SPEAKER_01 0:04

Hi, this is Piper Harris with Susan Balange and welcome to our Dynamic Mind podcast. You may be listening to this on the Untangled Mind Podcast or the Dynamic Growth Counseling and Consulting Podcast. Regardless of how you found us, we are so excited to bring you a collaborative conversation of the day. So today, on our podcast, we introduce the dynamic mind approach and introduce ourselves. Tune in to hear how our holistic approach can meet your mental health needs. We offer listeners an opportunity to learn a little bit about Ladlurian psychology and how it informs our work with you. Okay, perfect. All right. There we go. There we go. All right, welcome everybody. Hi, Piper Harris and Dr. Susan Balangi. We are really excited. We wanted to uh put together a video for everybody. I feel like I'm looking at the wrong camera since we're up here. We are here in our office at Untangled Mind in Dynamic Growth Counseling and Consulting Services. And we wanted to take some time to kind of introduce our work together, what we're um providing to individuals that are seeking counseling, consultation, and really our holistic approach. So we're going to do a little kind of part series, we don't know how many parts, but a part series of everything that we're trying to teach you, bring to you, and answer any questions that you might have about our process. So we hope that you guys will engage with us. Please make sure to send us questions, comments. We want this podcast, video cast, whatever we do, to just really invite us coming together as a community and answering questions about mental health and answering questions about how we can really make a difference and an impact in our communities. So please engage with us. Please be sure to like us on your different listening and watching platforms. We would greatly appreciate it. You can also will make sure to put this in the show notes. You can also visit us at dynamicgrowthcc.com or untangledmind.net to learn all about us. And if you'd like to meet us for um counseling or consulting. So that's that's that. That's our intro. So um I want you guys to learn a little bit more about Susan. If you're on my platform, you hear me talk a lot. So I'm gonna let her talk. Um, so why don't you tell them a little bit about um your process, how you came to where you are today, and maybe how we met.

SPEAKER_00 2:27

All right. So um, so I'm uh Dr. Susan Balangi. I've lived here in Georgia uh a couple times over the over the many years. I graduated in 2003 from Georgia State University, which is in downtown Atlanta. And uh my doctoral work uh focus was in college students and college counseling, and that's kind of where I started. Um, and I left my my doctoral program with a specialty in eating disorders, and so that was what my dissertation was on, and and kind of my clinical focus. Um, life took me to Pennsylvania. I was teaching for a number of years at an institution up there, training other master's level counselors. My husband's job changed. We moved back to Georgia, and then I started working at Canton Counseling, and I was at Canton Counseling for 10 years, and so this idea of doing consultation work um really just has grown um over my my experience and my and my my years. So um the instrument that I'm founding this whole practice on uh is called the basis A inventory, and it's something I've been doing for 25 years now, and I use it with all of my clients, with all of my supervisees. I love it. Um and so one of the things that we might do as part of the series is um kind of showcase how I use it, and Piper is willing to be a guinea pig. That's right. I'm the guinea pig. So um so we're gonna have fun with that. So that way people know this is this is what you can expect. If you sign up to do consultation work with me, you'll get a flavor for what that would be like. So um, so really for me, this is a kind of a another part of my career that I'm so excited to launch. Um, so I'm stepping away from practice and uh continuing to do supervision and now this consultation piece. So I'm really excited about it.

SPEAKER_01 4:06

So the basis A, tell them a little bit about that.

SPEAKER_00 4:09

Sure. So the basis A inventory is based on uh the Elyrian concept, Elyrian psychology uh concept of lifestyle. And so Alfred Adler was a contemporary of Freud. Uh so he was developing his theory back, you know, late 1800s, early 1900s, um, and separated from Sigmund Freud because he believed there was much more to human behavior than just libido and you know our kind of you know inner impulses that tend to drive us. Um Adler said it was all about belonging. And when we feel belonging, we tend to want to be of help to other people and we want to build and shape our communities. Uh when we don't feel belonging, that's when we struggle. And so that's when we see, you know, from a counseling side, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, all the things that people might struggle with. Um and so for me, um, really focusing on belonging and lifestyle and the basis A measures um there's 10 scales to it, 65 items, um, but it really captures the main things that people use. So the other neat thing about Edlerian psychology is it's psychology of use, not possession. So it's not so much you have these personality traits, but how do you use them? How do they show up in your life? Um, and so the basis A kind of taps into a variety of scales and traits, and and um, and then we will explore them together and talk about, you know, how does this show up in work? How does this show up in relationships? How does this show up in um, you know, the things that that we do friendship-wise, even. So it's a very comprehensive, holistic way of understanding yourself. Um, and so and it's and it's pretty simple. So it's complex, but it's simple.

