The Power of A Counseling Collective with Avery Rosser and Nafis Ricks | GP 166

Have you heard of counseling collectives? How do they offer profound benefits for both the clinicians that work through them and the clients that they serve? Which doors of success can you unlock when you work alongside like-minded and loving, motivated clinicians?

In this podcast episode, LaToya Smith speaks about the power of a counseling collective with Avery Rosser and Nafis Ricks.

Podcast Sponsor: Blueprint

A photo of the Blueprint podcast sponsor is captured. Blueprint sponsor the Practice of the Practice podcast.

Providing great therapy day after day can be challenging – even for the best of us!

At Blueprint, they believe that nothing should get in the way of you doing your best work, which is why they created a platform that provides therapists with an array of clinical tools – things like therapy worksheets, intervention ideas, and digital assessments – that are designed to help you and your clients can stay connected and confident throughout the care journey. Even better, Blueprint helps streamline your documentation so that you can spend less time on your notes and more time on the things that matter.

To learn more and request a free 30-day trial, visit blueprint-health.com

Meet Avery Rosser

A photo of Avery Rosser is captured. He is LPC. Avery is featured on Grow a Group Practice, a therapist podcast.

Avery Rosser is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Certified Professional Counselor Supervisor with a wealth of experience in counseling. He holds a Master’s degree in Community Counseling from Columbus State University and is currently enrolled in a Ph.D. Counseling Education and Supervision program at the University of Georgia. His status evidences Avery’s commitment to professional development as a National Board for Certified Counselor Minority Doctoral Fellow, a recognition of his dedication to advancing his education, skills, and community advocacy efforts.

​Visit We Climb and see also The Counselling Brothers

Meet Nafis Ricks

A photo of Nafis Ricks is captured. Nafis is a mental health counselling student. Nafis is featured on Grow a Group Practice, a therapist podcast.

Nafis Ricks is a clinical mental health counseling M.S. student. His research interest centers on the effect of how trauma plays a role in black men participating in sports and what is the psychological impact that may occur. His career goals include providing counseling and therapy services that combat stigma in the black community and providing a platform to increase the number of diverse clinicians in the psychology space.

​Connect with Nafis on LinkedIn.

In This Podcast

  • The Counseling Brothers of Atlanta
  • How to truly connect with your ideal audience
  • A teamwork-based connective collective

The Counseling Brothers of Atlanta

The Counseling Brothers of Atlanta is a collective of different black male therapists that focus specifically on serving and working with the black community.

It’s a collective of black males that own their own private practice[s]. We’re a nonprofit organization where we’ve come together … men of like mind … to put our resources together, to put our practices together to provide resources … specifically for the black community.

Avery Rosser

Some of the resources that they provide include:

  • Counseling services
  • Educational resources
  • Training

We own and operate our own practice[s] but we’ve come together under the umbrella of the Counseling Brothers of Atlanta to ensure that we can fill that gap within our community.

Avery Rosser

How to truly connect with your ideal audience

When you have a cause that you’re passionate about and you know that it revolves around a pain point of many people within your community, it becomes imperative that you learn how to get in front of those ideal clients and connect with them.

You need to meet them where they are at, both emotionally and physically.

It’s the idea of, “Hey, when we show up, we show up in numbers and we show up vulnerable, we show up available, and ready to have a conversation.

LaToya Smith

The Counseling Brothers of Atlanta are great at connecting with their ideal clients because they have an experience that mirrors their personal lives.

They go to barbershops, gyms, and places where their ideal clients will be and where they know that they can meet them with honesty and vulnerability.

A teamwork-based connective collective

In the Counseling Brothers of Atlanta, all the present members that run their own private practices share the work and the responsibility.

The collective has Avery as the CEO, but the collective is based on input from the members who are all passionate about the cause and excited to be part of it.

[We create that teamwork] by always stressing what our mission is … that’s one thing that I always do as the president [which] is to emphasize our mission and to understand that we can’t do [fulfill this goal] alone and it’s going to require all of us to come into this process with humility, grace, and with the idea [that] we are better together.

Avery Rosser

Keep any egos in check by respecting your team members. That is what Avery and his team do, and it helps them to remain humble while ambitious and focused on the goal and on one another.

Figuratively and literally … we hug over here a lot, and we embrace each other when we see each other! There’s always love … and just genuine connection and admiration for each other.

Nafis Ricks

Useful links mentioned in this episode:

Check out these additional resources:

Meet LaToya Smith

An image of LaToya Smith is captured. She is a consultant with Practice of the Practice and the owner of LCS Counseling. LaToya is featured on the Practice of the Practice, a therapist podcast.

LaToya is a consultant with Practice of the Practice and the owner of LCS Counseling and Consulting Agency in Fortworth Texas. She firmly believes that people don’t have to remain stuck in their pain or the place they became wounded. In addition to this, LaToya encourages her clients to be active in their treatment and work towards their desired outcomes.

She has also launched Strong Witness which is a platform designed to connect, transform, and heal communities through the power of storytelling.

Visit LaToya’s website. Connect with her on FacebookInstagramStrong Witness Instagram, and Twitter.

Apply to work with LaToya.

Email her at [email protected]

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