Navigating Telehealth and Beyond Candice Lawhorn’s Approach to Modern Mental Health Care Ep.72
Episode Overview
About Guest: Candice Lawhorn founder of Mental Health Mingle
Candice Lawhorn is a dedicated mental health professional with a strong background in marriage and family counseling. She holds a degree in marriage and family therapy and has extensive experience working with individuals, couples, and families to address various mental health challenges. Candice’s journey into the field was deeply influenced by her personal experiences with the foster care system, where she and her husband adopted two children. This experience opened her eyes to the systemic issues and the critical need for mental health support for families, inspiring her to pursue a career where she could make a significant impact. Candice’s passion for helping others extends beyond her direct work with clients; she is also a strong advocate for improving resources and support systems within the mental health profession.
In response to the isolation many mental health professionals faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, Candice founded Mental Health Mingle, a platform designed to connect therapists, counselors, and other mental health workers. The platform serves as a comprehensive resource, offering a space for professionals to share ideas, seek advice, and access valuable tools such as templates, continuing education opportunities, and job listings. Candice’s vision for Mental Health Mingle was born out of a need she recognized in her own practice—the absence of an easily accessible, supportive community for mental health professionals. Since its inception, the platform has grown to include thousands of active members, providing a crucial space for collaboration and professional development.
Beyond her work with Mental Health Mingle, Candice continues to practice as a therapist, offering telehealth services through various group practices in Alabama. Her approach to therapy is rooted in evidence-based practices like Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), with a focus on helping clients reframe negative thought patterns and address trauma. Candice’s commitment to her clients is matched by her dedication to the broader mental health community, where she actively works to bridge gaps in resources and support for professionals. Whether through her clinical work or her innovative platform, Candice Lawhorn is a driving force in the mental health field, continually seeking ways to enhance care and support for both clients and professionals alike.
Episode Transcript
Becky Coplen : So thankful to be back on mastering counseling. Today we are so excited to talk to Candice Lawhorn, who has a ton of background and expertise in mental health. Welcome to the show today, Candace.
Candice Lawhorn: Thank you. Thank you for having me. I’m glad to be here.
Becky Coplen : We are going to talk about her work a little bit with a group that she offers some mental health therapy to, but her main work that we’ll focus on is her mental health mingle, I would say almost Business and website, which is a platform for different mental health people to connect and much, much more. So why don’t you start off with telling us what gave you that idea to start that website and what it’s all about?
Candice Lawhorn: So it started during Covid. It kind of was born out of a need for connection and support between mental health professionals. You know, you get used to being in a practice and walking across the hall when you need a consultation. You’re like, hey, what do you think about this? What can you got? Any ideas? You got any referrals? And all of a sudden we come into the office one day and they’re like, hey, we’re going to be going home. So good luck. And, you know, you realize you don’t have everyone right across the hall to bounce ideas off of. So I started looking around and when I couldn’t find anything, I thought, hey, we’ll just build it myself.
Becky Coplen : There you go. Let’s talk about the name a little bit. I love it mingles. Always such a fun word. Did it? Did you know you wanted to name it that all along? Or how did you come to that name?
Candice Lawhorn: I did not, and in fact, it started out as something else. And then we realized through further investigation that it was a little too close to something similar. And I didn’t want it to be confusing for people. So I don’t know, I just kind of made like a list of a gazillion and then just kind of whittled it down from there. I knew I wanted it to scream mental health, because that’s the professionals that, you know, were geared towards, but also let them know that it’s kind of like this, just mingling, like we’re just, you know, this is professional but informal. Like we just want you to come in here and feel, okay, this is not a Facebook group. This is not drama field. Like this is a professional atmosphere.
Becky Coplen : So yeah, and I totally got that when I was looking at it myself. It seems like a safe space to ask real questions. And I know there’s a free version, but then all the way to it looks like you’re offering continuing credits and education, so maybe why don’t you share with us kind of all the different commitment levels that people can make with mental health mingle.
