Achieving Balance with D.L. “D” Wennes

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My cousin, D.L. Wennes “D” joins me in this episode as he prepares to launch his brand new business, Achieve Balance Counseling. D is a clinical therapist who provides both individual and couples therapy. Through his own struggles with mental illness and chemical dependency, he is in what he calls his “sober second act”. D is finally breaking out on his own after a history of several passionless business attempts, he has found his stride and passion through his 6 years of being a therapist.

Anxiety and Starting a Business

D shares that one of his diagnoses is Generalized Anxiety, something that makes the leaps, hurdles, and risks of starting a business very scary. While he is rock solid when it comes to therapy, the other pieces and behind the scenes make for a lot of work. D’s secret to getting through anxiety is support. He has found support in his community, through his business partner, family, previous employers, and community resources. For him, self-doubt is enemy number 1 and he pushes past fear with affirmations and the support of others. With 82 clients following him to his private practice, it’s more than enough to prove his future success.

Achieving Balance

Finally working in his Zone of Genius, D thrives on socializing and talking, and his unique ability to translate peoples’ thoughts and feelings back to them through therapy. The theme and passion behind D’s therapy approach is all about balance. His definition of recovery is, “staying balanced long enough to discover and nurture your purpose in life.” D developed a chart for a balanced life that involves four key quadrants: 1. Work, Shelter, and Basic Needs, 2. Sleep and Relaxation, 3. Self-Care and Self Advancement, and 4. Socializing, Networking, and Giving-Back. In therapy, he helps his clients work on the barriers that block these elements of balance which can be anything from mental illness, dependency, addiction, childhood trauma and many more life events in his client’s lives.

The Pandemic and Therapy

I’m not surprised to find that anxiety levels and therapy needs took a big rise during the COVID pandemic. D says that his long term clients who face anxiety live the life of anxious feelings that others were feeling during the height of COVID all the time, pandemic or not. However, the isolation caused people to look inward and really forced a lot of people who would never seek therapy to get help that they truly needed.

Showing up

D is firm in his path and as a therapist encourages his clients to not look back at what ifs. When asked if he would change anything or have a “do-over”, he said, no, he is who he is. Although, he does plan to build mentorship to his business at Achieving Balance Counseling, and be the encourager that he did not have along his journey. We all want to be encouragers to the people around us, and showing up for others is so important to me. D’s advice for showing up for friends and family with anxiety or other mental illness is to not be the remedy but a consistent ear to listen.

You can find out more about Achieving Balance Counseling on D’s website, Linked In, Facebook, and YouTube.