a beautiful sentiment, because I think sometimes people think taking care of themselves is selfish, but it's actually self-ful.

So for you all to put that focus oh I like that.

I like that.

Nothing for me.

I can't take credit.

Yes, that's a good one.

I love it.

So, yes, we really do appreciate you focusing on people and making sure their cup is full so that they can pour into others.

So if people are ready to contact you and get everything all about them, how will they contact you?

Yes, so we have a website.

Of course.

It's wwwallaboutyousupportcom and they can always go on there and get all the information needed.

That would have the most current information, and so the reason I always give out that website is because during COVID, of course, we made some changes as far as location and people didn't know, but I always kept sending them back to that website because that's always going to be updated, so it's going to have the current information of where we are and what's going on and how to reach us.

We also are on Facebook and LinkedIn social media.

Facebook, I think it's just all about you counseling services, and LinkedIn, it's going to be my name, trina Proctor LPC.

Perfect.

Thank you so much.

We really appreciate your time that you took with us today and your business the best moving forward.

Thank you so much.

Thank you for listening to the good neighbor podcast.

To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpcobbcountycom.

That's gnpcobbcountycom, or call 470-470-4506.