Your Life, Your Future - Green Psychotherapy

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in mental wellness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Dr. Douglas Vakoch, Director of Green Psychotherapy, PC, located in Berkeley, CA, USA.

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

At Green Psychotherapy, PC, we work with people who are overwhelmed by eco-anxiety. It's easy to get inundated by news reports of the latest climate disaster and to feel helpless and hopeless. After all, what can we do as individuals to cope with a global crisis? The key is to recognize that we need to take responsibility for the actions under our control while mindfully recognizing that we each have limits.

Tell us about yourself

One of the things I do most easily and naturally is to hear other people, trying to understand them from their own perspective. So being a psychotherapist is a good fit for me. But in our daily lives, we often get caught up in trying to convince other people that we're right, being so concerned about getting across our views that we fail to understand others on their own terms. As a result, we can easily get trapped in a perpetual tug of war where neither of us is listening to the other. At Green Psychotherapy, PC, we put a priority on understanding our clients, what they hope to accomplish, what's getting in their way, and what their vision is for a better life. Our motto is "Your life. Your future." Our goal is to support our clients on their individual journeys.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Our greatest accomplishments are two-fold. First, we meet clients where they're at with the problems they already recognize, for example, difficulties with their relationships, challenges at work, anxiety or depression, or simply feeling like life is passing them by. Just as importantly, we help people become attuned to their less obvious concerns hidden below the surface of their day-to-day awareness. For many people, that includes worrying about the fate of the world in the face of global warming and other environmental threats.

At Green Psychotherapy, PC, we are taking the lead in bringing together experts in eco-anxiety from around the world, seeking their guidance to identify practical steps we can take as individuals to foster a sense of personal resilience and to overcome the feeling that we're isolated in the face of a planetary crisis. We share these insights through books, including the recent Eco-Anxiety and Planetary Hope (Springer, 2022) and Eco-Anxiety and Pandemic Distress: Psychological Perspectives on Resilience and Interconnectedness (Oxford University Press, 2023).

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

Knowing that there are people out there who could benefit from our services but simply haven't heard about us.

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

1. Learn to see the world through the eyes of your client.
2. Don't try to be everything to everyone. Do what you do very well, and let others do their own best work.
3. Once you've said what you need to say, be quiet and listen. If someone asks you for 3 tips to give to others, but you only have 2, leave it at that!

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.greenpsychotherapy.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greenpsychotherapy
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/green-psychotherapy-pc/

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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