Today we’d like to introduce you to Suzanne Wallach.
Hi Suzanne, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I became a therapist because of my own personal journey through my twenties and the hardships I endured and needed help getting through. At that time, I entered into therapy and had a truly wonderful experience, and decided that I wanted to help others as a career.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has NOT been a smooth road! I laughed when I read that question. I don’t think anyone with a successful career can say it was smooth sailing because how can you know success when you haven’t known failure? The struggles have shifted through the years. At first, it was filling up my practice, and now it is how do I say no to people calling because I am so full. It also used to be worrying about my employees liking me, and after some horrible experiences with employees that took advantage, I am much less trusting and worry about protecting the practice and the clients it treats more than I do about employees liking me. Don’t get me wrong; I want my employees to be happy, but no longer at the expense of my own happiness, which is what happened. I think that has been the biggest struggle in looking back: employing other therapists. We are called “wounded healers” for a reason, and the field does have unwell people working in it. I, unfortunately, have employed some of them. The struggle trying to manage therapists and their personalities far eclipses the difficulties I have faced with clients. Right now, I am so thankful for my present clinical team, there isn’t a bad apple among them, which is much different than this time last year.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I own a group psychotherapy practice, and we specialize in treating Borderline Personality Disorder, specifically with comprehensive Dialectical Behavior Therapy. This is what I am known for in LA’s therapy world: treating BPD. It is also what I am most proud of. Borderline PD is something many therapists refuse to treat, not because it’s actually scary or difficult, but because it is challenging and misunderstood and over-pathologized. I didn’t get into therapy to treat the worried well, and I think what sets my entire practice apart is that we are willing to take the cases other therapists turn down. We don’t refer people out or discharge them for engaging in the behaviors they came to therapy for help with. We face challenges head on with out clients and work collaboratively with them to validate their own lived experiences and help them build the lives they want. We don’t give up on them.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
Trust yourself. Don’t let anyone love bomb you, especially employees. Open your eyes when deciding who to trust, and don’t hide from the truth. When things are too good to be true, they usually are. Don’t let anyone make you feel bad about owning a successful business or running it like one – my experience is that it is only in feminized professions like teaching, therapy, and nursing where people expect you to work for low fees and also expect you to manage them from a caregiver perspective instead of like a business owner. It’s nonsense.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.socaldbt.com
- Instagram: @dbtspecialistsla
Image Credits
All photos by Annie Vovan Photography
