Donna Oriowo, PhD, MSW, MEd. - AnnodRight
1. What's your practice focus and who are your typical patients?
AnnodRight is a practice in the Washington D.C. metro area with a focus on how colorism and texturism impact mental health and sexuality. We don't shy away from scary or "taboo" topics because we know our clients are trying to live their best lives. We see all kinds of folk but we focus on Black womxn and couples.
2. Tell us about yourself.
Picture it, I am fresh out of school wanting to find a job as a sex therapist. Not too many places were checking for someone like me and places that were required me to compromise pieces of myself to do the job. To perform "professionalism" with my clothes or to change up what I would say. They wanted me to only use certain modalities and not "rock the boat."
Well, baby, I was made to rock boats! I started AnnodRight in 2016 because Black womxn who wanted to talk about sexuality and needed to talk about how racism, colorism, and texturism was having an impact were not being focused on. Too much of the work and the learning was white washed and didn't speak to our experiences.
So AnnodRight was founded to help validate those experiences, to let folk know we aren't trying to fix you--because you aren't broken, and we want Black women to have the space to be free, emotionally in tune, and hella pleasure centered while being themselves in all their melanated glory!
3. Tell us the story of a patient who you are most proud of helping.
I won't give you a single patient story-- because HIPAA. But I will tell you that I have had a client who talked about she was "fat, Black and nappy, who tf gonna want me." This was their narrative. This was what the world had given them. They thought themselves broken and in need of fixing so they could be in a successful relationship. It was for these clients I wrote the book Cocoa Butter & Hair Grease: A Self Love Journey Through Hair and Skin.
My proudest say was when I discharged them from therapy. Seeing how they had grown and that the successful relationship they wanted, they got it-- with themselves. They learned the difference between what was theirs and what was the world around them. It gave them the fortitude to make choices for themselves and mourn what had been hurt.
4. What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a practitioner in private practice?
One of the hardest things that comes with being a practitioner in private practice is the desire to help everyone and be everywhere all at once. At the height of the pandemic there was a huge influx of folk wanting therapy but I was already full. Sure, I recommended people to other therapists and I even went from a solo practice to a group practice, but I also took on way more clients, just to make sure people could be seen.
Our big hearts and our ability to see the need can sometimes stop us from properly exercising our boundaries. Every session can't be free and we should not be beyond our capacity. However, when you out the right systems in place, we make it all the more easier for folk to find us, book with us, and keep to our boundaries so we don't burn out.
5. What are the top 3 tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a private practice today?\
My top 3 tips for someone wanting to start, run and grow a private practice are:
1. Sit down and consider exactly what kind of life you are wanting to live, what kind of schedule you are wanting to have, and what kind of money you are needing/wanting to earn. Run your numbers. It can help you to determine how many people you will see in a week, how much you will need to charge, while keeping to a life you desire.
2. Find your community. Private practice building can be lonely work if you are not tapped into a community. There are plenty on facebook and some are free and paid for alike. You don't have to do everything alone. And any one who says you do is lying. The community you build can help you to not only grow your practice, but also to help support you mentally and emotionally
3. Trust yourself. Trust yourself to know what you are doing, to know what you want, and to pursue it like losing is not an option. You got this!