Community Highlights: Meet Sa’de Robinson of Second Chance Counseling Services

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sa’de Robinson. 

Hi Sa’de, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
My mother owned a daycare growing up and I remember as a 5/6-year-old hosting sleepover nights for the girls my age that attended her daycare because I knew they came from backgrounds of poverty and abuse. My mommy would say, “Girrrlllll I work with these kids all day stop bringing them home every weekend.” I didn’t know how much money my mom made but I did know that we had more than a lot of the kids from her daycare, and I knew that my home life appeared to be more peaceful than theirs. 

My mother was murdered when I was 7 years old by her longtime boyfriend while I laid in the bed next to her and while my brother was in the next room over. This shaped my life and shifted everything in me and grew me up really fast. I temporarily moved from Charleston SC to Georgetown SC to live with grandmother to finish out the school year before my father returned from deployment to take custody of myself and my brother. This is when I became a 7-year entrepreneur, I opened up a candy store and ran it from my grandmother’s home. I sold any snack, candy, drink, food, hot sausage, pickles, anything you could think of. I sold out on a weekly basis, I learned to budget, do inventory, and also about profit and loss. After every summer of running my store, I would take my profit and give it to my grandmother. I saw how hard she worked to take care of myself and her 30-plus grandchildren and as a child, I just wanted to pour back into her. 

I took all of these life experiences and allowed it to shape how I moved forward and persevered in life. I knew from my experiences that I wanted to be great like my mother and father. I knew I wanted to be a part of a legacy that they started. I want to continue a legacy. 

I became a therapist and entrepreneur because I truly believe in the power of therapy. I truly believe in doing the inner work to change and heal. 

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
ABSOLUTELY NOT! While on this journey I heard many nos. I heard nos to insurance contracts, no to office buildings that were vacant, no to things that were necessary for me to begin my process. This may have slowed me down but never stopped me. One of my biggest struggles was imposter syndrome. Fighting with myself, I know in my heart that being a therapist and a business owner is in me. But at times when things were going south or even too good, I questioned was I actually worthy or even qualified for this. I had to overcome my mind. “If you don’t mind. It doesn’t matter.”-Muhammad Ali 

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
I am Sa’de Robinson, MSW, LCSW, CCSOTS, owner of Second Chance Counseling Services, PLLC located in Fayetteville, NC. Second Chance Counseling Services, PLLC was founded in 2017 and has been continuing to thrive and grow for the past 5 years. I attained my Bachelor of Social Work degree from The University of North Carolina Charlotte and my Master of Social Work from Winthrop University. I possess over 12 years of experience in the field and have provided services to individuals across all socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. When I opened my private practice, I knew that I wanted Second Chance to be a safe place for its employees and clients. At SCCS our motto as it relates to staff and that we want to grow in quality and not quantity. If we must stay where we are right now and not grow in quantity, we are ok with that because this safe space for our employees and clients. Our private practice employs an amazing group of individuals who hold degrees and licensure in MSW, MA, LCSW, LCSWA, LCMHC, and LCMHCA. We are all from different races, socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. The therapist at SCCS works with individuals, couples, and families utilizing cognitive behavioral treatment modalities. Our practice includes services to children, adolescents, adults, and seniors. Our clinicians specialize in treating depression and mood disorders, ADHD, disruptive and conduct-related disorders, anxiety disorders, PTSD and other trauma and stressor-related disorders, bipolar disorders, substance use disorder, life stressors, women’s issues, men’s issues, parenting education, domestic violence, and grief and loss issues. I am most proud of creating a therapeutic environment that is not only a safe and healing environment for the clients that we serve but most importantly for the therapist and support staff at SCCS. Having an environment that truly takes care of the emotional needs of its employees breeds one of the safest and most effective work environments. This has allowed for employee retention to be very high here at SCCS. We have had clinicians and staff that have been with us since we first opened 5 years ago. 

What’s next?
My personal future plans are to continue with the mindset that growth and healing is not linear but more of an upward spiral. Growing individually as a leader will spread, permeate, and saturate into the employees that I supervise. I want to lead by example in the most positive ways. 

The future plans for SCCS are for our staff to continue to grow individually as clinicians and therapist in order to be more self-aware. This allows us as therapist to help clients come to their own discoveries through self-examination and reflection. We want to help be change agents of mental health for all. I want SCCS to grow and be able to serve and assist in the emotional and mental healing for the masses 

The ladies of Second Chance Counseling Services, PLLC now hosts a yearly mental health conference for women, InspireHER. This year it will be held on March 11, 2023, in Fayetteville NC. We are back with our second InspireHER event!!! We are having another mental health event that you don’t want to miss. Ladies, this is not your average women’s conference. InspireHER will help educate and elevate you. This will be a safe place to speak on all the things of the mind, body, and soul. This year is about overcoming self and being inspired by women like yourself. InspireHER will help educate and elevate you. 

Pricing:

• Self-pay clients start at $125

Contact Info:

• Website: www.secondchancecsnc.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/secondchancenc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/secondchancecounselingservices/ 

Image Credits
Brionna McKiver