Today we’d like to introduce you to Janay Price.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’ve been a social worker for 11+ years and practicing clinically for eight years. Like most social workers in my last semester of graduate school, I started my job search. I was able to secure a position in child protective services upon graduation and I truly enjoyed that role. About a year into the position, I realized that I wanted to become a clinical social worker which required clinical direct practice hours and passing the national clinical examination.
As the child welfare position was not clinical, I had to seek employment elsewhere. I became an intensive-in-home team lead where I provided psychotherapy to at-risk youth and supervised a small team of qualified professionals. I really enjoyed this position as well; however, the joy was short-lived as the organization unexpectedly had to close. It was in this moment I realized that I no longer liked others having control over my career and my ability to earn money. Shortly after the organization closed, I passed my clinical examination and an opportunity to become an independent contractor presented itself in 2013 but the only downside (what I reviewed to be a downside at that time) was serving the geriatric population. I swore that I’d never serve seniors, it just wasn’t an attractive industry to me. After being approached twice, I finally gave it a shot and absolutely fell in love. I provided psychotherapy to seniors in assisted living settings for three years as an independent contractor. I finally had the freedom and control I wanted while doing something I enjoyed. Unfortunately, the organization I contracted with experienced significant changes, so I had to decide quickly, and I decided to bet on myself.
In the fall of 2016, I founded Premier Counseling. I moved to a new state with no capital, no business connections, and a dream to make the seniors of South Carolina mentally and emotionally well. I created job descriptions for psychotherapists and nurse practitioners and placed them on Indeed hoping that someone would consider working for a startup company. To my surprise, several applications came in; now I was under the pressure of finding clients for the clinicians. I started knocking on doors telling anyone who would listen about the mission of Premier Counseling and I discovered that South Carolina needed what I had to offer. In the past four years, we have grown to a team of 16 and have provided psychotherapy and psychotropic prescriptive treatment to over 1,000 seniors in 13 cities across South Carolina. I am still amazed by the work we have done, and I am overjoyed to see the impact we’ll make in the upcoming years.
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 not been smooth but certainly worth it. In business, there are always challenges. What I’ve found is that there are never enough qualified clinicians to do the job. Thankfully, Premier Counseling receives calls daily from potential clients and community organizations who want to partner with us; however, our team is not large enough to handle the demand. Most would say having more referrals than you can handle is a good problem to have but I feel otherwise. I want every senior who needs our service to have access to it.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Premier Counseling?
Premier Counseling is a geriatric specific mental health organization which provides psychotherapy and psychotropic prescriptive treatment to individuals ages 62 and older in South Carolina. Our areas of expertise are depression, anxiety, psychosis, various mood disorders, behavioral disturbances, and issues related to their current phase of life (retirement, widowed, transitioning). Our services are provided in the locations where our clients identify as their homes.
Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
My favorite childhood memory is the car rides we took as a family. My parents would randomly take my two sisters and I on car rides and we’d talk, laugh, listen to music, and play “that’s my car”. As I look back on my childhood, the things that brought me the most joy cost my parents little to no money but the impact it made has been long-lasting and I am eternally grateful.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.premiercounselingllc.org
- Instagram: janay_lcsw
