Today we’d like to introduce you to Natalie Blue and Madelene Pario.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Looking back now, it’s strange to think that Natalie and I were only introduced to each other 6 years ago! Both of us lived in Salem, both of us were expressive arts therapists (a relatively small field), and both of us worked for separate community mental health agencies on the North Shore. Not only that, but both of us were pregnant with our second child! After being introduced through a friend, we just connected. We quickly realized we shared a common vision of forming a small center offering expressive arts therapy counseling services on the North Shore. A month after meeting, we opened The Artful Life Counseling Center and Studio.
Over the past 6 years, our small vision has expanded to a larger reality: We moved from Salem to Beverly into a bigger office, and went from just the two of us to hiring 5 additional expressive arts therapists — while we were each raising two young children and learning the nuts and bolts of being small business owners.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It certainly hasn’t been a smooth journey, but our solid working partnership has helped us navigate the ups and downs of building a group practice.
We had to learn the basics of business ownership from scratch. When we first started The Artful Life, Madelene and I were seeing clients as solo private practitioners, we shared expenses for our office space (The Artful Life) and ran arts-based therapeutic groups in our studio. Over time our reputation for providing creative and clinically sound counseling flourished which, while great for us, also meant that we were unable to accommodate all the new referrals coming in. This was we asked a few other therapists to share space with us at The Artful Life to help us be able to serve more clients.
Given our training and background as therapists, we were prone to helping others, but sometimes at the expense of ourselves. After a while we realized that the space sharing arrangement was no longer financially sustainable, and we kept getting a steady stream of referrals wanting our unique services. In 2016 we formed The Artful Life Counseling Center and Studio LLC, and began hiring additional expressive arts therapists to work for us.
Recently our greatest struggle is keeping our waitlist down. Perhaps not the worst struggle, however if we want to be able to serve as many people on the North Shore as possible, this means we need to grow our business, hire more employees, expand to a bigger space, etc. All this, while navigating the limitations of a health care system that is full of red-tape and slow responses. For instance, we just hired two new therapists, yet they will have to wait 3-6 months before insurance companies will allow us to bill for their services. If someone wants to pay privately for therapy we can give them an appointment right away, however if they would like to use their insurance, they often have to wait.
As Natalie and I grow our group practice, we strive to stay true to our mission and vision for The Artful Life as we juggle the daily minutia of running a healthcare-based business.
It can be tricky to navigate large insurance companies, what makes sense financially so we can stay in business, our passion for expressive arts therapy and how to best serve our community and clients.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about The Artful Life Counseling Center & Studio – what should we know?
As the only expressive arts therapy center on the North Shore of Massachusetts, The Artful Life offers an alternative to traditional mental health counseling for individuals of all ages through the use of expressive arts therapy.
Most people are unfamiliar with expressive arts therapy. It is a mental health profession that combines different art forms including visual arts, music, play, movement, writing and drama to help clients visualize emotions, reduce stress, increase self-awareness and improve social skills.
Expressive arts therapy often succeeds when traditional talk therapy doesn’t because we offer a hands-on approach that goes beyond words to treat underlying symptoms through both art making, and reflection on the process of its creation.
Expressive arts therapy recognizes that good mental health comes through practicing healthier patterns of thoughts, emotions and behaviors. Our trained and licensed psychotherapists help clients using a creative and interactive approach to visualize positive life change and achieve a greater sense of wellness.
At our center, we offer individual, family and group counseling for young children, teenagers and adults. In addition, we have a range of arts-based enrichment groups that promote self-care and wellness. We also create individualized programs and curriculum development for schools and non-profit organizations.
At the heart of The Artful Life, we believe in giving back to our community. The Downtown Beverly Arts District has welcomed us, and we love being able to provide free art-making to the community during art festivals, farmers markets, and other local events.
Madelene and I are proud of the reputation we have built on the North Shore, and the diverse range of services we can provide. Because we use the arts as a form of healing, this offers multiple layers of flexibility and diversity in the way we can connect to our clients and to our community.
We believe that the power of art-making allows individuals to feel more connected to themselves, to others, and to their community. Through expressive arts therapy we facilitate these connections to help others create and imagine a more artful life.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
We wouldn’t be The Artful Life without our friend and colleague, Susannah Horowitz. In our first two years, Susannah shared space with us, and helped develop the original vision for our expressive arts therapy center. But when we moved to Beverly, she moved to Colorado with her family. Her support was invaluable and we couldn’t have gotten off the ground without her.
We are also thankful for our initial group of newly-hired expressive arts therapists who had faith in our vision and mission, for all of the doctors, therapists, school counselors, families and clients who continue to refer others to our center, and our local colleagues who we rely on for professional support. We are also grateful for the support of Beverly Bank who believed in us enough to help finance our early business expansion,
And finally we are super thankful for all of our friends, family and partners who have made sacrifices, provided unconditional support and free hugs so that we could fulfill our vision of The Artful Life. Thank you!!!
Contact Info:
- Address: 234 Cabot Street (lower level)
Beverly MA
01915 - Website: www.artfullifecenter.org
- Phone: 978-548-6288
- Email: info@artfullifecenter.org
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artfullifecenter/
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/artfullifespace/
Image Credit:
Lisa Silveria
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