Today we’d like to introduce you to Constance Nelson.
Hi Constance, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I was a learning-disabled child and became a learning-disabled adult and struggled in school and was dyslexic and wrote backwards and read backwards. During that time, when I was about six or seven years old my parents had to take me to special classes to learn how to read and write and so through my journey of bumping around and trying to graduate, the doctors said I wouldn’t graduate from high school. They told my mom that there is a slim chance that I would even be able to put together and ever have a career. At that time, they didn’t understand disabilities, I am 54 now. They thought that this girl wasn’t able to figure anything out, she is brilliant, but she has all these learning disabilities and that she is so frustrated that she is not going to be able to put it together. So, I did a bunch of things that they didn’t know I could do. I graduated with a trade for a while and then kind of flipped around and then decided to go into therapy because I wanted to go to school and I wanted to become something, and I didn’t want to be a receptionist forever.
So, in my twenties I went to see a therapist and as I was going to therapy and trying to go back to school with all these fears because school was so daunting and so fearful, and I didn’t do well in it at all. Working through these fears, this therapist said to me “Have you ever thought about being a therapist?” and I went “no” and I was 23 when that happened.
So, I got back to school and did some things and life got in the way and my son was born. He is disabled so I was learning disabilities and raising him and raising myself. I think I have a unique approach to therapy. So, as I moved into the therapy realm and was really trying to get my degree, knowing my son, knowing the school system and being a mother brought something very unique into my practice which is how I started as a therapist.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Being a mom, going to school, working nights, typing papers in my car, it was rough. I had to really figure it out. I had a lot of sleepless nights and was a single mom for a pretty long time. But knowing that I wanted to do this and wanting to help people allowed me to continue to have that drive. I had many obstacles especially in school, learning and I had to go back to school as a learning-disabled adult, so I was able to get more time on my tests. I had to get formally tested, which was something that I didn’t want to do. I had to get these accommodations in college in order to even out the playing field so that I was able to make my grades. I actually graduated with honors for my bachelors and my masters.
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?
Constantly Healthy Counseling & Coaching is a diverse team of counselors who specialize in individual therapy, couples counseling, family counseling, teenage counseling, child counseling, and more in Winter Park, FL.
At Constantly Healthy Counseling & Coaching, we are different. Constantly Healthy Counseling & Coaching is not like any other Winter Park counseling services. While other counselors take a slow pace to therapy, we offer a more goal-oriented compassionate approach, at your pace. With our experienced team of counselors, you will feel heard, supported, understood, and valued.
We believe life is a journey, and every journey is unique. It takes courage to get started with therapy. Together, we can create a new individualized path for self-fulfillment that encourages you to become your best self.
Our team of counselors use a unique combination of holistic therapy practices, including the Gottman method, emotional focused techniques, cognitive behavior therapy, and inner child therapy to help you explore your feelings, thoughts, behaviors, and experiences to change the construct of your past situations and alter those perspectives to create a more positive future.
In addition to these specialties, our clients also have access to other areas of integrated support such as biofeedback, EMDR, nutritional support, guided meditation, couples workshops, couples retreats, life coaching, massage therapy, and more.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
It only takes one person to change a child’s life. It only takes one person to lean in and it doesn’t have to be their parents. What I’ve learned even for myself is that as I grew up, our family situation was interesting but there was a woman in my life, and she was kind of a caregiver. She was unbelievably warm and loving and there were just a bunch of us that stayed there, it was like a daycare, and she was the one that basically taught me unconditional love. When I was moving into the school system and I was working with kids, I noticed that they would change almost instantly sometimes when they had one person that believed in them and sometimes, they would just take off from there. On these couches what I do see is that if I have a client in front of me that has been through some much of trauma, debilitating trauma and thinking that they should be more debilitated then they are, I always find somebody in their life that loved them unconditionally even if it was for short period of time.
Contact Info:
- Email: constance.nelsonlmhc@gmail.com
- Website: https://www.constantlyhealthy.llc/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/constantly_healthy/
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/Constantlyhealthy/
Image Credits:
Luis
