Meet Lesley Tate-Gould of Summon Courage

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lesley Tate-Gould.

Hi Lesley, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
Early in my career, I used to share with people that the work I do in psychology wasn’t a deliberate choice on my part. Rather, it felt like the work chose me, as I didn’t have a clear vision of what I wanted to do with my degree. I knew when I was a Sophomore in high school that I wanted to be a psychologist, crediting my love for problem-solving and understanding the human condition as catalysts in my journey. I studied Psychology at San Diego State University, and later completed my doctoral degree in 2011 from Alliant International University  with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy and Psychology.

My first licensed position as a Clinical Psychologist introduced me to the treatment world, where I was a lead clinician working with adolescents and their families in a residential setting. The treatment world felt very secure for an early career therapist to grow and cut her teeth. I was insulated and supported by a multidisciplinary team, which included psychiatrists, nurses, therapists and substance abuse counselors. I started to appreciate this all-hands-on-deck approach to care, all while the clients resided in a safe environment away from their daily stressors, triggers and challenges. Through my work, I was introduced to the world of recovery and recovery-oriented models. One particular model that stood out was Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). AA provided a supportive community where individuals could rebuild their lives, emphasizing unity, recovery, and service to others. This program addressed not only the physical and mental aspects but also the spiritual aspects of individuals seeking help.

For many years, I navigated through the treatment world, exploring different areas of focus. Initially, I worked with adolescents but eventually shifted my specialization towards disordered eating and trauma in 2015. At this time I was  introduced to an integrative trauma approach, Somatic Experiencing, and the joke to this day was on me when I realized in the first weekend workshop that this advanced certification would require a three year commitment. Evidently I was hooked because despite the shock of that discovery I completed the certification in 2017.

After years of experience in the treatment world, witnessing both what I loved and loathed about the industry, I took the initiative to co-found Lido Wellness Center. Our center was dedicated to addressing underlying trauma and mental health conditions, which often contribute to vulnerability in problematic substance use, disordered eating, and challenging interpersonal dynamics. I played a direct role in developing a program, assembling a team, and establishing a center that exemplified our commitment to delivering excellent clinical services. Throughout this process, I had the privilege of witnessing the remarkable changes and transformations that were achievable when trauma care was prioritized in our clinical approach.

Any therapist worth their salt will wholeheartedly agree with the following statement: therapists must be willing to confront the dynamics in our own lives that may affect our readiness to provide assistance and our ability to support ourselves, our families, and those we aspire to serve Therapists are often drawn toward this work, whether they are conscious of it or not to shift the legacy, the history of how they were raised, supported or guided as younger beings.I, too, was not exempt from this truth. However, it wasn’t until 2021 that I came to the realization that many of the characteristics I believed were inherently mine were actually intricate adaptations I had developed to navigate the challenges of my early years Fortunately for me, these characteristics supported me greatly in my career path: highly driven, perfectionistic, willing to take on more and more (an employer’s dream!) and a can-do attitude in the wake of any pending problem or challenge thrown my way. Like most stories, there is a darker side to these of course, often resulting in chronic anxiety, difficulty taking personal and professional risks, ruminating constantly about how I feared other’s saw me and an unwillingness to stand up for myself when I noticed something off or out of line. I did not know it, but I had re-created the spirit of obedience necessary in my home growing up in the world I was curating as a business owner, clinician and momma and wife.

I began working with a spiritual coach in early 2021 and started the revelatory and sometimes painful journey of discovering that the world that I had re-created was not in fact mine. It was that of a girl living in fear and not trusting herself to step out of familiar patterns. The beginning of the end of life as I knew it was in April 2022, when my coach said, “Lesley, the reality as you know it is dying, this is the only way for you to be reborn to discover what you are really here to do”. I trusted myself and I trusted him and he was right- there was no going back to the familiar after beginning to see what I was really made of. I walked away from Lido Wellness Center, from the security of arriving to work each day and knowing for the most part what would come and put my faith in myself, trusting that what I put my mind to would provide for me and my family.

I founded Summon Courage, an expansion of my private practice to include groups, courses and workshops built upon topics that inspire others, like me, to rediscover who they are, what they are made of and what gifts they are made to bring to this world. The most incredible gift in this is I didn’t have to look far to find the answer, these gifts had been bubbling up inside of me my whole life- I just finally took a leap and set them free.

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?
If you are truly committed to living fully, smooth does not exist indefinitely but rather in periods of reprieve and refocusing. I can say more authentically today than ever before that the challenges are there to be incredible teachers- if you can keep your feet under you and remember that, rather than like me for many decades taking it personal, objecting, trying to push away from perceived mistakes and failures, you will learn the lessons much more quickly. This does not mean that I have departed from the daily human awareness when met with challenges: they’re bumpy, they can suck at times, and I can and will have real feelings about challenges and obstacles. However, today, I have a different understanding- I welcome the detour because I know strongly that there is a teacher and a lesson waiting to show me something I have yet to discover.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next, you can tell us a bit more about your business.
I founded Summon Courage to widen the accessibility of mental health services through different offerings that do not require a person to fully dive into therapy if that is not what they need or want. When working with my own coach, he would ask me to examine areas in my life that I had grown, learned something valuable, and shifted in some way. From that, he would engage with me on examining ways to bring the lessons that I learned along the way to others- emphasizing that when you can work with someone who has been in your shoes directly and you can show them some of the ways you have grown or overcome something, you will never tire of the work because it is so authentic to your journey.

That acquired wisdom inspired my first workshop in fall 2022: Expanding Beyond Perfectionism. This course examined behaviors and beliefs driving perfectionism and how these may be outgrown adaptations. I had a lot of fun with this course and took some creative risks by creating recordings of each session to launch a fully self-paced workshop for anyone interested and ready to let go of these characteristics for good. Around the same time, I became immersed and fascinated with Attachment Theory- examining our most innate and incredible gifts toward bonding, connection, and social engagement. I meditated on whether there was something within attachment that I wanted to bring to a bigger audience. That has resulted in efforts to launch a virtual workshop series for first-time parents with an emphasis on the transformation that occurs when partners cross the threshold and become parents. Again, a topic near and dear to me and one that I wished for when my husband and I crossed that incredible threshold and became parents. Looking back, we longed to have access to friends and community members that understood the power of both the attachment to our new baby, but also of great importance, the attachment and connection we have together as partners.

In addition, I specialize in trauma, interpersonal dynamics, anxiety, and phase of life transitions (think launching or leaving a career, getting married, having children) and integrative practices that weave together the essential parts of our humanness: our spirit, bodies, feelings, minds and engagement in community.

I’d like readers to know that there is so much to discover about yourself when you courageously step into work with a provider- and I know if you are like me, sometimes you need a shove from the universe to take that first step.

Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
I would not be where I am today without the love, commitment, humor, and connection I have with my husband, Travis, and my children, Corbin & Chloe. I am a better human, teacher, friend, mother, partner, and wife because of their willingness to teach me the value of unconditional love, forgiveness, and repair.

Reggie, my spiritual coach for holding up the brightest light- I can say with wholeheartedness that I owe my courageous leap to your guidance and willingness to walk with me until I could run on my own.

To the friendships I have built and continue to cultivate- laughter, depth, and honesty with women in my tribe fills me up and readies me for the next challenge or adventure to come.

My first family- my dad, mom, and sister. You have been incredible teachers and cultivate within me the willingness to forgive, to hold compassion, and to carry myself with a soft front and strong back.

Contact Info:

• Website: summoncourage.com
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/summoncourage 

Image Credits
Jon DeLeon