SPEAKER_01 5:50

Yeah, that's for sure. So when you're using, say, your basis A when it comes to the consultation sides, you'll be going into businesses. And so how does that work with the basis A?

SPEAKER_00 6:01

Yes. So my my hope is um, you know, to to still offer it uh for counselors who want their clients um who value the basis A and what it offers, and they want their clients to take it. So clients can come and work with me, and we can do that, you know, good 90-minute session, and then I can hand over, you know, the information and the data about what it's showing. And then um the other piece that I'm hoping to launch um is going to be training other people how to use it with their clients. Um, so that's kind of up and coming, probably in early 2024 is when I want to launch kind of that first set of classes that teaches people about the basis A, how do you administer it, how do you score it, how do you interpret it, and kind of go through, you know, a process that people can then follow and take and use it in their own practice. Um, the business consultation side um goes back to my mentor Roy Kern when he would use the basis A and go into businesses. And basically, you know, these days the research is showing businesses want more engagement, they want their clients or their clients, their employees to feel engaged in the workplace. And that's so that's the buzzword for belonging is engagement. And so um on my website here in the next month or so, I'm gonna put a bunch of these studies that I've found that show more engagement equals more productivity. And so if we can use the basis A, go into the businesses and figure out what are people's personality traits, what are the lifestyle factors that they're using, and how is it working for them, how is it getting in their way, it can really enhance that sense of productivity and belonging in the workplace.

SPEAKER_01 7:36

I think that's too what I've learned from Susan. What I really like about the basis A is so often from the counseling side, we're we're diagnosing, right? We're saying what's broken. We come from kind of that medical perspective, and it does leave a kind of an ick. We don't want to say to people, well, you're broke, you know. But what's great about the basis A is it says this is what your lifestyle, your personality is how it's working for you. This is how it might be working against you. It's not saying let's get rid of it, it's saying how can we kind of shift how we approach? Yeah, so it's not saying something's wrong with you, it's saying, hey, how do we tweak it a little bit to enhance your life?

SPEAKER_00 8:16

Yeah. And that's the the process that came to me and really using this. So I I again had mentors showing me how to use it, but I think the the process that I now have um crafted uh focuses on strengths. So each trait has strengths and drawback sides to it, no matter if you're high on a certain scale or low on a certain scale. So it's not, it doesn't pathologize people, it's not diagnostic in nature. Um, it really just is measuring traits. And then we'll talk about how are you using them. So it's really, you know, that's the key key piece. Here's here's your strength, here's the drawback side, and kind of which side do you feel like you fall on most of the time in certain situations, and then how do we tweak it to get you back to the strength side? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:58

And it's really neat because I've known Susan for so long now. I mean, I think we're going into 10, 10 years that I've known her, and I've done it twice with her. I've done basis A twice with her. But what's really neat, having gone through my supervision, still, I'm in my residency now, finally graduated. Um, but we use that, and so oftentimes I'll come to her about something that maybe um I struggled with with a client. Maybe it pinged something in me, and she immediately brings me back to my basis A. Piper, you're feeling this because of um what there's getting long. There's I mean wanting recognition. Wanting recognition is a big one for me, y'all. I'm sorry it is. Um, but it's good because she brings it, she brings it back around. Like Piper, this is what's actually pinging you. It has nothing to do with the client, right? Nothing. Right. This has everything to do with this personality trait. So how can we kind of shift what I'm thinking? And I think that's too what I love about it is with my CBT, is it's all about shifting how we are looking at things. It's not saying we're broken, it's just saying, how do we shift this? How do we gain a different perspective that allows us growth and opportunity rather than keeps us stagnated or paralyzed?

