Today we’d like to introduce you to Helen Svoboda-Barber.
Hi Helen, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My private practice is called Heal, Grow, Go because I believe you already have the seed of everything you need within you. Our work together in therapy gently reveals what needs to be healed. During our sessions, we grow your resources, clarity, hope, and courage. My clients go into their future more grounded and equipped, with empathy and understanding about where they have been – and contentment about what is to come.
As a child, I wanted to grow up to be a doctor. My father was the only doctor in our small town of Chapman, Kansas. I grew up watching him care for people – body, mind, and soul. I wanted that. But while I was in high school, HMOs and managed care came onto the scene. My dad ended up retiring early because managed care did not allow him to support his patients as he wanted. He believed these changes would mean that I also would not be able to care for patients as I wanted– and he was right.
Fast forward: In the midst of the COVID shutdown, I realized how deeply the pandemic was affecting people’s mental health and decided to change careers. I went back to school in my 50s, and now I care for people through my solo private practice – Heal, Grow, Go: Mental Health and Wellness in Durham, NC.
I bring many challenging experiences from my own life into my role as therapist: My husband and I were primary caregivers for my mother for a decade as she declined from dementia. I’ve been a fierce advocate for my child around learning differences. I’m the supportive parent of a trans young adult. I’m a breast cancer survivor. I’ve walked with hundreds of people as they face their own or a loved one’s death. And so much more…
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I took quite a roundabout way to get to this point in my life. In college, I considered going to graduate school in clinical psychology, but ended up researching TV’s effects on children. It was interesting, but not my true passion. I worked for a few years in the financial sector and liked the no-more-than-40-hour week, easy work, and good pay. But I didn’t feel like I was giving back to the world as I should.
I ended up going to seminary and working full-time in progressive churches for 23 years. When I pivoted to mental health therapy, I set down most of my work in the church. I still maintain a clergy coaching practice and serve as continuing education faculty for several organizations – but I’m no longer active in congregational leadership. As someone who understands Christianity and who has also seen so much harm done in the name of the church, I am able to sit with and help clients process their own experiences of religious trauma.
As we all struggled through 2020, I was overwhelmed with how many people were going to need therapy due to the stressors of the pandemic–and how few great therapists I knew. Even though I was in my 50s and our household’s primary breadwinner, my husband and I decided I should take this leap and go back to school to begin a whole new career in the third phase of my life.
After my first semester at North Carolina Central University, I was diagnosed with breast cancer, which I like to refer to as my “side quest.” I continued taking classes throughout treatment and, thankfully, it did not slow down my trajectory. I graduated with a Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from NCCU in December 2023 and received licensure in March 2024. I went directly into solo private practice and am loving every day of this new career.
We’ve been impressed with Heal, Grow, Go: Mental Health and Wellness, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
The Heal, Grow, Go logo is based on a ginkgo leaf, which is a symbol of hope as well as integration of different parts of a self. My office has lots of natural light and colorful art, which infuses a sense of beauty and encouragement. Clients often share what a calm, safe place my office becomes for them.
I chose to go into solo private practice immediately so that I could curate a healing experience centering around my values of Joy, Humor, Balance, Simplicity, Conviction, Beauty, and Fidelity. I do not work with insurance companies so that my clients and I can make decisions about their therapeutic care without being denied either care or payment by for-profit companies.
As an older therapist, many clients seek me out because of a desire to work with someone who has life experience and wisdom. I have been a patient, a parent, a spouse, a caregiver, and have made an unplanned midlife career change. Additionally, transgender folks have been a fully accepted part of our extended family since the previous century.
Therapists are often asked about their “modalities” or particular ways they work. Most of all, my work is person-centered. This means my client’s needs are what drive how we work together. I don’t believe that a single type of therapy is best for all situations. I will match the modality to what works best at the moment. As a lifelong learner I have deep connections to Bowen Family Systems, Thanatology, and Sand Tray therapy. Let me explain a bit more about what each of these means:
Bowen Family Systems uses curiosity about emotional ties in your family tree, the family you grew up in, and your current household. It helps clients understand why they and others think/behave the way they do, and it gives people an opportunity to try small experiments in changing their behavior to find greater ease with life. I’ve worked with Bowen Family Systems for several decades and have completed a year of Postgraduate Training at the Bowen Center for the Family.
I am also a Fellow of Thanatology (ADEC), which is an advanced certification in grief and death work. It requires 8,880 hours of work in the field along with in-depth education and completion of a certifying exam. I can comfortably sit with clients when things are not OK–and they might never be OK. We can talk about what a “good death” would be like for them, what makes a life worth living, and how to talk with loved ones about their desires.
A third way I love to work with clients is something called Sand Tray Therapy. I have small sandboxes and lots of figures and other items in my office. At times when clients are at a point where talk therapy is less helpful, we will move to the sand tray. I’ll give them a prompt like, “Create the world of your marriage,” or “What is it like to be you right now?” Then they will create a scene in the sand and share as much or as little about it as they want. Time and time again, something comes up that could not have been accessed through talking, and the participant leaves with a greater understanding of themselves.
I currently have availability at my office in Durham, or by telehealth for those in North Carolina. Sessions are $160 per 50 minutes. I do not work with insurance. I offer a free brief phone consultation to help people decide whether we will be a good fit to work together. You can find out more at HealGrowGoWellness.com or contact me at Helen@HealGrowGoWellness.com or 484-841-4871.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
I can’t choose a single childhood memory as a favorite. Overall, the most important thing about my childhood was that I was known and accepted. Growing up in a town of fewer than 2,000 people, and being the doctor’s daughter, every person in town knew me. They would both watch out for me and also let my parents know anytime I was getting out of bounds. I had the freedom to roam the town from a fairly young age, as long as I could hear my mother’s lifeguard whistle when it was time to come home. From the age of seven or eight, my friends and I would bike a mile to the town pool and spend the whole day there in the summertime. Other times, we would explore “Witches Hollow,” a small forest on the edge of town, or visit elderly neighbors who always offered a piece of candy when we stopped by. Being known and accepted gave me a solid sense of self, which is central to my work as a therapist.
Pricing:
- 50-minute sessions $160 (self-pay only)
- Does not work with insurance
Contact Info:
- Website: https://HealGrowGoWellness.com
