Today we’d like to introduce you to Trina Paddock.
Hi Trina, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
In the fall of 2010 a few months after completing a Master of Arts of Counseling, I was looking to supplement my income. When my husband suggested a private practice, I resisted however the numbers he tossed out were tempting and I did love counseling. My chiropractor had a room for rent with a beautiful Birdseye maple mantle over the fireplace. Terrified that I would be able to make the $300 a month rent, I shared the room with a colleague. I worked my day job then drove the two blocks to my private practice for evening work. It started slow, however the end of 2011 I was making a profit and by then end of 2013, I was so busy I needed the room for myself. When my colleague and I rented the suite I am in now at 201 N. Mitchell Street, it needed some work. My husband built walls, put in a cabinet and sink. When my clients came to the new office in the early winter of 2014, they would say “you must be doing well” and then business boomed. By the spring of 2015, I quit my day job to focus on my work at the practice. There was a bump in the road in January of 2016 when I had brain surgery to repair an aneurysm on the carotid artery. The struggle with sound and light and movement began. Daily episodes of vertigo led to my husband driving me to and from work everyday. Kristen, my office manager came on board. I tell her I would rather lose my right hand than lose her. Business boomed. I didn’t need to do any marketing. The phones were busy. I rented space my suite to other counselors and referred the overflow of calls to them. In 2018, I expanded into the suite next door, adding four more offices that were rented out. When COVID hit and everything shut down, I went home like everyone else. I didn’t miss a beat. Trusting that the government and insurance companies and the American Counseling Association would get this all figured out, I kept meeting with my clients through video calls. My family and I adjusted to the changes and I kept on counseling. It’s the thing I love to do. A year later when I returned to my office, my daughter Brenna Edwards asked me what I wanted to do in retirement. I hadn’t really thought about it. She suggested I fill the offices in the suite with counselors that I had hired rather than rent the space. The thought was terrifying, however, she was confident and I hired her one day a week to grow the business and take over those offices slowly with people we hired. In September of 2021, our first hire was an intern Erin Heuker. She completed her internship, then two years as a Limited Licensed Professional Counselor and has been fully licensed now for a year. In these past four years since Brenna and Erin came on board, we have added two more suites in the Cadillac’s Old City and have grown to our current staff of 10 counselors/social workers, three interns and two support staff. We still have some spaces available and I hoping to add a psychiatrist or a psychiatric nurse soon. Today, I am not sure where we are going, however I know we are going somewhere. I tell my staff that we are here to work with people like us and our families who need help. We don’t work with the hardest cases (although sometimes we do). We are here to bringing healing and wellness to the people of our community who need a place to talk, to learn skills, to build supports and recover from mental health and substance use concerns. Right now, of our ten counselors, four of us are Certified Advanced Alcohol and Drug Counselors. I find this to be very special and I am grateful for the people who work for me and for our community.
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?
I would say my biggest struggle has been chronic daily vertigo. I really don’t know how I am able to function most days. Getting ready for work is one of my biggest challenges. Somedays I cannot make it in because any movement is too much. I have noticed 95% of the time once I am sitting and engaged with a client, the vertigo either eases or I forget about it and I am able to tune in and do the work in front of me. However documentation, creating policy, keeping up on reading contracts is very difficult and I require help with that.
During this past year, recruiting has been difficult. Like other communities in Michigan, its hard to find qualified professionals.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Paddock Counseling PLLC is a private practice offering counseling services to our local community and, through telehealth, across the state of Michigan.
In November 2010, Paddock Counseling opened in a single office space over Cadillac Chiropractic on Cass Street in Cadillac.. Initially its purpose was to supplement my income and provide a private space for local professionals to seek counseling. By 2015, the practice had relocated downtown to the Old City Hall and I had left my other job. For five years, I shared the space with other clinicians.
In March of 2020, when COVID hit, I did a pivot and began providing telehealth from home. My caseload continued and I was able to work through a very difficult time with my clients. We were adapting and shifting and continuing on. They were amazing. I didn’t pause. I just kept working. In 2021, when Blue Cross Blue Shield sent a letter out to providers thanking them for continuing to provide services, I wept. In that moment, I realized the weight of what we had all been going through and how heavy it had been. Soon after this letter, my daughter, Brenna Edwards, came on board part-time as a business manager and we began to grow.
Over the past five years we have grown from one licensed counselor (me) and a part-time office manager to seven fully licensed clinicians, four limited licensed and three interns. Four of us are Certified Advanced Alcohol and Drug Counselors, which, I believe, is unique to our community. While we are not a substance use disorder facility, our expertise in this area allows us to treat mental health concerns with a discerning eye for issues that are often overlooked. All of our clinicians are trauma informed. Stacey Kaminski specializes in working with First Responders, Joanie Blamer and I work with health professionals in recovery. Our clinicians have a range of specialties.
The thing I am most proud of is the environment we have created for our clinical staff. We offer health insurance and short/long term disability to our full-time staff as well as paid time off, paid holidays and a simple IRA to all of our employees. On top of this, our clinicians have control of their schedule in the same way a person in private practice would which allows for flexibility and freedom while still having support and connection to other providers. We have a great team. I love being a part of shaping the future of our profession through our work with interns.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
The past few years have brought many mental health challenges. No matter what side of the political spectrum we are on or how we viewed a global pandemic, we have faced hard times personally and communally. Some of us have come through pretty well however for some of us it has been more difficult. My hope is that, if we see someone struggling, we will help them get the help they need and, if we ourselves are struggling, we will reach out for help. All of us struggle at times. We don’t have to do it alone.
Pricing:
- We accept most major health insurances
Contact Info:
- Website: https://paddockcounseling.com