SPEAKER_00 10:10

Yeah. And one of the things that um kind of in however many of these we end up doing, that you'll probably hear me say a lot is, you know, Alfred Adler writing and developing his theory at the time time frame and era in which he did really was the precursor, the front runner to many of the psychological theories and approaches that exist today. So so um the beautiful thing about our connection now and the work that we're doing together, um really I think pulls together some of the best parts of Illyrian psychology and then kind of the way CBT took it and packaged it and kind of made it um, you know, perhaps a little more structured. Um, so for instance, Adler was the first person to really talk about wholism, um this idea of treating people as whole human beings, as whole individuals. Um, and so we can't divide, again, this is kind of in contrast to Freud, who wanted to break us down into it ego and superego. Adler said, no, we got to look at everybody. We got to look at the social embeddedness, the social context in which people live and try to understand. And so he took this much more holistic understanding. So that's what lifestyle is really kind of coming out of is this idea of let's look at all of you rather than just certain parts of you. Um, and then the CBT side, Adler was again kind of the grandfather of CBT approaches because we he really looked at what are the things you're telling yourself? Um, and they come out of your lifestyle, they come out of these traits. Um, and how much are you helping yourself or hurting yourself with the way you're talking in your mind?

SPEAKER_01 11:45

So it's funny, all this time that I've spent with Susan, I can't tell me how how many times we've been in supervision. And I'll say, I just don't understand why in CBT, if you're a strict CBT, you can't do what I'm doing. She's like, because you're not CBT, you're Adlerian. And so what's been neat is learning that really, I mean, there, yes, Freud's a grandfather of psychology. We that's what he's told, but he's actually been discredited hugely. But then when you actually go into the history of psychology, Adler broke off. And then guess who was in studying Adler? We've got Maslow, we've got all these huge guys, young Erickson, Merl Rogers, Rogers, Aaron Beck, who founded CBT. Aaron Beck. And and again, everybody, you know, the saying goes, There's nothing new under the sun. Well, it did originate from somewhere, and that's what's been fascinating about learning from Susan because I I with my CBT, I love CBT, but it is not a whole person approach. Yeah, so I've always said, Well, I'm third wave CBT, all third wave CBT is holistic approach. And that's Adlerian, it's Adlerian. I mean, and so she teaches me this stuff, and it's I can't even tell you how many times over the years, she's like, Yo, Piper, you're Adlerian. And so it's been kind of a fun thing because I continue to learn. In fact, right before we decided to record this, I was telling her about a client who had done an um analysis for her executive position back in the 90s. And I said to Susan, it sounded like the base to say. And wouldn't you know? I went and I studied. Where did they come up with this? And guess what? It was an offshoot of everything from Adler. And it was fascinating because I'm learning so much with our work together. I could hear it when a client was sharing, well, we did this special thing in our executive office. I'm like, that's not special. So, but I mean, it's just kind of neat how I'm starting to put those correlations together and and using Adlerian theory in the counseling room. I love CBT, I love the thought work and all of that, but I do know now where it actually originated from.

SPEAKER_00 13:52

Yeah, and the the neat thing about the basis A and pulling out lifestyle traits is it also helps people really understand why they're doing what they're doing. And so for me in my counseling practice that I'm now kind of shifting and will definitely be making use of in the consultation practice is purposeful purposefulness of behavior. Everything we do, we do for a reason. Most of the time we might have some inkling or some awareness of it. The rest of the time, it kind of sits farther back. Um, and so it's not until we really look at it that we realize, like, oh, that's why I do it that way, or that's why that makes sense to me. Um, and so, you know, the more we can understand um how we come to view life the way that we do, which is what the basis A pulls out, right? It's that unique view of self, others, and the world around you. And then we can extrapolate from there, you know, why do you use this particular trait in this manner? Or how come it shows up in your relationships, but not in the workplace? Um, and there's purposefulness to that. And so that's just part of the fun is figuring out and helping people turn those light bulbs on. Yeah. And then make changes.

