Community Highlights: Meet Kelly Smedley of Waypoint Counseling & Maternal Wellness

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelly Smedley

Hi Kelly, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I became a psychiatric nurse in 1999 and a board certified psychiatric clinical nurse specialist in 2003. I’ve worked in various settings such as psychiatric inpatient and outpatient units, coordinating research studies and in private practice throughout my career. I started Waypoint Counseling & Maternal Wellness to help provide specialized and necessary mental health care to moms. After having gone through my own postpartum anxiety and depression struggles after the birth of my first child 19 years ago, I realized more needed to be done. I was suffering and didn’t know it wasn’t normal to be so anxious and moody after having a baby. It wasn’t until during my second pregnancy that I sought help. Fast forward to 2013 and I experienced the tragic loss of my fourth child to SIDS. I realized there was little support and resources out there for grieving moms. A few years later, after some time of healing and personal and professional exploration, I decided to make my clinical focus to work with mothers. I wanted to help mothers feel supported, heard, and understood. I wanted to help them learn tools to manage the stress in their lives. I wanted moms to learn how to be fulfilled and happy amidst the chaos and hardships they are challenged with. I became one of the first providers in the U.S. to earn perinatal mental health certification – helping moms became my mission.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Opening a practice and being a business owner certainly has it’s challenges and was a learning curve. I had plenty of previous work experience managing and supervising mental health inpatient and outpatient units so the management piece came easily to me. The first couple of years I had to teach myself all the ins and outs of being a business owner and that is not something they teach you in nursing school! I also opened Waypoint one month before the pandemic so I definitely had moments of panic that it wouldn’t work out. Having just signed a lease on my office space I was so nervous I wouldn’t make ends meet. I had to learn to pivot to telehealth quickly and also navigate having kids home during the pandemic and trying to grow the practice. Hiring my first employee was also a challenge because I basically had to convince her to take a chance on my vision. Feeling ultimately responsible for not only our clients but also our providers can be really stressful.
Another challenge is ensuring my own boundaries. Owning a large practice that serves hundreds of clients can be all-consuming. I have to make sure I take care of my own physical and emotional needs in order to best serve my providers and clients. I have had to learn to delegate which isn’t easy for me! Juggling the demands of home and work is a fine balance to ensure I don’t burn myself out.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
In 2020 I founded Waypoint and since then we have grown to a multidisciplinary practice of therapists and nurse practitioners – all specializing in perinatal mental health. We have 21 providers who provide mental healthcare in locations in Durham and Raleigh as well as virtually across the state of NC to women and mothers. Our Mission is to promote the mental health of mothers and women through counseling, treatment and education. Our team is dedicated, passionate, and driven to help our clients in all stages of their motherhood journey. Being an insurance based practice and offering both individual therapy and medication management allows us to be accessible to so many who may be struggling.

Our specialties include perinatal mood disorders (like postpartum anxiety or depression), birth trauma, reproductive grief and loss (miscarriage, stillbirth, infant loss), infertility and fertility concerns, guilt, rage, anger, mood fluctuations, moms of medically fragile or special needs children, hormonal concerns such as perimenopause, and overall general motherhood concerns. We also see men and dads and adults struggling with stress, life adjustments, anxiety or depression.

We are known for providing quality and compassionate care – from our entire team. Our admin team frequently gets compliments from clients about how personable and helpful they are. Our providers go above and beyond for our clients and as a result clients feel seen and heard. They are validated. They are supported. And they feel better. Clients feel at home with us – most of our providers are moms too and have had our own struggles in our journey. We listen and understand and are effective.

I am proud of Waypoint because I see first hand how we can help people. Moms come to us feeling overwhelmed, sad, stressed, or even hopeless. We partner with them to help them feel better and improve.
I am proud of Waypoint because I wanted to create a space for providers to have a positive work environment. Too often medical and behavioral health practices work their providers really hard to help improve the bottom line. I intentionally have set up our practice so providers can create their own schedules and have autonomy over what works for their own life circumstances. When providers are well cared for they also provide top-notch care which creates positive outcomes for patients. I’m also proud of how Waypoint has partnered with other community organizations both in financial support and volunteer capacities. Having a network of people who have the same vision of caring for mothers is so fulfilling.

What matters most to you? Why?
What matters most to me is helping our clients become the best version of themselves. It is an honor to walk with someone during some of the most vulnerable times in their life. It could be processing a NICU stay or birth trauma, coping with a miscarriage, relationship struggles, or improving confidence. Everyone struggles with different things in different ways and working with that person to find what they need to work through to cope with grief, trauma, conflict, etc. is like putting together pieces of a puzzle. Helping someone realize their own strengths and find more fulfillment and joy in their life is what makes this type of work so rewarding.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.waypointcounselingnc.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/waypointcounselingnc
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/waypointcounselingnc