Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Picolya McCall-Robinson.
Hi Dr. Picolya, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I have been working in the mental health field since I was 17 years old. My journey began working in a group home while in undergrad just as a means to make money, this rapidly turned into something I enjoyed and was always told I was a natural and to really consider making a career of it. At the time, I had my sights set on becoming an attorney or working for the FBI, so I never thought much of the field, and furthermore I barely passed Intro to Psychology with a C.
I started school to become a paralegal and took an accelerated program and finished with my certification in eight months and began working in a law office. I absolutely HATED it. I quickly found out I am not an office person and with the encouragement of my older sister, I began my Master’s program in Marriage and Family Therapy and started working at a residential facility. My practicum experience was in a psychiatric hospital and that is when I knew this was the field for me. Again at this time, I was focused on finishing school and getting licensed when a professor encouraged me to continue my education and get my doctorate in forensic psychology since it merged my two passions (law and psychology). I immediately vetoed the idea of 4-5 more years of school plus a dissertation.
One year later, I was back in school pursuing my doctorate in Forensic Psychology while I continued to work full-time (even though I was not supposed to) at the hospital. It was the practicum and internship experiences in jails and with sex offenders that solidified my passion for “forensic” work.
Over the years of practicing in various settings, the “traditional” forms of therapy and issues with insurance companies were frequent complaints I often heard from clients. The lack of knowledge and resources to simply get education and questions answered about mental health was non-existent. I often made “psycho-education” a major part of my treatment plans with client’s and each person always reported feeling more informed and confident as a result. It was my clients and students that encouraged me to step out on my own and offer “coaching” and mental health educational groups for anyone to attend and learn about psychology and mental illness.
I remember teaching a developmental psychology class when students began sharing they had talked with family or friends about the class and they asked if they could sit in and learn. From this feedback, I took the leap of faith and began to create Nsight.Me. Nsight, coming from “Insight” the capacity to gain an accurate and deep intuitive understanding of a person or thing and of course “Me” to having that deep intuitive understanding of one’s self.
Prior to the pandemic, I was coaching and working with clients, what has now become now as “tele-care” or “tele-therapy” providing coaching, support, consultation, and individual mental health education. I have now opened up the services to included live webinars that have mostly taken place via zoom due to the pandemic and I hope to start getting face-to-face workshops going by the end of the year.
It is the above experiences, friends, family, students, clients, and life that shaped me, my passion for helping others, and the development of Nsight.Me.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road has actually been a smooth one. So long as I stay focused on my goals, which I’m really good at things work out. The biggest struggle was having faith in myself and working off something that was new versus replicating something and following a model. Once I made the decision to do this pass or fail there were no other barriers. It was me all along.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Nsight.Me provides coaching, consultation, mental health education, and training services. Services are offered in English and Spanish. I created a specialized treatment strategy that utilizes a whole-family-approach in psychotherapy and the adding of the mental health education in the way I was trained is what sets me apart from the masses. I am able to visit clients and offer help and support in an environment they feel most comfortable (home, office, walking, zoom). My clients rave about the flexibility of meeting and feel more relaxed if the setting is not “forced” as traditional therapy must happen in the office of the therapist. My offering private coaching and consultation services to individuals who would like the benefits of licensed professional psychologists without being restricted to traditional and stereotypical therapeutic approaches has been beneficial and a staple for the brand being different. Coaching by someone who is actually licensed in psychology.
Since traditional settings in psychotherapy do not always help patients with specialized issues such as sexual dysfunction to express themselves adequately due to the fear of being open, and some of the stigmas associated with participating in “therapy”, ethnicity, race, gender, age, disorders all have shown was of being barriers to treatment when having to be performed in the “traditional” ways. Many do not attend therapy just because of the stigma and the feeling “the therapist’s office” gives. I have removed those barriers and my clients are all the better for it.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
People can work and collaborate or support me by simply sharing the information and letting people know there is a place to get answers. I love working with other mental health professionals and speaking on their platforms, speaking to classes, employees, and conducting training. I often feature various mental health or wellness experts during my webinars as a collaboration method to help them get exposure and offer resources other than myself to the community. Sharing is Caring.
Pricing:
- Monthly membership $10 and includes free weekly drop in group times where they can come and ask questions, get feedback, and resources. Discounts on services and priority registration for webinars
- FREE – complimentary consultation for 30min for all inquiries.
- Webinars- $15.00 (zoom)
- Workshops- $25.00 (face to face)
- Community drop in group- $10.00 per group
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: Nsightme.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nsightme/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nsightme
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-6mEl0YNO-00oYNk9Aojiw
- Other: https://linktr.ee/Dr.McCallRobinson
Image Credits:
Photos by Karim Saafir Photography