SPEAKER_01 14:57

And it is fun. So what we've done here with our practice, it's been this um wonderful all wind, whirlwind turn of events. We did not plan any of this. Um, we've known each other for years. I've admired Susan, she's taught me so much. We we likewise, we but we didn't we didn't plan this. It fell on our laps, and it's just been a huge blessing because she wanted to get into consultation now that I'm done with school, you know, I still want her as my supervisor, but she wanted to transition. So we're building this business. And I think what we're both so excited about is something that we've come up with called the dynamic mind approach. So dynamic growth counseling, consulting, and untangled mind, see how we put those together. Um, but it's this dynamic mind approach in the sense that what we we looked for pain points and gaps. That's what we looked for with our approach. So often you go into private practice, you're seeking counseling services, and and this is not to bash any of them at all, but there's a gap because they can't serve everything you need. So whether it's okay, you're just there to work on anxiety and we're diagnosing you, we're fixing the broken, but there's so some of us are like, but there's more to it. And so then we've got Susan that can bring in this whole idea of lifestyle, like it's it's strength. It's like, let's work on this. And then the more we talked about, we're like, but how can we also serve the clients even deeper? And so part of our holistic approach is we know when you guys come sit on this this couch that you are bringing more concerns to us than your relationships, your anxiety, whatever it is. And we said we need to build out a holistic referral network so that these are individuals that we've vetted that we feel safe referring you to. So if it's um we work with a wonderful doctor at Stand-Up Family Medicine here in East Cobb, and we know he is a fabulous primary physician, fabulous. He's vetted, that's who we refer to. We have an attorney in Woodstock that we refer to because we trust him. We know he has integrity and he's got strong ethics. And so part of our holistic approach, yes, it's with your mind, yes, it's with understanding how you present to the world and and how you're using your strengths, but we also want to give you the opportunity to work with individuals that will keep you safe that we've worked with.

SPEAKER_00 17:17

Yeah, so the the just to detail out a little bit more about the dynamic mind approach. So the the structure is um that you would start with Piper, do consultation and see if that's that's a good fit. Um, certainly we hope that it would be. Um, and then you would then come and work with me for a session, and it's 90 minutes, and that's where we go through the basis A. And then you would take that information back with you to your work with Piper, and I would certainly share with Piper what the what the results show. And and Piper creates a beautiful treatment plan and it incorporates you know all of that data from our time together working on the basis A. And then that becomes part of the process that then Piper incorporates into your counseling. And so then your treatment goals, um, the ways that that you measure them and move forward in counseling um is going to have that built into it. And so that's what we think is so unique and very different is that it's evidence-based, it's based on you know good data. Um, and then from there you can actually kind of track your own progress also.

SPEAKER_01 18:21

And I think that's a big thing too. And I know I've talked to her a lot about it over the years, all the years I spent in therapy, and I I created how I approach counseling based on how I got counseling. And a lot of times I hated when I would sit in a therapy room and I'm like, what am I doing? What are you doing? And so she and I talked about we need to create a process that we can show them actionable. Here's your lifestyle, here's your personality traits, the psychology of it. She and I build a treatment plan together. This is you're never alone. There's always she and I in your treatment plan. And we do, we develop a plan. Treatment plan is so clinical. I know it's it's just such a yucky word. It's your roadmap. I mean, and it's literally a document. It's it's maybe 10 pages long, but it's based on your goals, what your hurt and pain points are that you're coming to us. And we're saying, here is how your basis A is maybe creating those pain points. Here's how we can use your strengths to move you out right of these pain points. Um, and so yeah, it's I mean, holistically speaking, we're hitting the whole person along with our referral network. And it's we're so excited. I mean, it's we can't wait.

SPEAKER_00 19:35

Yes, we certainly can't wait. So um, you know, checking out our websites. Obviously, we're gonna keep doing these, yeah, these fun, you know, videos every as often as we can. Um, and really just, you know, visit, visit all of the things and see, you know, see if we're gonna be a good fit um for you with this kind of a process. We know that it's it's a little bit different of a process. Um, and because there's um you know different components to it, it might feel like, well, how come I'm paying this thing and then how come I'm paying for this thing? Yeah. Um so you know, we welcome those questions. Certainly, you know, feel free to ask questions about um you know how all of that is structured. But um I think that's a good point though. Let's talk about the packages, how we're structuring things differently.

SPEAKER_01 20:19

Yeah, that's a really good point.

