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Meet Janein Chavez of Atwater Village

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Janein Chavez.

Janein, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I had planned on pursuing psychology after one class had me hooked in community college. Well my undergrad journey took me traveling down many roads and following different paths, including became a Fulbright Scholar, and traveling, living, and doing research abroad. It took me 10 years to complete my undergrad and I didn’t end up studying psychology! Let’s just say I was living it. As a life-long learner, and having been on a long hiatus from studying and research, it was time to get back to school. I had an interest in women’s health, and the rise of various health issues hitting women, namely breast cancer, heart attacks, and stress. I’d also been exploring nutrition and my own health issues. I decided to study in a program with the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York City. Once completed, we were to go out into the world as health and wellness coaches. So I started helping people with their diets, stress, lifestyle. One day I was sitting across from a health coaching client. It became apparent that she had some deep and emotional issues she was dealing with. While she was talking and sharing, she was also developing an awareness of how her issues were impeding and impacting her overall health and hence her life. I had one of those “ah ha” moments, and over time found myself thinking about that moment. Thinking about how holding and sharing space with someone was beautiful and I really wanted to help her go deeper into those emotionally difficult experiences. Just like that psychology reappeared in my life and I decided to become a psychotherapist. I completed the Masters in Clinical Psychology program at Antioch University Los Angeles and started myself on the fulfilling and strenuous journey. You have to complete 2 years or so of graduate coursework, while also completing hundreds of hours of face to face work with clients. Then once you’ve graduated, you have to complete 3000 hours more! It was a long and arduous journey to collect the hours. Then after you have your hours, you then begin studying all over again, and take two intense exams, anywhere from months to years apart!

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Oh no, I never seem to take the smooth road, it’s not in my nature. The one thing that dramatically changed my experience and journey of becoming a therapist was losing my Dad just 2 months after finishing grad school. I was the first day of my first paying and full-time internship as a therapist. I will never forget that day, I fell to my knees when I heard the news; I was at the orientation for the new job. To say I was devastated, is an understatement. I very quickly found myself not wanting to be a therapist anymore. I didn’t know how I could, I couldn’t even get out of bed, cried days on end, and had no strength. It was like two blows to my life at once. I sat around grieving and feeling the deep pain of loss. I wasn’t even sure what would happen the next day, let alone, the coming months or years of my life. I somehow agreed to be gentle with myself, and be ok with taking things moment by moment. My own self care, self-compassion, and the gratitude I had developed during the early months after my Dad passed, is what filled me, fed me, and taught me a lot about what it really takes to be a whole human being and a therapist. Pain, the kind you feel after a death is truly like no other, that’s how I saw it. I had to do baby steps, little by little, regain my strength, and feel whole again. I eventually learned to hold, carry and integrate the loss in a meaningful way, into my life and then into my work. I’m still learning, it’s been over 6 years now, and new realizations come all the time.

It took me years of working with others in their pain, while working on my own, but I completed those 3000 hours I mentioned. Then I had to sit for my two exams. I was lucky to pass the first one, but the second one I wasn’t so lucky. I had to take the exam several times, and it really had a serious impact when I didn’t pass. It was jolting, eye opening, and totally sobering to say the least. I finally passed after more self-care, self-compassion and gratitude.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
In my private practice, I provide psychotherapy primarily to women. Sure, I work with men, youth, families, and couples, but the bulk of my work is around individual women. I also make it known that I focus providing services to Latinas, Women of Color, and women from diverse backgrounds. I’m a Latina, I’m bilingual in Spanish, consider myself bicultural (mom is Mexican, dad is Chicano) as well as multicultural and culturally sensitive. I think making my focus on People of Color is important. I’m proud to be a beacon for women whose backgrounds, ethnicity, nationality, cultural upbringing, racial identity or language distinction is important to them. Many clients acknowledge that’s why they wanted to see me or found me, because I make them and their issues a priority. From race, identity (racial, cultural, ethnic, sexual, religious), social injustice, immigration, and other social concerns as well as the many challenges people of color face that impacts their mental, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing and health, we’ll work on those areas.

My practice primarily focuses on treating trauma that can stem from sexual abuse, assault or molestation, as well domestic violence and abusive relationships, childhood abuse, racism, being an immigrant or being an adult child of immigrant parents as key areas of focus, to name a few. Trauma can show up in so many forms, often people may not be aware of what has happened, they just know they are struggling. Then of course I work with the anxiety and depression that can often accompany dealing with all those experiences.

I also focus a great deal on grief work and counseling. I started working with a lot of women who’ve lost their fathers, that was a big focus when I started in private practice 4 years ago. I now also work with people who have lost their siblings, and loved ones sometimes to suicide or some sudden tragedy.

I’m trained in EMDR, Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing and love using it as tool as well as a therapy in itself for treating trauma and anxiety. I also use all kinds of other tools, such as writing, art, mindfulness, meditation and yoga, or spirituality.

I think bringing myself, a conversational style, with a compassionate heart, and my sense of humor, is ultimately trying to show that I’m a real person who works as therapist and that’s important.

Aside from being proud to offer bilingual services to women of color and Latinas, I’m also super proud of getting licensed, finding a great little space to call my own, renovating it (actually, my brother did everything!), decorating it, and moving into my own 3-office suite all within the same year. I also have a wonderful friend and colleague who works with me. She’s a great companion on this journey.

Next up, I’m planning on offering healing circles for grief, self care, and a support group for women of color and latinas.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I would have continued to take more psych courses during my undergrad! I also could have been more kind to myself, given myself more room, and provided even more self-care after losing Dad. I don’t regret anything though. I feel right in line with what I’m doing, and couldn’t see myself or my life happening any other way. What’s the phrase? “Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life”. I think I’m really going to enjoy not working for the rest of my life! I just did and I do, what my heart tells me. I think I have always followed my heart and it’s led me to many great things in life.

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Image Credit:
Cindy Senteno

Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.

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