Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in mental wellness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Briana Severine, Founder of Sanare Psychosocial Rehabilitation, located in Denver, CO, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

Sanare Colorado is a mental health agency that specializes in psychosocial rehabilitation. We work with adults with more moderate to severe mental illness in their homes and in the community to support them in learning to live happily, connected, purposeful lives. The individualized mental health care we provide helps them create strategies for success, learn independent living skills, find effective coping for their symptoms, follow through on tasks & responsibilities, and support them to fill their social, familial, and vocational roles more successfully.

Tell us about yourself

I have my Bachelor of Liberal Arts in Psychology from the California State University Long Beach and a Master of Science in Developmental Psychopathology from the University of Reading, England. The University of Reading is ranked in the top one percent of universities worldwide and allowed me the opportunity to do some research in the area of trauma. I have a post-graduate certificate in Psychosocial Rehabilitation from Boston University, as well as some advanced training in modalities such as CBT and Brainspotting. I'm a licensed professional counselor, a Licensed Addiction Counselor in Colorado, and a Certified Psychosocial Rehabilitation Practitioner through the US Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association.

I began my career with a passion for chronic and persistent mental health and worked at three different inpatient psychiatric facilities in Southern California. I worked as a psychiatric tech and a Case Manager in these hospital units. I had the opportunity to work with a multidisciplinary team with psychiatrists, medical doctors, nurses, social workers, and other professionals and learned the importance of working as a team and integrating multiple perspectives, as well as getting a great understanding of chronic and persistent mental illness.

Following graduate school, I then found my role at the Life Adjustment Team in Marina del Rey, California, where my passion for psychosocial rehabilitation started. LAT was one of the country's first companies doing PSR in a private setting. I learned and have integrated into my own practice the Life Adjustment Teams model of 7 Domains, 7 Principals, and 7 Needs. I moved to Colorado and continued my work with folks in this capacity in private practice for several years. I was then recruited to work for Elements Behavioral Health, a nationally known and respected leader in residential treatment. At the time, they operated programs such as Promises Malibu and The Ranch. As a National Director of Clinical Outreach, this allowed me to support families and clients who struggled with mental health or SUD to find residential treatment to support their journey to recovery. This also allowed me to forge strong relationships with local and national programs and providers. I also served as a founding volunteer to create 5280 High School, a Denver Public School with a Recovery Program for those youth struggling with substance use and mental health.

Following this, I moved over to Director of Marketing and Admissions at Women's Recovery, a premier trauma-integrated Intensive Outpatient Program. Here, I was able to continue those relationships with providers across the country as well as continue to help clients and families develop the most appropriate treatment course. I also served with the leadership team to help develop the clinical programming and help grow the company to expand the reach of helping women.

What I know to be true is the person who is living with a mental illness is not the only one impacted by their disease. They have mothers, fathers, siblings, partners, children, and others around them who also experience fear, pain, and loss to see them struggle. If, during my career, I can positively impact a couple of thousand clients, my hope is that it continues a ripple effect into their larger families and communities and potentially impact tens of thousands of people.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

I think the biggest accomplishment was having the guts to launch the business. The fear of "jumping into the deep end" kept me working for others for many years and impacted me in following my dream.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

As a business owner in this particular field, I feel an immense amount of responsibility which can be difficult at times. I am not only responsible for myself and my well-being but for providing care to our clients and their families. I am also responsible for my team's financial security and career satisfaction. I am responsible for providing great supervision and management to my team of mental health therapists so that they can grow personally and professionally while providing the highest level of clinical care to our clients during their time with Sana

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. It won't always be easy, but it will be worth it. Taking on a career in a field like mental health means that you will be in touch with the true suffering in life. But this career also offers the opportunity to see transformation, healing, and rebirth as well.
  2. Never stop learning. There is no right or wrong answer to most mental health, and we are always developing new treatment methods to help people. It is a field that requires continuous growth to stay relevant.
  3. Always ask, "what else?" What are the things that you haven't thought of? What else can be done? If we are asking "what else?" we can reduce the risk of missing important parts of an equation.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.sanare-colorado.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SanareColorado/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/briana_severine/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianaseverine/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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