SPEAKER_00 20:20

Yeah. So the when you if you want to go this route with a dynamic mind approach, then what you're gonna want to sign up for is a package. And so that gets you a certain number of sessions, and then you know, there's different size packages too. So the first one that's kind of a base a basic level is like 12 sessions. And so you'd get one session with me, and we'd again do the basis A stuff, and then you'd get nine, 10 sessions or so with Piper, and then that's where you do really the good counseling work. And then when we reach that kind of 12th session, then we kind of do a combined session and we talk again about here's your strengths, here's what the basis A showed us, how are you now using them maybe differently than when you started? Yeah. Um, what differences have you have you made? What changes have you made um as kind of a good closure session? Um, if at that point you reach 12, you're like, I still have more I don't I want to do, let's do it. Then we can keep going with it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:14

Um, so it's very different compared to the the typical counseling design where you're used to going in and and paying, you know, every individual session, but we've gone to packages actually for a really good reason. It's to hold you accountable. Too often we're like, oh, I feel better after four or five sessions. And we know it's like a diet, right? You get to like week three, you're like, oh, I'm doing good. I don't need to get to week four. I'm gonna quit. And what do we do? We go eat the whole pizza. And we know we need to get you over the hump, right? And so that's why packages it holds you accountable. So 12 sessions is our our baseline package. That's pretty common when I have people come in with mild to moderate distress. 12 sessions is really great. We can get you. A point of feeling a lot better and they go up, and there's a discount when you buy bigger packages. Um, but we just we just think that it holds you accountable to I came to Piper and Susan because I needed help, and we're saying, okay, let's do it. And now you're locked in and we're getting you on the calendar for 12, 14, 16, 20 sessions. Um, and we just we really feel strongly that it's gonna make a huge difference in how you approach your mental health.

SPEAKER_00 22:26

Yeah, the again, kind of the benefit of the package is that you know that that certain time is gonna be yours, um, and that we take it as seriously as as we want you to. Um, counseling is one of those things that you really get out of it what you put into it. So we know that, you know, this is a financial commitment, a time commitment. And we want you to make it because we know the benefits of, you know, establishing that um I know this is going to be of help to me, and I know that I'm invested in this. And that philosophy really, I think serves people well when they when they take that level of seriousness to it. Because, you know, if you come in and it's like, well, maybe I'll go to therapy this week, maybe I'll cancel, um, you're not gonna get out of it what you really want to. Um, and then you're gonna feel frustrated. So, so it is a different philosophy that we are bringing, that we are encouraging people to to engage with us in, um, to embark on this journey with us. Um, and we promise that, you know, our holistic approach is gonna feel good and it's gonna feel different and you're gonna feel cared for. Um, but we are gonna hold you accountable to to making the progress. Um, you know, so that way we are, you know, showing that we have integrity and and and respect for you too.

SPEAKER_01 23:37

Yeah, yeah. And it's funny with my intakes or my consultations, the question's always, how willing, you know, what are you willing to give up for this process? Because we want to pour our hearts and souls into this, into you, to giving you the tools and and feeling that growth. But if you're not all in, gosh, you know, we don't want you walking away from this frustrated when really the accountability is probably on you, you know? So it's it's we we do hold um our clients to it. And I think in the long run, they actually really do appreciate that that's how we approach things here.

SPEAKER_00 24:13

Yeah. And you know, the decision to do the the packages in the 12, you know, 12 sessions or 16 sessions or or 24, whatever, what it whatever it ends up being that you choose, again, that's kind of based on data. And so the average number of sessions out there that most clients come to a therapist for tends to be 10 to 12. Yep. Um, and that's where people can really start to see lasting change. Yeah. So the studies that show you know counseling is helpful and talk therapy is helpful are the ones where people are in it for at least 10, 12, 16 sessions. Yeah. Um, obviously, if you already know yourself and you've come from some type of you know trauma background, you had some really difficult times in your life, um, you know, we would encourage you to consider, you know, investing in a few more sessions because you may find then that you don't feel so rushed or you know, worried that you're not going to get your needs met in the allotted sessions.

