Starting over in a new country is something most therapists never picture for themselves. But for Meashline Komara, LCSW, it wasn't just a leap of faith. It was a four-year decision rooted in love, values, and a lot of honest conversations about fear.
In this episode of The Traveling Therapist Podcast, I sit down with Meashline to talk about how she went from practicing in California to running her online private practice from Guinea, West Africa. She shares what the planning process actually looked like, how she navigated resistance in her own life, and what it's taken to build a life that works on every level.
In This Episode, We Explore…
Connect with Meashline Komara:
Website https://www.envisiontherapy.net/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/envisiontherapypractice
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/envisiontherapypractice/
Navigating Resistance: Understanding The Relationship Between Resistance And Change
https://www.amazon.com/Navigating-Resistance-Understanding-Relationship-Between/dp/B0GCTSRD61
Connect with me:
Instagram: @thetravelingtherapist_kym
The Traveling Therapist Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/onlineandtraveling/
Signup to learn more about life as a Traveling Therapist: https://www.portablepracticemethod.com/free-training
Revolutionize Your Private Practice with AI Course: www.kymtolson.kartra.com/page/ai
Bill Like A Boss Insurance Billing Community: www.kymtolson.kartra.com/page/blab
Subscribe to the Podcast:
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Transcript:
[00:00:00] Kym: Hey everybody. Welcome back to another episode of The Traveling Therapist podcast. We have a very interesting guest today. I swear I've never had a guest that's doing what you're doing, so I'm really excited to talk to you.
[00:00:10] I told her I was gonna butcher her name, Michelin.
[00:00:13] Meashline: So my name is Michel.
[00:00:15] Kym: Okay. Thank you for being here. I always start out, I just say like, how did you go from being a typical therapist to a traveling therapist?
[00:00:23] Meashline: So, hello everyone. I went from being a typical therapist to a traveling therapist. It was kind of a unique journey that involves love. I met my husband in the us who is Ghanaian and I'm Liberian my nationality. And so we're both West African and we, we met each other. I was I finished graduate school.
[00:00:43] He was finishing he had finished his bachelor's at uc, Berkeley. Both of us had went to uc, Berkeley, and we met each other and we fell in love and ultimately we got married. And he had always told me that he wanted to return home. He's an architect and likes to do a lot of building and designing of homes and, you know, Underserved communities. And so long story short, he wanted to come back here to Guinea to do some work in formal settlements and do a lot of sustainability work. And so what was that idea? When we got together, started to kind of take shape and form and then we ultimately made the decision with our daughter, actually we had a daughter as well to come here.
[00:01:24] So.
[00:01:26] Kym: oh my gosh. And for people, if you're like me that don't even know where Guinea is, that's West Africa, right?
[00:01:32] Meashline: Yes. That's West Africa.
[00:01:34] Kym: region, yes. Oh my gosh. and you were telling me you moved there, what, a year ago now? It's been a year since you've been there.
[00:01:41] Meashline: Yes. I've been here for, for a year.
[00:01:43] Kym: Oh my gosh. So y'all left California and went there.
[00:01:46] Meashline: Yes.
[00:01:47] Kym: Okay. Oh my gosh. Wow. So had you ever been before or was it like had y'all visited or did you just do it?
[00:01:56] Meashline: So bef before I met him, I had never met a I had never knowingly met a Ghanaian before.
[00:02:02] Kym: Yeah.
[00:02:03] Meashline: so I was like, I knew nothing about the culture, even though it's nearing Liberia, which is where I'm, you know, from, I knew nothing about the country or the culture, but I met him and he invited me to go to Guinea when I was his girlfriend.
[00:02:15] And so I went when I was his girlfriend the first time. We stayed for a whole month. I learned some, a little bit of French, 'cause they speak French as one of the main languages. And then, yeah, ultimately I went back again for the wedding. We had a wedding here in Guinea as well, so it came back for the wedding and then my third time was coming back to move.
[00:02:34] So yeah, three times.
[00:02:36] Kym: Wow. were you like all in like, this is gonna be amazing, or were you like, I don't know if I'm gonna like this. like, how'd you feel about it?
[00:02:43] Meashline: I was afraid a lot of the time. You know, that kind of connects to my work with change, you know, and, the work that I do as far as navigating resistance and change, I was nervous, I was scared. We spent years together where he was
[00:02:57] not trying to convince me, but he was trying to educate me about, you know, the culture and about how it could benefit my life to try to you know, leave the country and, and move here. And I was afraid. I, you know, it is a developing nation. So I had all these concerns about, you know, different things that I've seen online or.
