Community Highlights: Meet Chris McDonald of Path to Hope Counseling

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris McDonald.

Hi Chris, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I started out as a School Counselor in 1995 and wanted to work with kids. I never had someone to talk to in school, my school counselors were awful. I thought I could provide more support for kids who needed it at school. After about 16 years, I got burned out and was tired to have to fight all the politics of the school system, fighting for counseling time and having to be a dumping ground for the numerous committees, job roles that weren’t related to counseling. I got my licensure and started part-time at a local community mental health agency to get some experience. Finally June 13, 2013 I was officially done with the school system and moved on to work full time for another agency. It didn’t work out so well that year, I remember crying to my husband that I made a mistake. I did Intensive inhome services which were rough as I dealt with very difficult kids and families and had to drive for hours each day. Later I moved on and got more experience as an Outpatient therapist and I liked that much more. I began to build my private practice in 2014 and I have grown to a small group practice with two other clinicians who work for me. I knew I wanted a holistic focus and trained in meditation, mindfulness and got my yoga certification in 2019. This is where I needed to be! I am also trained in Brainspotting which helps clients with trauma as well as anxiety and depression. Now I have a podcast called The Holistic Counseling Podcast to help other Counselors and therapists to integrate holistic strategies into treatment as well as practice building tips and self-care.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As I mentioned before, it was rough at the end of my School Counselor career. My Administration didn’t particularly care for Counselors and they didn’t treat us well. They had a meeting with me and chose to pick everything I was doing wrong and said if I didn’t like it there, I should just leave. They were not supportive at all! I also struggled with the adjustment to the agency life with low pay and high stress. It was definitely an adjustment.

It’s taken some time to build my private practice and there were some lean times especially the first couple of years. It was hard emotionally and financially.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Path to Hope Counseling?
I am known for being a Holistic provider and my practice is known for specializing in treating young adults facing life transitions (to college life, from school to work, loss of family member) who are experiencing anxiety, depression, grief and/or trauma. They struggle with “adulting” tasks and these can seem overwhelming (such as paying bills, managing finances overall, becoming independent, dealing with intimate relationships, friendships, dealing with tasks of daily living and time management)

What sets me apart from others is that I offer treatment from a holistic perspective. I treat the whole person, body, mind and spirit. This means I look at all areas of their lives that may be impacting their mental health including exercise, eating habits, spirituality, relationship to money, self-care. I also provide treatment through mindfulness, meditation, yoga in sessions in addition to some more traditional talk therapy, CBT and Brainspotting.

Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I took a huge risk by leaving the school system. I was walking away from a state job with full benefits and a good retirement as well as job security. I was walking into the unknown and into unstable work, no health insurance or no benefits. It was really scary.

I also took a risk by ending my first podcast Nothing Left to Give and started a new one this year called The Holistic Counseling Podcast. I wanted to move on to helping other Therapists/Counselors learn more about holistic counseling and be able to help more clients in the process. The results from using holistic strategies has been truly amazing. It’s always a risk to be an entrepreneur to start a new part of your business when you have no idea if it will succeed or not.

Pricing:

• 150.00 Initial Session
• 135.00 Regular Session

Contact Info:

• Email: pathtohopec@hushmail.com
• Website: https://www.pathtohopecounseling.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/path2hoperaleigh/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/cmcdonaldlpc
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyibcRjWbi-Xzj3pi-N2evA
• Other: https://www.holisticcounselingpodcast.com

Image Credits
Richard Barlow Photography