Good Neighbor Podcast North Atlanta
Bringing Together Local Businesses & Neighbors of North Atlanta
Good Neighbor Podcast North Atlanta
EP #109: Soul Haven Counseling with Sarah Jordan
Ever wondered what it takes to establish a thriving mental health practice from scratch? Join us for an inspiring conversation with Sarah Jordan of Soul Haven Counseling, and discover her journey from grad school to co-founding a practice that specializes in trauma care for children, teens, and adults. Sarah delves into the importance of holistic support that addresses socio-emotional, intellectual, and academic development, and emphasizes the critical role of collaboration with schools and community stakeholders to offer truly comprehensive care. We also tackle common misconceptions about therapy, such as the belief that one must be facing a major crisis to seek help—learn how therapy can be a proactive tool for mental well-being.
In this heartfelt segment, Sarah opens up about the human side of therapy, including the fact that even therapists seek out their own mental health support. She shares personal stories about her love for exercise, cooking with her husband, and balancing joy and grief after losing a loved one during a happy period in her life. These experiences have given her a deeper understanding and empathy that she brings into her therapy sessions. We wrap up by exploring how these personal insights shape her practice and highlight Soul Haven Counseling's commitment to supporting parents in their mental health journeys. Don't miss this touching and informative episode that sheds light on the realities of mental health care.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast North Atlanta, where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Stacey Risley.
Speaker 2:Hello friends and neighbors. Welcome to North Atlanta's Good Neighbor Podcast. Today we have Sarah Jordan with Soul Haven Counseling in the studio with us. Welcome, Sarah, we're happy to have you. Thank you so much. I'm happy to be here. Well, we're going to go ahead and jump right in and, if you will go ahead and tell our listeners about your business, tell us about Soul Haven Counseling.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. I'm happy to tell everyone about Soul Haven. So when you hear me talk about this, I'll mention we a lot in that we in this case is my co-owner, ms Caroline Ferrari, and myself. So we actually created Soul Haven Counseling, which is a mental health private practice for children, teens and adults, and it's all trauma specialized. So that's our corner of the world, just offering mental health care for that population.
Speaker 2:Wonderful, oh my goodness. Well, and this is something, I think, that is so underserved, you know, in our community, I think a lot of people just we don't necessarily know about the resources that are available, and so I'm really excited to to hear hear more about you guys. Well, go ahead and tell us about your journey into this, and this can be you and it can be your. What was your? What is your co-owner's name? Again, the brilliant Caroline.
Speaker 1:Ferrari.
Speaker 2:The brilliant. I love that. So, caroline Ferrari and Sarah Jordan, well, tell us about the journey behind Soul Haven.
Speaker 1:Absolutely so. Caroline and I actually met in our grad school career as we were going through our clinical rotations to learn how to be therapists, and we actually met at a child advocacy center. So our first interactions with mental health were working in child trauma. So our clients we offered free therapy services, but they were all children who were impacted by things like sexual abuse, physical abuse, witnessing domestic violence, witnessing suicide and homicide. And so she and I met in that space and we also met in the academic setting as well, getting our master's degree and we very quickly knew that this was where we were meant to be is working with others, serving the community, and we loved being creative in the field and so as we kind of got our degrees, we learned and honed in our skills. We still had that drive, but we just kind of switched around the environments where we practice.
Speaker 1:So I was, I stayed in a child advocacy center setting and then I moved to a private practice and my original background is in education and Caroline kind of flip-flopped, her background was in private practice and then she moved into the schools and so after a while we just kind of reconnected with each other and said there's a gap here because the schools can work on development in this way, private practices this way, but we're not really getting the whole child and the whole family covered. And that's really where Soul Haven was born was targeting the socio-emotional development, intellectual development, academic development and making things creative and very individualized so that parents don't have to worry about. Okay, I'm talking to therapists, how do I connect them with my school counselor, with the life coach, with the academic coaches, and things like that. So we typically reach out to all of those different stakeholders in the community just to kind of make sure that we're not just treating a symptom, we're really getting to the root of what's going on.
Speaker 2:Well, I love that and you're really, you know, speaking to my heart. I also have an education background. I taught elementary school for almost nearly 20 years before changing careers. So there is a gap, you know. You mentioned there being a gap and there definitely is, and I love that you are able to kind of connect all the pieces you know for those families and that's hugely, hugely beneficial to have everyone working on the same team, because you are on a team, you know, and it's so much easier when everyone just works together and communicates. So that is wonderful. And I love that you guys bring you know, like you said, you guys you kind of flip flop, and I love that you both bring all of that knowledge and a wealth of knowledge you know to the table. So that's wonderful.
