Meet Rachelle Friedman | EMDR and Brainspotting Therapist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Rachelle Friedman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rachelle, what is the most important factor behind your success?
The most important factor behind the success of my business and my brand is to be authentic to who I am. Through my years of experience as a therapist, I have found out that I am successful when I am authentic and when I do that work that I find to be rewarding. I also find that putting in the work becomes a lot easier when I believe in the brand, and in this case, I wholeheartedly believe in my brand. That is a simplistic answer, but I believe that it is true that it is easier to put in the work when we love what we do. I wouldn’t say that it is always easy to keep up with the pace of being a small business owner, but it is definitely rewarding.

What should our readers know about your business?
My business is Brainy Social Worker LLC, and it came around when I started my Instagram. I was working in private practice, but I didn’t really know what to call my business and since I spent a lot of time in undergrad in a neuroscience lab. I feel that is something that sets me apart from other therapists. I decided to go with Brainy Social Worker, the owner of Infinite Healing and Wellness thought it was a good idea. She is a wonderful businesswoman so I went with it. I am incredibly proud that I could branch off from Infinite Healing and Wellness and build my own practice when I was pregnant with my son. That was probably one of the hardest things that I have ever done, but it was also gratifying and has given me the ability to be flexible with myself in this first year of parenting. I would say that the challenges along the way were pretty common challenges for small business owners. Where am I going to practice therapy? What system or electronic medical records system am I going to use? The biggest challenge for me is always my body and how it can be unpredictable to struggle with chronic pain and be a working parent trying to manage a small business. The way that I move through these challenges is by leaning on my friends and family. My group of therapist friends is incredible, and I call on them often for help. I am a firm believer in the whole it takes a village thing.Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
That is a tough question considering that we are experiencing a pandemic right now. I think that I would start by taking my friend to some of my favorite places to eat. Joe’s Farm Grill, Postinos, those places are amazing and I am really missing being able to eat out. I would also take my friend hiking because we have some really beautiful places to go and hike in Arizona.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I have a really wonderful group of therapists that I am so lucky to call my friends. Chante Pantilla was the therapist that introduced me to the world of owning my practice and being in private practice. She recently opened up her own office and is doing well with a place of her own. I also want to give a shout out to EMDR Transformations Counseling because these two incredible women are another essential part of my tribe. LeeAnn Kuang is another wonderful therapist that I know that I can call when I am struggling with anything with my business. This network of women has supported me through the ups and downs of being a small business owner, and I don’t know that I would be where I am without them.

Website: brainysocialworker.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brainysocialworker

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brainysocialworker/