Today we’d like to introduce you to Callae Walcott-Rounds.
Callae, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I serve as the director of Valley Community Counseling Clinic in North Hollywood. Our clinic has a long history in the Valley–we started about 50 years ago and have been dedicated to providing affordable and quality therapy to our community. We did then what we still do–help many hard-working people struggling through a variety of mental health challenges–depression, anxiety, relational conflicts, parenting issues, etc.
It is often the case where there are many aspects in a person’s life being affected by their emotional health. We believe in trying to understand the roots of the issues and work in long term ways to bring lasting changes in a person’s life. We consider it an honor to help another individual grow and develop.
We also provide training at out clinic to people who are pursuing a mental health license. To do this, we are given the support from many psychological professionals that are part of our community.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The clinic has had several locations over the 50 years it has been in existence. For many years, we grew and then were part of a large medical center–Valley Community Healthcare (VCH). Because of the Affordable Healthcare Act, about seven years ago, VCH was flooded by individuals seeking primary healthcare needs and they needed to expand into our space. We moved out and began the process of becoming our own non-profit mental health clinic–which is a journey with many steps that our Admin team had never done before. We still laugh when something new about running a 501(c)3 comes across our awareness, a new piece to understand.
We learned a lot along the way, have a volunteer board of directors, a lot of alumni support, allowing us to continue the two important components of our clinic–providing excellent and affordable mental health treatment, as well as training the next generation of mental health workers.
Please tell us about Valley Community Counseling Clinic.
The therapy we offer is open-ended. There is no prescribed number of sessions where you and your issues or problems are done. Deep growth takes time. We aren’t interested in giving out bandaids, but in helping understand your issues and all the complexities that come with being a human being. We believe therapy should be affordable and doable within your budget.
People come from a variety of schools to train with us and they join a community of active learners, where we delve deep into theory on a variety of important topics. Trainees and interns are supported by the hard-working admin team, along with senior experienced supervisors who give generously of their time– all of these critical pieces support the work and growth of the therapy.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Credit first goes to the person calling us in hopes of finding another way of managing the load of pain that they are carrying. Bravely they decide to face their pain with another person and enter a therapeutic relationship where they slowly open up to a new person to carefully explore the thoughts and feelings wrapped up with their pained self that take place and affect all facets of their life. Courage to explore, vulnerability about being seen, the work of therapy gradually brings about pieces of inner and outer growth, where a person –be she eight years old or 80 (we see a range of ages at the clinic) –attempts small and big new ways of being in the world, often breaking destructive habits and ways of thinking/feeling that have been held onto for a long time.
Credit also goes to the earnest and open learners to come to us for training. Many grasp the transformative experience of being listened to and have had powerful growth experiences themselves in therapy. Some come to us as a first career choice, others found their first career choice to be unsatisfying and want their work to have in it the deep meaning and satisfaction that comes from the intimate, at time painful and hard, work of engaging with someone in therapy.
Credit also goes to our hard-working admin team–our stellar bookkeeper and sunny office manager–who keep the clinic’s standards high, who carefully considers a whole variety of issues from legal or ethical pieces that all keep our clinic running smoothly. Credit goes to our two directors who teach the art of therapy, oversee the training and the running of the clinic, and who inspire, bring accountability and rigor to the learning.
Lastly, credit belongs to the many individuals –professional mental health workers—who have volunteered their time to supervise trainees and interns. They bring their wealth of understanding related to help understand and address a variety of mental health challenges and grow this knowledge with someone new to the field.
Pricing:
- We offer quality therapy on a sliding scale from $30-$80
Contact Info:
- Address: Valley Community Counseling Clinic (VCCC)
6400 Laurel Canyon Blvd. Suite 260
North Hollywood, CA 91606 - Website: valleycommunitycounselingclinic.org
- Phone: 818-763-2084
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vccounselingclinic/
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