Meet Sara A. Showalter Van Tongeren | Psychotherapist & Founder of The Flourishing Collective

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sara A. Showalter Van Tongeren and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sara, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I started The Flourishing Collective after seeing a gap in therapy services that were being provided for clients as well as a gap in the way that therapists were being compensated for their work. I worked for 12 years in private practice: 6 years in a group practice and then 6 years running a solo practice. Since the pandemic people have become to be more open to utilizing Telehealth for therapy. My practice became 100% remote in March of 2020 and I instantly saw the benefits of Telehealth in my clients lives. It became integrated into their days without needing commute times, deep emotional work could be done in the comfort of their own home, they no longer had to worry about running into anyone in a waiting room, and it provided a sense of personalization of care – I could meet their pets, children, and partners. Most of our clients are working professionals that use Telehealth during their work from home days, or during their breaks when they are at work.

At the same time, I had coauthored a book, The Courage to Suffer that was published March of 2020 and I began mentoring and consulting with many therapists utilizing the model I developed that is outlined in the book. What I realized is that many therapists were not being compensated at a fair market value and at the same time mental health support requests were going up because of the increased access due to Telehealth. I was also seeing a high level of burnout as a compounding result of the load and low compensation. So I started thinking, what if I formed a collective of therapists that could support each other, are compensated well, and would utilize Telehealth? The end result was The Flourishing Collective!

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
The Flourishing Collective is a group mental health practice that is committed to relational healing, therapeutic excellence, and communal flourishing. As a company we compensate therapists well, provide therapeutic group consultation and mentorship for our therapists. Therapists engage in biweekly groups in which they process their own personal healing as well as their work with clients so that they can provide excellent care and minimize burnout and learn from each other. We intentionally keep low caseloads for the each therapist so that they can do deep work with their clients in a sustainable way and really get to know them. Our therapists meet with their clients weekly to provide support and to engage in the relational model of therapy. We also have plans to launch support groups for clients who also want to meet and learn from others who are facing similar life circumstances (e.g., change of religious beliefs, grief and loss, parental support, relationship support).

Developing this model is not easy and is on the front edge of market trends, which has been the more challenging part of developing this company. Larger companies exist like Better Help, or Talkspace, or Cerebral but often due to the way they compensate, treat, and manage their therapists there is a significant amount of turnover and very little mentorship and support for therapists. This then directly impacts the client that is seeing that therapist. What I am proud and excited about is that The Flourishing Collective has been formed to both directly impact therapist AND client mental health. By creating systems that are not only driven by money, we can have sustainability and healing that is facilitated through the therapeutic relationship of client and therapist.

I have learned that it is important to work from a sustainable pace for myself. I am still a practicing therapist and enjoy meeting with my clients. I want to continue to scale this business and in order to do so, it is also important that I care for my own mental health and understand why I have the drive that I do to push myself. I see my own therapist and I am a part of my own therapeutic group consultation with other therapists outside of The Flourishing Collective. This support has helped me be intentional about how I run my business, how I support my own clients, and how I mentor other therapists. I honestly can say healing happens in community.

I think another thing that sets The Flourishing Collective a part is that we all have different specialties (teens, adults, grief and loss, professional burnout, life transitions, etc.) but are informed by an existential-positive psychology approach. This approach is novel and unique. And unlike other therapy modalities, this approach acknowledges existential realities that cannot be solved but rather engaged with so that you can live a flourishing life no matter what you are facing.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I grew up in Florida and I have moved around for my college and graduate work, so I love when my family and friends from my home state visit me. Michigan to me is one of the most beautiful places and continues to amaze me at its natural beauty. I live on the West Michigan side and some of my favorite things to do with friends is to go on hikes at Saugatuck Dunes with my dog and bring home Detroit Style Pizza from Doebs in Holland and hang out by the fire and catch up. I also love taking people downtown Holland and walking to The Farmers Market and stopping for blueberry donuts at Bowermans on 8th. If it is winter time I would take friends cross country skiing at Pigeon Creek and then to Tulip Brewstillery for tacos at their food truck, Spiceboys. For breakfast the next day I would take them to the Biscuit in Washington Square and then out to Holland State Park to see Big Red and walk along the shore. In my fantasy, Hope College is putting on one of their fabulous theater shows and we will eat dinner at OI Asian Bistro and then watch the play together. I feel grateful to live in a place with so much natural beauty and a great community.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to dedicate my shoutout to my partner and coauthor, Daryl R. Van Tongeren. His research, books, articles, and dinner time chats inspire me and the work I do to utilize cutting edge psychological research into my therapy sessions and consultation groups. His unwavering support and encouragement helped ground me when I have been facing burnout and overwhelm. He believes in me and helped me envision The Flourishing Collective into what it is today. Please check out his website (darylvantongeren.com) to read what he is currently researching and working on! It might just make for interesting dinner conversations at your dinner table.

Website: https://www.theflourishingco.org/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theexistentialtherapist/

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/sara-showalter-van-tongeren

Other: My personal website: https://saravantongeren.com/ book: https://www.amazon.com/Courage-Suffer-Clinical-Framework-Spirituality/dp/1599475243 LinkTree (with links to ALL my podcasts): https://linktr.ee/saravantongeren Blog: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/contributors/sara-a-showalter-van-tongeren-lcsw

Image Credits
Rebecca French @rebeccagrace.studio