Speaker 2:So the next question is kind of turned into a fan favorite and I think with your industry there's going to be a lot of these answers. But we ask all of our guests to clear up any myths or misconceptions about their industries with our listeners. And we imagine you've got quite a few of those, because I know that just from my own experience, just from my own experience, there are lots of misconceptions surrounding health in general, but also, you know, trauma based probably as well. So go ahead and anything you want to clear up with our listeners.
Speaker 1:Absolutely Stacey. I love that you brought up that question because I feel like so much of our jobs is ridding the myths of mental health and when I think about it, the first one that comes to mind is I feel like a lot of folks feel like something has to happen to go to therapy. They feel like there has to be this really large traumatic event or something really going on in their life. It doesn't have to be the case. Of course. Soul Haven and Caroline and I are very trauma informed and that's the basis of what we do, so we are absolutely reactive in that way. But therapy can also be very proactive in nature and it can be this idea of you don't have to stumble into therapy because something's necessarily wrong. You can be in therapy to keep things going right in your life.
Speaker 1:And it's this idea of like therapy can help strengthen what you've already created. You can get to know yourself a little bit better and then also therapy can be there to be like your safe haven and your soul haven, I would say If life does happen, and how you can react and adjust and still feel like you're in control and you are being your best self in those moments.
Speaker 2:I really, really love that and we kind of talked during the pre-interview just a touch about there really is, I just feel like this gap and with with in mental health in general. You know, I think that there's, it's underserved, and I love that. You said that people think that something bad has to happen in order for therapy to be beneficial, and that's just not the case, you know, it's truly I love that. You said, you know, be proactive instead of reactive, and and that's just a really great way to look at it I think there's such a stigma that our society has placed on mental health issues and things surrounding mental health, and and being proactive about your mental health is the same as being proactive about your physical health. You know, I just I really am a strong believer in that.
Speaker 2:You know you don't have to have mental illness. You don't have to be sick to go to the doctor for a physical, you know. So it's like there's there's just so many just a negative stigma attached to it that just doesn't need to be there for folks. You know, it's just not in today's world especially. I'm a firm believer in therapy. I think we could all benefit from a little bit.
Speaker 1:And your therapist is probably in therapy too. I always like to say therapy is a human experience. If we are not authentic and humans in the room, I'm probably not working very well with you. So your therapist probably has a therapist and they have a therapist too, and we all wonder who's really at the top. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And the answer is no one really. Whoever's working, whoever you're working with in the moment, everyone's got on the same playing fields. So we don't all have the training that you have on the same playing fields, so we don't all have the training that you have, obviously. Well, I love, I'm so glad that we addressed that one. Well, we're going to kind of shift gears a little bit now, if you don't mind. And I want to tell our listeners our show is really geared about putting you know, getting to know the people behind the business. And so tell our listeners, what are you doing for fun when you're not working? And I know that for you it's fun to work and what you do and that you love your job but what are you doing when you're not working?
Speaker 1:Oh, my goodness, I love that question Because I feel like therapists are like teachers and there's this misconception that like we don't exist outside of work and we do, like we go grocery shopping and run into students at the grocery store.
Speaker 1:They were shocked and I'm like do you think I don't eat Right exactly. So when I am not at Soul Haven, I love to embrace movement in my body, love, exercise. You can typically find me at my local Pure Bar studio. Pure Bar, alpharetta is one of my favorite places in the entire world. That's just my, that's my happy place myself, and you can also find me with my family. You know I'm very grateful that I truly married the most wonderful man in the world and I just adore him, and so you can typically find us like trying new recipes at home. He's this avid gardener, so it's like my fun little challenge to use what he gardens and use what he pulls to make a recipe out of, and you can also find us with our family.
Speaker 1:You know, very lucky. I've got family that live off Canton Street and I got a very sweet little nephew and we're about to welcome a second nephew later this year and we can usually find us, thank you. We're typically walking down canton street. I know this time of year is when the scarecrows come up and so my nephew will love looking at all the different scarecrows and the pumpkins and things like that, so we love to explore the canton street area, play in the kitchen and then just be together.
Speaker 2:I'm very grateful for that yeah, that sounds wonderful and we live in such a great city to to be. You know, I'm an Atlanta native and it's just there are so many great areas. Well, so to shift gears again, I'm going to move into and we ask, we ask what you're doing for fun? And then we get a little more serious and ask there's been a life challenge. We all have challenges through life but a challenge or hardship that you've gone through in life that you can say now, for having been through that experience and come out on the other side, that you're better or stronger for that today.