Candice Lawhorn: Yeah. So, you know, we want to offer it to as many people as possible. And I’m big on everyone having access to something, you know. So I didn’t want to charge for the entire site. I mean, I don’t that’s ridiculous. You know, the whole point is community and sharing with other professionals. So we have the free version, you have the blog, some of the resources and then forum where we do have questions and I will post links to continuing education courses. There links to different websites that people can draw from, links to any studies that have been done or, you know, things like that. I’ve started posting jobs, so that’s something we’re kind of getting more into so far. Being in Alabama, most of the jobs are here., but we are branching into other states to kind of because, you know, it’s going to be for people all over being online. So we want to offer those job options. So the exclusive access for the All access membership, it’s a one time payment. And that is just to cover the cost of the time that goes into building the continuing education courses. And, you know, making all of these documents because they’re they’re actual like templates for like business stuff, like how to make a business plan, how to set up your paperwork when you go into private practice, and then the the actual case management side of progress, note templates and and things you can use with clients. And you know, as much as I would love to give that free to everyone, you got to take hours off work to make it and you got to compensate for those hours. And I mean, the website is not free to run. So we’re not, you know, we’re not looking at making a huge profit. It’s just giving those things out as economically as possible while still not going into the red trying to do that.
Becky Coplen : No, I mean, that’s I think that’s so fair. I mean, you’re offering a place for people to kind of get to know it or just communicate. But I mean, you know, just like anyone buying a book or anything like that and, you know, myself designing templates and all that has never been a strong suit. So if I find someone who can do it, of course you want to pay them. So I think that that is great that you’re offering that to people. Let’s talk, because we do talk a lot about the business side on this podcast, the business side of counseling. So let’s talk even more specifically about some of the templates and ways that you would use it. Would there be like a small course on setting up your practice and then these These are some ways that you can do consultations. Give us some more specifics about the tools that you provide.
Candice Lawhorn: Yes. So another thing with the all access to the different groups that we have. So we have co-working groups where I think a lot of people have heard of these, where you will log in and your co-working with people, but you’re not kind of like body doubling. So you’re working with people, but you’re doing your own thing. It’s just having that person there to hold you accountable so that you all get stuff done. And then specialized groups where people can join if their marriage and family counselors or they specialize in something specific like autism or,, trauma or things like that. And so we’re trying to work on adding more and more,, you know, like you said, just videos that kind of are like, hey, you’re working in this field. Here’s some things that we can provide to you, and this is how you can implement them. Okay.
Becky Coplen : I’m guessing, did you start out a little smaller? You started during the pandemic like with smaller groups. And now I’m thinking it’s grown to many types of therapists and all different niches.
Candice Lawhorn: Yes, we’re still growing, though. We’re still growing, I will tell you. And this is a big reason I wanted to help. Also add in the business function of this because you realize you get out of school and you’re like, huh? They taught us therapy, but they taught us nothing about running a business. So I don’t know marketing skills. So me trying to market this website has been a fun learning experience. So.
Becky Coplen : So you guys now you mentioned you pay for the website. Eventually you brought in someone to handle that part of it.
Candice Lawhorn: That’s still me.
Becky Coplen : I’m on it. Okay, I.
Candice Lawhorn: I do,, I, you know, like I’ve hired people to do marketing plans for me. Business plans, all of that stuff,, to help me set up the website. But as far as running it now, as of now, I’m able to keep up with it. We’ll see how much longer that goes.
Becky Coplen : Yeah. That’s the most common thing we hear on here is we are all trained to be a therapist or counselor, and very few were trained or, you know, we’ve heard from a lot of people who just want to help the therapist. So they only do the business part. And then, yeah, but you guys are definitely doing a little of both for sure.
Candice Lawhorn: So we are and I have, we also sell templates on Etsy, you know, just so the therapist templates for all kinds of things, like coping skills or whatever. And, you know, that was another thing about having the all access is that we could incorporate some of those into that where they get that for that one price fee, instead of having to go out there and pay for every single little template, like, you know, if you can get like a thousand prompts for, you know, questions and therapy for trauma focused therapy, who’s trying to pay for 100 other items you don’t need? You just need the questions, you know? So nobody wants to have to go out there and pay for that, right?
