Today we’d like to introduce you to Mackenzie Kerber.
Hi Mackenzie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Hi! We are Mackenzie Kerber, LPCC and Sam Franklin, LMFT. We started Apricity Counseling and Wellness after our friend, Dr. Timm Simondet, passed away. He was our boss and mentor and we shared a dream of creating a trauma-informed clinic where multiple healing services could come together and create a safe community for trauma survivors to take care of their mind, body and spirit. After Timm passed, we felt the drive to continue our vision.
This also inspirited our name, Apricity. Apricity is a Latin word meaning “the sun’s warmth in winter”. When we discovered the word Apricity, the imagery of it struck us. Being located in MinneSNOWta has its ups and downs just as healing does. Every winter, we practice embracing the snow and cold. If we don’t embrace the snow and find beauty in it, we are in for a long winter!
Apricity also reminded us of Timm. When we were brainstorming about the future clinic, Timm and Mackenzie would go to Lake Nokomis. The view of the lake and being surrounded by nature, helped us come up with ideas for creating a place where clients could come for total body healing: psychotherapy, chiropractic care, acupuncture, yoga, massage, you name it! If it’s trauma informed and supports healing, we are interested.
Now, five years later, we have several psychotherapists offering a variety of trauma-informed methods and a trauma-informed massage therapist offering care to our community of clients and our providers. We try to create a supportive environment where self-care and overall wellness is prioritized over quotas. If our providers are better able to take care of themselves and have a good work-life balance, hopefully that can ripple out to clients and the people that our clients interact with as well.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
We started the clinic in 2019. We submitted the necessary paperwork to start the clinic just before the pandemic hit. We found an office space that checked all the boxes and had a couple psychotherapists ready to start with us. When the pandemic happened, we decided not to sign the lease on our dream space and focused on figuring out telehealth. Like many providers, we had never used telehealth services. Trying to navigate a new way of providing care while also trying to offer a safe space for our clients, providers and ourselves from COVID was difficult at times. This was just the beginning of learning how to navigate collective trauma for our clients, provider and ourselves. Just as we were starting to get our footing with telehealth, George Floyd was murdered, political division was strengthening and we could tell our clients and providers were struggling. We continue to find it challenging to navigate being clinic owners and providers as we find ourselves in a time where the healthcare system is struggling, the economy is uncertain and politics are stressful for those on either side. Basically, we are trying to personally manage all of this while running a business and working to provide a safe space for clients and providers when we don’t have all the answers. Often times, we don’t get to decide the answers, we are simply the messenger between insurance companies, the healthcare system and the government making decisions, and our clinical community.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Apricity Counseling and Wellness Center is an outpatient therapy clinic offering in-person sessions in Eagan, Burnsville, and St. Paul. We also offer telehealth services in Minnesota and Wisconsin. We use a social justice, trauma-informed, and holistic approach to mental health and wellness to work towards improving and healing the connection between mind, body, and essence of one’s spirit. We offer services to individuals, couples, families, and provide group therapy in addition to other health and wellness services such as trauma-informed massage. We are also starting to offer workshops that highlight different trauma-informed ways to heal.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
We identify as low risk kind of people. We generally think things through, maybe even too much. We love a pros and cons discussion, a spreadsheet or 10, and try to think about how the decisions we are making affect others. That being said, owning a small mental health and wellness group practice during this time has its challenges and requires us to take risks. At times, we are forced out of our comfort zone but these times are when we grow stronger as business partners. The high level of risk has allowed us to think about each other’s families and overall daily lives because we understand that our decisions and the risks we take matter.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.apricitycw.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apricity_cw/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Apricity.mindbody.wellness/