Speaker 1:Sure. So when I think of that, obviously I'm very family centered as a person from my last answer, but I, a few years ago, I had a pretty significant loss. It was very close to me and it was something that really derailed myself, my family and our lives. And it was also at a time that was meant to be the happiest of my life, meaning I was getting married, and so I was managing this very traumatic grief and loss while at the same time I mean, I picked up my wedding dress two or three days after this person passed.
Speaker 1:And it was this really interesting time where not only did I gain this very intimate understanding of grief and how it relates to me, but also this balance of navigating one of the darkest moments in my own life and one of the best at the same time, and what it's like for that darkness and that sorrow to coexist with joy. And I do feel like I can say this now, but I do feel like it happened for a reason and that I was able to acknowledge both at the same time to help, honestly, keep things stable. But it was very difficult. There would be moments where I would say like I'm not fully present in either emotion because the other exists.
Speaker 1:And I think now I just have a better understanding about that. Human experience of life is really messy and there's no good time for anything to happen.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that is great insight and I can imagine in a situation like that that to balance joy and grief at the same time. I had a friend that kind of was going through something similar around the time of her having her first child and and she had a lot of guilt when she was feeling joy, you know, and to have the balance of those, of those emotions and I imagine, in having that personal human experience of those you know, helps translate into make you a better therapist for people that are struggling with that.
Speaker 1:It does. And even sometimes some clients will say like I'm going through this wonderful thing, why aren't I happy? It's like it's okay if we're not feeling 100% happy because you know, our world is very messy, especially nowadays. Yeah, right we can unpack it and we don't have to feel guilt for feeling multiple things at once, especially as women too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I agree. Well, thank you for sharing. I appreciate that. And so, gosh, this is flown by, but we're already kind of about to kind of wrap up. So now let's circle back to Soul Haven, counseling again. And is there anything else, before we do wrap up, that you would like our listeners to know about Soul Haven?
Speaker 1:Oh, my goodness, Absolutely, and I think I would cater this towards the parents. Obviously, we work with a lot of children and teens, so what I would love people to know is that going to therapy, at least at Soul Haven, is not to tell you that you're a bad parent. Not at all, because that is a huge fear and anxiety.
Speaker 2:I love that you're addressing this. As a parent and I've been a teacher and that so many parents are hesitant to seek help because they think it's a reflection of something that they are or not doing correctly. You know, and it's not.
Speaker 1:So sorry, I fine, because you're right and I think that we I'm really glad that society is placing an emphasis on spotlighting that. There's a lot of wild pressures put on children now, but we also have to loop in the parental pressure and parent shaming, and so when I talk to parents, when they come in, I always like to joke and say, like imagine your ideal peanut butter and jelly sandwich. What kind of bread are you using? What kind of jelly or jam? What kind of peanut butter and jelly sandwich? What kind of bread are you using? What kind of jelly or jam? What kind of peanut butter?
Speaker 1:You can probably list hundreds of iterations of that same combination and I always feel like parenting is adding thousands to that. Like I will never tell you the correct combination to make this ideal sandwich in your head. What I'll do is I'll say, like okay, what ingredients do we have? Like how can we make this work in therapy with your child and your family? So it makes no sense to you.
Speaker 1:You know you typically can't Google the coping skills that we like to teach at Soul Haven, but instead they're personalized to your family. It's okay, mom or dad, if we're in the car going back and forth to baseball practice, whatever it looks like to gate teams. Can we try to ground while we're in the car together, or do we have like a check-in system that we can use for your child? And so that's really what I like people to know is that we want to eradicate, or try to start to eradicate, the shame from the parent end and the child end, because coming into Soul Haven is not this consequence of something negative. If anything, it can just be like a nice sounding board to get stronger later on.
Speaker 2:I love that. I love that you said use the word consequence. I do think that that is a misconception, kind of goes back up to the misconception question. I love that you address that at the end. I'm super glad. Well, and so if our listeners want to learn more, if they want to reach out, sarah, what is the best way for them to get in touch?
Speaker 1:Absolutely so. People can find us at our website, which is wwwsoulhavengeorgiacom. All of our important information is there about styles of therapy, insurance, super bills, our styles ourselves. But they can also find us on Instagram at soulhavencounseling.
Speaker 2:Wonderful Well, thank you so much. It has been an absolute pleasure, Sarah. I'm so excited that we've had the chance to get to know you and Soul Haven Counseling.
Speaker 1:Thank you, stacey. I appreciate you so much, you and your time and your energy. It's been great.
Speaker 2:Oh well, thank you. I have enjoyed it so much as well. So well. That's all for today's episode Atlanta. I'm Stacey Risley with the Good Neighbor Podcast. Thanks for listening and for supporting the local businesses and nonprofits of our great community.
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast North Atlanta. To nominate your favorite local businesses, visit gnpnorthatlantacom. That's gnpnorthatlantacom.