Becky Coplen : Things are clarifying that. Just kind of talk about year by year. You started, I assume, in 2020 or 2021.
Candice Lawhorn: So we started with the idea in the later part of 2020, and then it was kind of figuring out how we’re going to implement it. What system are we going to use? And so we just started getting the website up. Later part of like 2022. So we’re still pretty new.
Becky Coplen : Oh yeah. Okay. And then, and what kind of numbers are we talking about? Like, how many people would you say are functioning, or do they kind of come and go or do they stay with you? The clients come and go.
Candice Lawhorn: Some,, you know, I think it’s like any other community, you have people that will create an account, but you never see them post, but you can constantly see them on. So you know that they’re reading other people’s stuff, but, you know, not necessarily engaging every day. Again, we don’t have huge numbers at the moment because they’re still growing, which is another reason I wanted to get out there and do podcasts. And I just so firmly believe this is something good to help mental health professionals we really can’t find anywhere else. And so, you know, you just want to get it out to as many people as you can. I think currently we probably have about a thousand that are like constant, you know. Yeah. Becoming engaged.
Becky Coplen : Wow. And so then what does that look like on the people running it. Is it only you? How many support people are helping you or are you doing all of it.
Candice Lawhorn: So right now,, it’s me. And like bot moderators that help like things and kind of send it through. But so far it’s just me. I get,, I’m a member of a list, several listservs, and so they’ll push out like weekly newsletters to me, and then I just go through every one of them and individually post those C links or those opportunities or those things in whatever, you know, section of the the forum that it would go in so people can have that information. Okay.
Becky Coplen : Yeah. That sounds definitely like a lot for sure. And we know you have other things that are going on as well, which we will definitely talk about it in a minute. But let’s talk about your blog is linked on the Mental Health Mingle site as well. And why don’t you just tell us about your most recent blog ideas? Do you think about them a long time? Does it just kind of come to you, or how do you get those ideas and share them?
Candice Lawhorn: So I have tons, like I have a whole spreadsheet list of ideas. My mind goes, I have ADHD, so my mind’s like a thousand miles an hour every day. So any time I get a new idea, I just throw it on the list and every time it’s time to write one, I just kind of go through the list and see like what’s applicable to what’s going on right now.. Okay. You know, like with summer,, it would be different things like how can you handle, practice your practice slowing down during the summer because we know people take vacations and then that kind of leaves you with not knowing exactly when you’re going to be able to fill these slots. But, you know, self-care., and then like in the winter, it’s more geared towards seasonal depression and things like that.
Becky Coplen : So yeah, I did the summer one was the one that I scrolled through and definitely applicable because it is just a different time in summer. Lots of things. People want to be less committed, even to probably their own therapy and mental health, because in some ways they’re getting it in a different way, more sunshine and hopefully a little more fun. So yeah, so not only are you running all of this, but you’re also mental health professional in family, marriage and family counseling. So can you talk to us about that and how much you’re still involved with it and maybe even go back to your start in this field?
Candice Lawhorn: Okay. Well, I will say legally, I do not pay for the license for a lute, but, uh, marriage and family counseling. So I’m not an lmft just because I refuse to pay for two licenses. Okay, but my degree is in marriage and family counseling., okay, so I went to school originally,, got a degree in psychology, realized that they tell you nothing about the fact that you can’t really get a great job with a bachelor’s in psychology. So what’s next? I spent several years having no idea what I wanted to do, and then my husband and I adopted two children through foster care and going through that process. And I don’t know if you’re familiar with foster care, but you get a file and you look through and you’ll get file after file after file and they’ll, you know, you look through and see, is this something that will fit in with what goes on in our house so we can handle this, whatever it is. And you see so many of these files and you just keep seeing how, you know, it’s parents that are struggling like they had abused. And it’s just this generational abuse that led to them losing their kids or, you know, are on drugs. But you see where they’re diagnosed with bipolar or, or things that, you know, they’re probably self-medicating for. And I was I remember telling my husband, like, I really wish that not just fostering children, but like helping these families stay together. Like, wouldn’t it be better if we could get these people more resources? So I decided to go back to school and do marriage and family and help, you know, with things like that. I think if we could catch more stuff on the front end, we wouldn’t, you know, have all of that on the back end.