SPEAKER_01 25:03

And we can help you with it. Um, bylaw, there's something called a good faith estimate. And so each of our clients receives a good faith estimate. And this is just to let you know, hey, we're assessing you. We do do the assessment. We have basis A, but we do assess anxiety, depression, trauma. Um, and based on your clinical levels of distress, then we'll let you know, hey, this is what we suggest. We think, you know, your trauma background, you're gonna be needing probably 20 or so sessions because that's gonna include exposure therapy, all of those things that are much more time-intensive, intense, and you need to build a relationship with me to do those things. But we give you that. We're not, and we're gonna tell you why. Not just, oh, that Piper and Susan want to lie in their pockets. That's not it at all. This is we want you, we put everything out there. Go to our websites, all the package pricing's out there, everything's out there. We are not hiding anything from you, and you will get that good faith estimate so that you have an idea and you can make an informed decision if this is something that you want to do. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:03

And and again, we welcome questions. So if there's ever something you're like, I'm not quite sure what this means, or I'm not quite quite sure, you know, kind of how did you come to decide that? Ask and we'll gladly share.

SPEAKER_01 26:13

Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. And make sure, like we said, um, keep an eye on us. We have some exciting stuff coming. We're actually presenting this coming week over um for East Cobb for the uh women's professional, professional women's business association. There's so many acronyms, I can't keep it straight, but it's a part of the East Cobb Business Association, so we'll be presenting um this coming Friday, September 8th. So we're really excited about that. We are in the works of creating our ribbon cutting ceremony, so we cannot wait for that. And I think we're very excited to um to start building out, building these community relationships. So if you're interested, provider in learning more about the basis A, please reach out to us. We'll connect you with um Susan, we'll get you going. Um, you know, we're getting into that season where we're looking towards our our next year, right? And so this would be a wonderful opportunity to bring her in and talk about how we can make your teams really go well together. Um, so we're excited. I mean, we've got all kinds of stuff that's coming in the works. Oh, our Voyage Atlanta Voyage Atlanta. Oh, yes, that's right. We also got um nominated for an article in Voyage ATL magazine. So who knows when that's coming out, but we're pretty darn excited about it. Um, so yeah, we're it's it's we are brand new. We literally opened our doors July 19th. July 19th, and it's September 4th. Um, and boy, did we hit the ground running. Um, but we are thrilled. Please make sure to come and visit us. We are in the heart of East Cobb, right by Merchants Walk. It's in the middle of all the great restaurants and shopping. Ladies, there's a fabulous home goods down the way. But we're in a wonderful business development called Johnson Square, 1501, Johnson Ferry Suite 104. Um, but we would love for you to come in and explore our space. This is the space. It's pretty much it. This is pretty much it. Um, but we love our space, and we would just invite you into finding out what um it will look like for your life to have a dynamic mind and to really explore that dream about it because she and I are so passionate about you um growing, healing. I mean, I'm getting goosebumps. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 28:34

Like, yeah, I mean, the the benefit of of having both of us is, you know, it's it's two people coming at your concerns, your problems, the things that you want to work on from two different angles. Yeah. Um, and you know, we are very much keeping a holistic approach. So you may end up talking with us about things um, you know, that are much more health related. Um, because again, if it's mind, body, spirit that we're really trying to to help you change and grow and and you know, build that insight so you know yourself better, um, then using our approach, I think, is going to be one of the one of the ones that really makes a difference for people.

SPEAKER_01 29:11

Yeah. Well, thank you guys so much for taking time to listen to us. I apologize for my nasal. Um, I've been sick for a week. Um, but we're so excited. Uh, and if you again have any questions, I will make sure, we'll both make sure that you can reach out to us. You'll find our contact information. Again, don't forget to reach out to Dr. Balangi at dynamicgrowth CCS for counseling and consulting services.com. And feel free to reach out to me at untangledmind.net. Um, and we would love to connect with you. So thanks so much, y'all, and we will talk with you soon. That brings us to the end of this episode. Thanks so much for joining us. We hope you learned some things about us that can equip you to untangle your mind for dynamic growth. If you're curious about working with us, check out our websites at dynamicgrowthcc.com or untangledmind.net. If you enjoyed the show, please rate and review us on your podcast or listening platform and share it with your family and friends. As always, thanks so much for listening to the Untangled Mind Podcast. I'll talk with you next time.