AURORA | Even when she had a typical, corporate-grind type job, Caprece Byrd had the heart of a therapist.
But when she was working in the insurance field, there weren’t many times when she got the chance to use her skills as a therapist, or when she had time to put those skills to use.
“This has always been who I am,” she said. “But when you are working for other people, you have to do what they are paying you to do.”
In 2011, not long after she lost her job in the insurance business, Byrd opened Frame of Mind Counseling Services. From her cozy office at East Sixth Avenue and Chambers Road, Byrd said she hopes to help people struggling with the stresses of day-to-day life, particularly people who are reluctant to see a therapist.
An Aurora Central High School graduate who has lived in Aurora for decades, Byrd said she opted to open her counseling office at Sixth and Chambers because it’s a working-class area where the people she hopes to reach call home. To do that, Byrd said she is keeping her rates well below the average for a visit with a counselor so people who worry that they can’t afford a therapist realize they can. The first session is free and additional sessions are $40 each. It means she’s just as much a businesswoman now as she is a therapist.
One of Byrd’s other goals is to reach people in the minority community like herself who may feel that counseling isn’t for them.
“Particularly people of color; they don’t do therapy,” she said.
Byrd said she hopes to reach minorities in the area to help beat back the stigma of going to a therapist and admitting that sometimes, people need the help of a counselor.
Byrd is registered with the state Department of Regulatory Agencies as a psychotherapist. The state registers psychotherapists, but unlike psychiatrists and psychiatrists, they are not licensed and do not have to have doctorates.
Sessions at Frame of Mind are pretty low-key, with light jazz music playing in the background in the unimposing office. Byrd said the atmosphere is intentional because she wants people to feel as comfortable as possible, particularly people who haven’t gone to counseling before.
And, she doesn’t want the office to feel like a clinic.
“I want it to be like we are having a conversation,” she said. “I love to be able to do that.”
The office offers a variety of services, including psychotherapy, drug and alcohol therapy, and stress management. She also works with the local courts on child and family service investigations.
In addition to her work at frame of Mind, Byrd works with Goodwill Industries of Denver’s Career Connections Center in Stapleton, where she teaches stress management skills to job seekers.
Veronica O. White, a work skills instructor at the Stapleton center, said Byrd’s work with there is vital because the job search can be daunting for many people.
While it’s important that job seekers make sure their resume is solid and they have the interview skills they need, it’s also important that they understand how to deal with the stress of the job hunt, and the setbacks when they don’t land a job.
“The psychological piece of that is very important to recognize as well. The emotional piece of looking for work is really important,” she said.
Byrd said she views mental health the same way she views physical health. That means people have to take steps to care for themselves, just like they go to the gym so they are physically, sometimes they need to see a therapist to take care of their mental health.
“You gotta take care of what’s on the inside,” she said.