Meet Angela Ficken | Psychotherapist and online educator

Without taking risks in my life, my brand would not be where it is today. Taking risks for me means I am embracing potential failure, but without failing there is no opportunity for growth.

How could I learn without making mistakes? How could I learn about myself and what feels right for me in my business without making flubs and missing the mark?

It’s also about saying “yes” to opportunity—not just in the financial arena but in personal development. Some risks can seem smaller, like starting a newsletter and others can seem larger like starting a business.

I am proud that I can show my daughter that you can pave your own way and create positive change in peoples’ lives. I am also trained and certified in two of the best therapy modalities for treating stress and anxiety—Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT).

I’ve worked at McLean Hospital which is one of the leading psychiatric hospitals in the country and I was also a primary therapist for undergraduate and graduate students at Harvard University. After my time at Harvard, I jumped full time into private practice and it was at this point my business started to develop. I began working with people in high stress work environments and their feedback to me was the skills they learned from me were life changing. Their self-doubt, negative thoughts, and relationships with others improved because they now had strategies to effectively manage their stress. I knew the training I had and the strategies I learned were gold standard therapies, and to witness these skills be helpful and to be apart of that journey with my clients was a wonderful experience and continues to be.

My clients told me that what they learned from me was exactly what they needed, but that finding someone with my expertise took months, and even years. I wondered if they had difficulty finding me, and who else out there in Boston and even the country is looking for someone like myself. That’s when I started writing a monthly newsletter where I share strategies on how to manage different types of stress. I also began writing articles for Huffington Post, Today.com/Parenting, and Marriage.com. I’ve been quoted in in several online magazines such as Allure, Inc.com, and Oprah magazine. That catapulted me into doing podcasts, live television and radio, where I discussed stress management strategies for people in high stress jobs- entrepreneurs, people in the business, law, and medical world.

I now have an online membership program, and several online stress management products. My goal is to make learning stress management fun, easy, and accessible. I honestly could not have predicted that I would be where I am today. When I started my private practice, I thought I’d hang up my shingle and that would be it. In learning about the demand of the skill set I have, and how it has helped my clients, I wanted to find ways to expand and share the knowledge I have. Each small step I took got me to the next level.

Being an entrepreneur and building a business is stressful. That I didn’t know until I was in it. It hasn’t been an easy road. I’ve had my fair share of stutters, flubs, and fails. But each time I try something new, and go outside my comfort zone, I learn about myself and grow. One of the many things I love about growing my brand is that it’s an opportunity to be creative, to help as many people as I can, and practice what I preach. I manage my negative thoughts and at times self-doubt. I practice my skills to manage my own stress and that has all helped me get to to this point, here with you today!

After spending time on the Cape, we’d head back to Boston and stroll through Back Bay, Beacon Hill, and end the day at the North end for amazing Italian food at Trattoria Il Panino and pastries from Modern Pastry. I would also make sure to take her to No. 9 Park in Boston for amazing cocktails (palmyra is my favorite) and a delicious dinner at Moo (the bolognese and tots are out of this world). We’d take walks along the sea port, watch the sail boats along the Charles river, and check out the fun shops in the South End.

Kristin encourages me and many times has pushed me outside of my comfort zone, believing in me even when I felt a wave of self-doubt flood in. She is the behind-the-scenes’ designer, launch builder, and so much more. I consider her my business partner and she is also a great friend.