Today we’d like to introduce you to Lourdes P. Estrada.
Lourdes, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
It is my pleasure and an honor to share my story. I never imagined that my small private practice would grow to what it is now. I started my practice by subleasing a shared space in the city of Long Beach. I then moved to another sub-leasing space in the city of La Mirada and eventually moved to Downey. I felt it was God’s plan for me to move to Downey and start a practice there. My first office in Downey was so tiny. It was so small, but I learned so much there. I knew I wanted to continue to stay in Downey, and with a leap of faith, I took the plunge, and here we are. We are now a practice of 20 staff, and I love it. I used to work for community mental health and was working about 60+ hours a week. I can say that I sacrifice a lot. I am blessed to have a big support system; my boys are my fuel. They are the reason why I do what I do.
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?
It has been a difficult road for me. I am balancing many roles on top of that; being a minority in this state and the only one in my entire family to become a business owner has been difficult. I have had to learn everything I know on my own, and to those two individuals who took time to answer questions and provide some assistance, I am grateful (Janice and Aracely B.). I am a mother, a wife, a student, and a business owner. I have had to miss events with my boys. At the beginning of me building my practice, I was working 60+ hours. I had to use my day job to fund my dream of owning a private practice. I knew I didn’t want to take a loan, so I had to work hard to fund my practice. Thanks to my perseverance and need to have this business thrive I kept on pushing. I can honestly say that every sacrifice was worth it. I am blessed to have a supportive husband and a supportive family that has been there for me.
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?
We are a private practice in the City of Downey and Santa Ana. We are an eclectic group of mental health providers. We primarily specialize in couples counseling and reunification cases. My group practice offers mental health sessions to adults, children, and families. I am grateful for the staff who are part of this team. Each one of them comes with their own specialty. We are expanding our services, and we are growing as our services are expanding. We offer evaluations for immigration, we offer faith-based mental health services, and we assist our clients who have long-standing trauma/ or childhood trauma and have not been able to get the help, and now they are ready to make that change. We also target our services for individuals who have a busy life and need a flexible schedule for therapy. WE understand the importance of balancing work and life. We know that sometimes you cannot get to therapy at 3 pm, so we offer sessions late in the evenings or on weekends.
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you, and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
Thanks to Covid-19, I learned that our services can and should be available via video sessions. I have learned to adapt to the needs of our clients, and our practice continues to provide high-quality mental health services. I had a client once tell me, ” Wow, I know when we first started meeting, we had to meet via video; now that I am meeting you in person, I don’t feel any difference. You are the same in person and in video.” That felt good that resonated with me. We should be able to offer the same quality of service to our clients whether we are face-to-face with them or via a video screen. This is something I instill in my group practice that the services need to be authentic.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.nhfccenter.com
- Instagram: newhopefamilycounselingcenter
- Facebook: newhopefamilycounselingcenter
- Linkedin: LourdesEstrada
Image Credits
@NewHopeFamilycounseling Center