Becky Coplen : No, I could not agree more. I myself fostered two children and one ended up being adopted. So yeah. And I think that in states I will say in Michigan they don’t really hand you files, but they more just call and say ah, is your home open? But yeah, it’s it’s immense. And we know other people who help in the foster care world. And yeah, it’s so tough. And I work at an elementary school as a school counselor. And yeah, you want to help the families because they really are wanting to give their best. But that’s not doesn’t always meet the law requirements. Hence kids going into foster care. And yeah, it’s much needed. And as we sometimes say, it’s like babies raising babies. And at some point we want to stop that cycle. So.
Candice Lawhorn: But, you know, we also say that there’s a difference between dysfunctional and abusive. And I think, you know, the more people we can really reach at that dysfunctional stage so it doesn’t reach that next stage, the better.
Becky Coplen : Right, right. There’s a lot of gray on what is a good home life or not. Right. Like we have the way we want to live And you know, there’s other people living in ways that we might not prefer, but it might be still actually legal, even if our not our preference. So. Yeah., yeah. Well, that’s good to know that you are working in that and trying to help. And so are you still seeing clients in part of the group practice you’re in?
Candice Lawhorn: I do I let my own private practice go, and because it’s too hard to keep up with every aspect of that business and this. So I do contract work with two different group practices to contract work at Pace Counseling in Elena, Alabama, and then Soar Counseling in Cullman, Alabama. Because I’m strictly telehealth, so it doesn’t matter where they’re at in the state, I can see anyone.
Becky Coplen : Okay. Well, so you are very busy and do you kind of slot you contract out? Do you give like a one day a week to that or every week looks different because of all the work you’re doing with mental health mingle. How do you structure your schedule? And of course make time for your own personal life and goals?
Candice Lawhorn: Well, there are certain times during the week that I’ll look at my calendar and I’m like, okay, this has to be like, this is my due date. So Tuesdays out like can’t see clients in the afternoon and I’ll notate that. And I have all my calendars synced to where, you know, if someone puts something on the calendar, it pesic it pops up as it being marked off as source. So I don’t double book. And then at the beginning of the week, I’ll just go through and the times that I don’t already have clients on the books, I will just go in there and start plugging in slots. That’s like private time, private time, private time. And that’s usually when I focus on mental health. Mingle. Okay.
Becky Coplen : All right. Always good to know how people are balancing schedules and calendars and especially I think, in telehealth too. Like I mean it’s like easier, but then you’re just you have to check a lot, right? If people have signed up and what has filled up, what has canceled and it’s evolving all the time for sure. So, in your counseling, it showed that you use some practices like Rebt. And can you talk about some of the specific approaches that you use.
Candice Lawhorn: So I do use Revit a lot because I do believe that, you know, our thoughts drive our emotions that then drive our behavior. And so if we’re having constant negative thinking then obviously that’s going to come out in our behavior. I mean, if we’re thinking that way, we’re going to lash out in those ways. And people have different reasons for why they get into those negative thinking patterns. So I think it’s, you know, one of the best ways to help give them tools to kind of identify those irrational beliefs so that we can start challenging them and kind of, you know, I describe it to people as kind of, let’s rewire your brain to default to positive instead of negative, like, you know, let’s get you to a better place. I don’t, uh, one thing I think is so helpful that I don’t personally do is eMDR, uh, for trauma. But I do, uh, refer those out to others in, uh, the practice of the do eMDR. I found that to be very successful,, with people with trauma, especially, uh, adults with its, you know, just that long, like, lifetime trauma. They’ve dealt with that. Nothing else has helped. Yeah.
