Today we’d like to introduce you to Karlie Wong.
Karlie, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I am from Massachusetts originally and grew up in a household with a lot of physical and emotional abuse. It had such an impact on not only my behavior and mental health through childhood and adolescence, but also was the influence on why I became interested in psychology and counseling.
I sought understanding and to delve into human behavior and experience. I became addicted to uncovering my family dynamics, my unhealthy ways of coping, and the manifestation of everything I had experienced in my own adult life. Being hurt not only physically, but being told you’re unworthy and inadequate you’re whole childhood can cause trauma and behaviors that I have made the very center of my career. I struggled with depression and anxiety, self-injury, eating disorders, and substance abuse and as I began studying psychology, I began to uncover the foundations behind these patterns.
I moved to San Diego about five years ago without a job or real plan formulated. I was 22 and just finished my undergrad at Boston College. My first job was at an adolescent rehab facility in east county and I quickly realized that I was going to need to go back to school to find a career in mental health that would also pay the bills.
I enrolled in a graduate program specifically for school counseling and after graduation, spent two years working downtown at King-Chavez Community High School. I love working with students in difficult demographics: the special-ed student, the at-risk youth, the foster child–any student who has more on their plate on top of passing classes, deciding what to do after graduation, and simply being a teenager.
This summer, however, due to budget cuts and the lack of resources in education, we underwent staff cutbacks and I was laid off, leaving my previous school with no licensed school counselor. To continue doing what I love while also engaging and helping the community I have grown to love, I started Counseling With Karlie. It is a platform in which I can reach the students and families that need support, while also continuing to hone my practice and my experience within San Diego.
Mental health services and support staff in schools are limited. I firmly believe that we need more counselors, psychologists, and social workers within our schools. I see the problems that students face every day and from a larger perspective. There is so much pressure on teenagers academically, college and career-wise, and socially. Having people to support them through these processes day-to-day is crucial, and we’re just not seeing enough money being allocated to these services. The average counselor to student ration in California is over 700 to 1. There are also so many mental health-related issues that affect students and student bodies. Preventative measures and crisis prevention is just another reason more counselors and professionals are needed.
And when I was looking into the private sector, I realized how outrageous prices were for private college counseling. At over $200 per hour, a lot of companies are targeting affluent students and families and I realized there were a divide and an opportunity to bridge this gap with my project. My business is aimed at targeting low and middle-class families by offering both in-person and virtual counseling at less than half of the average cost. On top of providing individual counseling services, I also host free community workshops around San Diego County. Colleagues and I are trying to get creative with how to provide students with free information and resources through these workshops as well as using social media as a platform for spreading education.
As a first-time business owner, I am learning and growing every day. I am still so new to this process, but I am hopeful that I can continue this passion project through my career by bridging this gap, providing information and resources to our community, and continuing to follow my passion for helping students and families in this space.
Great, 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?
It has been anything but easy. It is difficult getting a new business off of the ground, especially when you are selling something that is provided for students at their schools. But, I have been meeting community members that have been giving me hope for the future of this business and education in general. It is also difficult to get parents and students to pay attention to this information. We can provide all the free information we want, but it is about getting people to listen and make it a priority.
Please tell us about your business.
I provided a lot of this in the first question, but to reiterate, I specialize in school counseling services, including academic help, college and career counseling, and social-emotional support. I am targeting low to middle-class students and families who are not able to afford traditional private counseling but need support for their students. So many students I have worked with and in San Diego, in general, are first-generation or need help with the college application process, staying on top of classes, and figuring out how to navigate high school and beyond, and my goal is to help those students as best as I can. What makes me different is that my rates are 50-75% lower than most private college counseling companies. I want to make it affordable and approachable to a wider audience. I also run free workshops and webinars for families who aren’t able to afford private counseling at all.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
The qualities I find most important to my success are patience, understanding, and compassion. I am trying to be patient with myself and my progress through this new journey. I have never done anything like this before, so I’m trying to allow myself the time and space to turn this into something I’m proud of. I also need to be understanding, not only with myself and with this process but also with the bumps along the way. Not every event is going to work, not every family is going to want these services for their children. But I want to continue spreading knowledge and fighting for what I believe is an important cause.
Compassion is also crucial, self-compassion as well as compassion for my clients. Every student has a diverse story, different struggles, and goals, and it is my job to provide support for them while being unbiased and being compassionate for anything they may be experiencing.
Pricing:
- $75 per individual session
- $50 per virtual session
- $50 per individual session when you have ongoing counseling
Contact Info:
- Website: www.counselingwithkarlie.com
- Phone: 7742391043
- Email: counselingwithkarlie@gmail.com
- Instagram: counselingwithkarlie
- Facebook: facebook.com/counselingwithkarlie
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/counseling-with-karlie-san-diego
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