Meet Kendra Forbes | Licensed Professional Counselor/Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kendra Forbes and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kendra, we’d love to start by asking you about lessons learned. Is there a lesson you can share with us?
We hear and often use the phrase, “life happens”, yet I am not sure we often sit with that thought. Many people reference that phrase when experiencing hardship or stress. What about those times when life is being kind to us? I know you’re wondering, is that the most important lesson your business/career has taught you? LOL! Not quite, but let me get to the point. The most important lesson my business/career has taught me is to be patient. As a Licensed Professional Counselor, it is challenging to sit with clients in their pain. Walking with clients in their journey is a Process. Some of them arrive in session with expectations that I will fix all their problems, while others arrive without any expectations. In the counseling room, we process their struggles, stress, anxiety and fears. We also discuss and celebrate goals and successes. The exploratory nature of the counseling experience requires patience and empathy. As an entrepreneur, it is difficult at times to see progress and profit and remain hopeful. Again, patience is essential (of course, along with consistent and solid work). So I said all that to say, being in this field of work, I have learned and continue to learn to be patient.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
The Process Counseling Center, PLLC is a mental health counseling practice. I believe that growth, healing, victory and grief are a part of life’s process. Life throws us curveballs, which can lead to us experiencing stress personally, relationally, physically, mentally, spiritually, and financially. Although we know life won’t always be sunshine and beaches, we also know we don’t like to experience pain, discomfort, suffering or inconvenience. With that knowledge, we must realize and learn to accept that it takes time to grow (I mean look at the cycle of life; we aren’t born adults), time to mature, time to heal, and time to become fully who we were created and designed to be. As a Licensed Professional Counselor, I am committed to serving adults who are challenged with various struggles in life. I provide client-centered, cognitive behavioral and faith-based therapies in a safe, compassionate, non-judgmental environment. I am excited that I have the privilege to sit with others and provide tools for them to experience transformation in their process. I do not take it lightly or for granted, that each client chose me to walk with them. TPCC, as I affectionately refer to The Process Counseling Center, is a safe space for individuals to come, sit and process. As humans, we are at times guilty of being in our heads about various things. The scripture, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he…” (Proverbs 23:7a NKJV), is the therapeutic foundation of TPCC. We examine thought processes and how they impact behavior. It’s interesting and rewarding to witness clients realize how the negative scenarios they create “being in their heads” adversely impact them and their interpersonal relationships. There is transparency in the counseling room. There is relatability in the counseling room. There is trust, integrity, authenticity and accountability that take place in the TPCC counseling room, and that is exciting!
Thirty years ago, while in college, I joked that I was going to be a counselor when I grew up and I was going to help people “find” themselves. Fast forward to ten years ago, during lunch with a former intern supervisor, I was asked “what are your plans? what do you want to do with your counseling degree?” (which is my second degree). My response was to own my full-time practice. That’s when my entrepreneurial process began. I was working in healthcare and was basically content, especially financially. The former intern supervisor soon became my mentor and she gave me tasks to complete based on the goals I shared. It was not an easy journey because I struggled with letting go of the steady pay check in healthcare, being confident that I could have a successful practice, believing I was a good counselor, and that people would support my business. I worked full-time in healthcare while seeing clients part time. After a while, it seemed easy to just have part time clients, but I was reminded by my mentor that I said I wanted to have my own practice. She and I met to discuss timelines and finances so that I would make a wise decision in transitioning to full-time entrepreneurship. I gave myself a reasonable/practical timeline to let go of my full-time job with the flexibility of adjusting the date. Accountability was significant in that process. Encouragement was huge in that process. Commitment and discipline were vital in that process. Having a village, personally and professionally, who prayed for and pushed me, helped me to overcome those challenges.
I learned that it is okay to be scared, to doubt yourself, to ask for help and to be patient in the process.
I thought about and actually said that one day I was going to be a therapist when I grew up. Well while growing up, God saw fit that I actually became a therapist. I truly believe it was His idea all along and He’s directed me to open this practice where I can serve others and help them experience transformation in the Process.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
The Dallas-Fort Worth area offers a variety of places and things to do. I enjoy trying new cuisines and relaxing! A few places and services I would take a friend or two or five, would be Trinity Groves for dining, Bishop Arts District for dining, shopping and a foot reflexology massage, Clearfork Shopping Center for shopping, dining, movie and bowling , and for the live music, we’re going to Scat Jazz Lounge in Fort Worth! Between the Dallas and Fort Worth cities, in Arlington, there is a nice coffee shop Cup O’ Vibes where we can visit, sit and enjoy locally sourced coffee and baked goods. While in Arlington, we can also visit E320 Nutrition and Energy to get a healthy smoothie or energy tea.
There are several parks and walking trails to enjoy and burn some of those calories from all the delicious meals we consumed! It’s great to have options!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I am grateful and thankful to so many people who have, and continue to support, mentor and encourage me! I am thankful to God, who called me to this work; my family, to include parents, siblings and cousins; my friends who encouraged me (and used me to help them process their issues, lol); my pastor who met with me and prayed for me in starting the counselor journey; and my mentor, Cynthia Thompson, who walked me through becoming an entrepreneur.

Website: www.theprocesscounselingcenter.com

Image Credits
Kenisha Elaine