Becky Coplen : Um, and just for our newer listeners, will you,, give all the words of Rebt and eMDR just so people kind of have a general idea if they’re not as familiar with those approaches?
Candice Lawhorn: Yeah. Because I think a lot of people may not be right to be. Why would you be? Right. So rebt is rational, emotive behavior therapy. So basically exactly like it sounds, just, you know, and eMDR is eye movement desensitization and reprocessing. And it is so beyond me. Like I looked at training in that and it was like I got enough going on. I don’t need that. But I am so in awe of people that do eMDR. It seems very complicated.
Becky Coplen : Yeah, we’ve talked about it with multiple people on here and yeah, it was it’s pretty fascinating to me, especially like you said, in those really deep traumas,, that you know, so much with the brain and the rewiring and the body and all of that, it is it’s amazing to study. But yeah, we can’t all be experts in everything for sure. So I get that. But it’s good that you have people that you can refer out to as well. So let’s talk a little more about, you know, the future of mental health. Mingle., do you guys have big ideas? I know you’ve said a few times that you’re continuing to grow. How do you see evolving over the next few years, or maybe even beyond that? 5 to 10 years?
Candice Lawhorn: Oh my gosh, there are so many things we want to do. I really want to get more of the job placement stuff there because, I mean, you know, you have indeed, and Monster.com and all those are great, but they’re not geared to any one specific profession. And I think that, you know, if there were a place like a centralized place that people could post just jobs for mental health professionals, it would be the perfect place for people to be able to, you know, hook up with, you know, people that are therapists able to hook up with those people that need them because there’s such a mental health shortage in so many places, and apparently there’s a disconnect somewhere. You know, people aren’t seeing the jobs or the right people aren’t seeing the jobs or I mean, I don’t know what the issue is, but we’re trying to fix it. So, yeah.
Becky Coplen : I mean, I do feel like the licensing is a huge factor. And then especially with telehealth and then the different states having these requirements or, you know, are you licensed in a specific niche? Are you general marriage and family or, you know, all of that is I think it varies across state lines. And then and it’s so many hours. Right. Like to be a nationally certified, like, you know, you need the people to be supervisors and the people to give the time. I, I think it is, you know, and rightly so, you don’t want to be handing out licenses like candy. But yeah, I could see that being a little bit of a barrier and. Yeah. And then I just think so many more people wanting mental health where before people were a little more private. And now it’s just so common for people to be having coaches and counselors.
Candice Lawhorn: So I’m really hoping that the compact can help some of that. And that’s kind of why we haven’t done too much with that yet. Because, you know, we’re hoping the counseling compact will make it easier for people to practice across state lines. But,, you know, regardless of how people feel about better health and talkspace and all that, they make me a little nervous because I do wonder about some of the ethics and and licensing stuff., that’s not to say they’re not doing it right. It just makes me nervous. And I want to ensure that if we start putting those jobs out there, that we know what we’re talking about, and we’re not putting people in positions where they’re doing something to lose their license over and not know.
Becky Coplen : Right. So and what is the counseling compact? We have not talked about that and I have not explored it. So tell us about that.
Candice Lawhorn: So they started I mean I think this has been in the works for probably years, but they have been working on getting a compact to where each state that joins the compact will then have, like reciprocity with other states so that you can’t I don’t think anybody knows exactly how it’s going to end up working. I don’t know if they’re going to just streamline the reciprocal paperwork because, you know, some states already have reciprocal stuff. You just fill out their paperwork. It’s great. But not all states have it. So I don’t know if they’re going to try to just streamline the paperwork or if they’re just going to say, hey, practice anywhere. Now I write, I don’t know, we’re kind of waiting on some of that to come out but.. Yeah.
Becky Coplen : Yeah. It’s always the worst to be like you said when people want jobs and then there’s holes in the industry and they somehow are not connecting. It’s like Alice is not working. Right?, it’s totally a bummer. So let’s talk about, though, for people who are going into this field, any advice or thoughts you have for people maybe in the middle of their program of study or about to graduate and probably will join a group or,, you know, clinical mental health in their local areas. But what would be some things that you would want them to know?
