Inspiring Conversations with Kara Gasperone of New Sun Counseling

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kara Gasperone.

Hi Kara, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I’m a licensed marriage and family therapist and have been working as a therapist since I finished graduate school at ASU in December 2010. I’ve worked the majority of my career in the nonprofit industry with kids and adults affected by poverty, homelessness, addiction, and trauma. For many years in my full-time nonprofit career, I also acted in a management role and had the privilege of overseeing teams of talented behavioral health professionals as they grew as individuals and helped others along the way.

Like lots of others, I’ve experienced some hard life transitions in the past few years – divorce, the death of a pet and a several loved ones, seeing a parent through cancer treatment (they’re in remission now, yay!) – and in December 2020 I took a terrifying leap into starting my own business. I finally felt ready to be in total control of my schedule, career, and capacity to support others. Now, I’m thrilled to be at the helm of a thriving business that supports not only myself but also a full-time employee! We get to see clients we love every single day and make a positive influence in their lives on our own terms. I also get to still act in a clinical supervisor capacity to support interns and associate-level therapists in their professional growth.

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?
HAHAHAHA, absolutely not! Where do I begin? To be honest, nearly all of it has been difficult. I had an absolutely amazing community of supervisors and colleagues in the nonprofit world and leaving the security and predictability of that industry was very, very scary. Being a small business owner can be isolating. I’ve had to humble myself and ask for a LOT of help from friends and colleagues.

I’ve had to learn to navigate the extremely challenging world of being paneled with insurance and submitting insurance claims. I’ve made billing, technology, and administrative mistakes – some have been easy to fix, most have not! I’ve spent nearly 12 years learning how to be a decent therapist – that was the less difficult part. But starting a whole practice on top of that turned out to be tougher – but also more exhilarating! – than I ever anticipated.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
I run a small two-person therapy practice with virtual and in-person appointments available in the central Phoenix area. We provide individual, family, and couples therapy. We see kids and teens. Our practice focuses on trauma, family issues, and addiction. Between the two of us, we have over 30 years of experience doing therapy in outpatient, crisis, and inpatient settings. I am a licensed marriage and family therapist and Erik Gagnon is a licensed independent substance abuse counselor.

Erik and I pride ourselves on being authentic – we are “not your average therapist” therapists. We have piercings and tattoos. We bring lots of humor, warmth, and sensitivity to our clients in sessions. We’ll probably curse a little. Erik will certainly quote an obscure movie at you. I’ll definitely tell you about my decades-long obsession with Metallica. We want you to know that we take our job very, very seriously and will always give you the best clinical version of ourselves in session, but we are humans doing this life thing right alongside you.

Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
I think the most important thing I’ve been willing to do in this process is ASK FOR HELP (and pay for help if you can). I saved money for about 6 months before quitting my benefits job so I could pay financial professionals to help me manage my business – this was money well spent. Also, anything worth doing well just takes time – I worked part time for another private practice for 2 years before starting my own, on top of holding a fulltime job to carry health insurance. I have spent over a decade creating good relationships with other mental health professionals and many of those folks have been important sounding boards, sources of encouragement, and functional supports. I don’t hesitate to text them with dumb questions and I hope they don’t hesitate to text me. If you help me do better, and I help you do better, our entire industry flourishes.

I wish I knew when I was starting out how exciting this would feel. I spent much of the time being terrified instead!

Pricing:

• Intake cash pay session – $150
• Individual cash pay sessions – $125
• Couples/family cash pay sessions – $150

Contact Info:

• Email: kara@newsuncounseling.com
• Website: https://www.newsuncounseling.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/newsuncounseling/