Today we’d like to introduce you to Lori Allen.
Hi Lori, 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?
My story begins with a series of choices that were risky at the time and paid off in the end. At the end of my sophomore year in college I decided to change my major from criminal justice (I was sure I was going to become a lawyer) to art. It meant some summer classes and a lot of extra credits, but I was happy and finally engaged in school.
After graduation I moved to Chicago for a very entry level job in marketing. It didn’t take long for me to hate it and realize that I was meant to do something else. So once again, I took a risk and moved to California to pursue a graduate degree in art therapy and psychology.
While I was pursuing my degree I worked with survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. It was rewarding, fulfilling and heartbreaking. Shortly after I got my license as a Marriage and Family Therapist, my husband’s job relocated us to Indonesia for close to a year.
While there I got pregnant with my first son. We came back to the states to have him and shortly after he was born it became clear that I was not supposed to be a stay-at-home mom. The population and role I worked in before I became a mom wasn’t a good fit anymore, so after a bit of a push from my husband, I opened my solo private practice in 2013.
As a new mom, I only worked a handful of hours a week, and I specialized in working with kids with anxiety. I quickly realized that the fastest way to help the kids I was seeing, was to work with the parents, equipping them with skills to help their child in the moment. When I began to work with in this model, the business grew larger than I could handle on my own. In 2018, I expanded and opened Village Wellness Family Counseling. I hired a team of amazing clinicians and we are now able to serve families in the Conejo Valley in the way I always envisioned.
As I continued to grow, there were various things that happened to me that encouraged me to pursue further training in maternal mental health and the impact that kids’ mental health and development has on parents, specifically moms. I think my clients appreciate that I bring myself and my experiences into our work. I want people to know that I’m a human too and that I’m also working on myself.
Ultimately, I think taking risks, having a vision, and being a parent have led me to where I am today.
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 to where I am today has not been smooth. While growing the business I had 2 more babies and a traumatic pregnancy loss. I survived postpartum depression and anxiety that almost took me down. I learned to juggle being a working mom, raising a family and still getting my own needs met. And it’s still a massive work in progress. You can find me up late most nights trying to get it all done.
As you know, we’re big fans of Village Wellness Family Counseling. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Village Wellness Family Counseling is a multi-disciplinary practice located in Thousand Oaks, California. Our providers have unique specialties that allow us to treat all the members in the family system under one roof. We work as a team to make sure that families aren’t overwhelmed, and each member of the family gets their individual needs met. We have providers who specialize in working with kids, teens, men, women, couples, and families. We also have specialized training in treating moms, men, infertility, postpartum depression, and anxiety and working with people of color and those who are neurodiverse. We also offer EMDR, brainspotting, and art therapy.
After supporting people through the pandemic and all the other changes we’ve experienced as a community, Village Wellness is growing again. We’ve begun to offer workshops and classes incorporating mindfulness, art therapy, meditation. We also have social skills classes for kids and classes for new parents coming soon.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
I think that the characteristics that have been most important to my success have been grit and creativity. I have a vision of we can become, and I’ve worked hard to materialize it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.villagewellnesscounseling.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.anxiety.helper/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VillageWellnessCounseling
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/villagewellnesscounseling/
Image Credits
Leigha Smith Photography and Lyfe Photos by Mary