Candice Lawhorn: Personally, I think that I would be very, very particular when I went to decide what tract I want to take. I don’t know if all master’s programs are set up that way, but ours was it was marriage and family clinical mental health or school counseling and I think, you know, since graduating years ago, I’ve heard constantly over the years people that are like, oh, I really trapped myself with this losses and this isn’t what I need. Like, I don’t really I mean, and I don’t know if you have this issue, but I know a lot of school counselors that get so frustrated because they thought they would be practicing counseling, and now they’re just doing testing, and they don’t feel like they actually get to do what they went to school for. Yeah.
Becky Coplen : Yeah., be a lot of secondary counselors,, feel that way. Elementary. We’re a little more. We are more with the kids and helping them with their problems. I definitely not therapists because we they really need us. We don’t have the time with 5 to 600 kids in a building to be their therapist, right? But yeah, we do get to do a lot more of the relational conflict resolution, that type of thing. But it’s very true in the middle and high schools, a lot of scheduling. I’ve heard some of them share, like, oh, wow, I get to do one group over the whole year, focus on one, some type of topic, anger or whatever. And yeah, it’s very dicey on the roles of what a school counselor should be for sure. So and then a lot are, you know, their school counselor by day and in the evening or weekends, they’re doing some of their own practice because they get to use more of those tools.
Candice Lawhorn: So and also like just differentiating between, you know, do you want to be a psychologist, a social worker, a therapist? I mean, it’s you know, I don’t think that they explain that a lot of times it’s kind of just wrapped into this one little package with a bow on it, and you get to school and you’re like, yeah, that one sounds great. And then you realize that like, huh, I don’t really like sitting in here all these hours just doing therapy. I would like to be able to provide resources, but I’m not a social worker. That’s not my job.. Yeah. So maybe that should have been your job. You know I think those things are good to, to figure out ahead of time.
Becky Coplen : Yeah. Almost like an exploratory class on all the different types of parts of the field because they are very different. You know everyone thinks I’m a social worker and I’m like actually no I’m not. But it’s the general public that definitely doesn’t understand all the separation of roles.
Candice Lawhorn: So they do not and they don’t understand those letters. And you know, that’s another thing with, you know, learning what you can and can’t. Because I joined the marriage and family track with the intent of getting my lmft. But then, you know, we had to take like two more semesters for that. And my question was, what can I do with that that I can’t do with an LPC specializing in marriage and family counseling? Nothing. Well, then why am I going to go two more semesters and pay for a whole nother lot since. Yeah, that I don’t need. Nobody knows what those letters mean. They don’t care.
Becky Coplen : Right.
Candice Lawhorn: So but you know, people don’t know that, right?
Becky Coplen : Yeah. It’s all about the relationship of the client and the patient or sorry, they’re the same client and therapist or counselor and people are not as worried about the letters come in when it’s time to pay, right? That’s what that’s about. So. Well, thank you for so much that you’ve shared with us today. And I hope people check out Mental Health Mingle. Is there anything else that you wanted to add that we didn’t get to talk about, or you wanted us to know about that platform.
Candice Lawhorn: Just, you know, check us out like it’s free to check it out. And anyone has any suggestions. We are constantly working on adding different things, so any suggestions are always welcome. I mean, this is for the people like the professionals that who were trying to help. So you got suggestions? Throw them at us, right?
Becky Coplen : Right. I love the I know, lack of a better term. Just hard work. I feel like you really want to help people succeed and you’ve given them multiple ways to do that. And yeah, mental health mythical.com it’ll be listed as the show goes out, but check it out for sure. So thank you so much for giving us your time today, Candace.
Candice Lawhorn: Awesome. Thank you for having me.
Becky Coplen : Appreciate it. And to our listeners, thank you for tuning in as well. We’d love to hear from you. Leave us comments or questions and we look forward to more episodes on mastering counseling. I’m signing off for today. Have a wonderful day!