[00:03:17] Things like that. So the good thing was that I'm with someone who, you know, allowed for questions and, you know, discussions. So it was like discussion after discussion and trying to understand it. Waking up in the middle of the night like, okay so what do they do there? You know? So just being able to like, explore your, my fear and face, you know?
[00:03:36] Which is what I talk about with resistance is like there's a resistance within you to the change. But then I, I faced it and like said, okay, what is stopping me from doing this? Is this what I really wanna do? And then how can I prepare better, prepare myself for this change that I wanna make in my life?
[00:03:51] Kym: Yeah. Well, I wanna dive in and just hear about your practice and the culture and how you're making it work and everything. But you're talking about the, the work that you do, so maybe we could touch on that too, because you do have you're the creator of Navigating Resistance. It's a workbook and a workshop designed to help people understand why change can be so difficult.
[00:04:11] I think that fits in perfectly with what you've done. And you know, I wanna talk about like how did you adapt what you like got past, like that resistance. But let's talk a little bit just for anybody listening that's a traveling therapist with your work and experience with change and all of that. Like, how did you get through it? I mean, it sounds like talking to your spouse about it and you know, asking a lot of questions, having a safe environment, but I'd love to just like talk about like, what is that process for people, you know, in context with being a traveling therapist or just in general with the work that you do?
[00:04:41] Meashline: Yeah, I mean, I think that the biggest the biggest thing was making the decision. think it's kind of in line with you know, with many of us who want to change our life, I had to really make the decision that this is what I wanted to do. And with making the decision, it comes with understanding why you're choosing to do something.
[00:05:00] Assessing and analyzing why you want something, why you want this change in your life. And then once I kind of, with, you know, with the support of my spouse, once I made the decision kind of listing out, okay, here's the benefits of what it is that I'm trying to do, and here are the challenges of what it is that I'm trying to do, but here's the, like the, the, the end game in the long run of where I see myself being with myself and my family and my values.
[00:05:23] And once all those things lined up for myself, then after that I had chosen that this is what I wanted to do. And after I just, we had to really make a plan. Realistically, we had to make a plan where we sat together, you know, and made monthly plans about our finances about how much money we would need and to feel comfortable, even if all else failed, like a, like a contingency plan, I guess you would say.
[00:05:47] If all else failed. You know, a financial place where we could afford our living expenses and still afford to do the things we need to do while we, you know, pick back up. We also made a plan about our housing. We made a plan about my, I know I made a plan about my practice, you know, how was I gonna be able to practice out of the country.
[00:06:07] That includes like the ethical you know, ideas, concepts about practicing out of the country or, you know, in, in a different state. You know, just try to make cover. It literally took really about four years really.
[00:06:21] Kym: Oh, I like to, I like hearing that. That's good for people to know that it's not like necessarily like, oh, I woke up today and decided we're gonna do this. It's more like weighing the pros and cons. Every time. And then I guess what I'm hearing you say is like, what is your why? Like identifying like, what is the reason I wanna do this? and then analyze everything after that. And that can help you once you've made the decision. Like you've gotta make the decision first.
[00:06:45] Meashline: Yes, this is first, and then do the research. And then also, like, as I stated before, I've been here I had been here at the time, you know, twice before. So I think if you like, for those who are like traveling therapists who might be interested in relocating I would always suggest that, that a person goes and sees the places they're trying to go to.
[00:07:03] In my opinion, I think that that's. Just wisdom you know, to see, you know, the place and see the good, the bad, and the ugly. I would advise being there for like, at least a month so you can really just soak in the place beyond just like the one week of vacation and, and not staying in like a resort or something like that, but just really being amongst the people to see where something that you can really, you know, tolerate or live with in your preparation.
[00:07:29] Kym: So smart. Yeah, I've heard, I've interviewed a couple people that were like, yeah, I just picked up and went, and now I'm here. Like, I, like, I'm locked into a year long lease and I actually don't like it. You know, it's like, I would never do that. Like, just like I hear what you're saying, like, I, I think that's really smart.
[00:07:47] Like, just go test it out. Like just sublet your apartment if you have to, or get a renter or whatever. Like just go and check it out for a little bit and like live amongst. The locals to make sure like that you could do this forever. You know, not, you're not locked in forever, but for a while if you're actually like gonna literally move and relocate somewhere like you did, yeah.
[00:08:07] Meashline: Exactly. Exactly. And you know, you know, a lot of times too, people have a, they have a concept about a place, but they don't really know, you know, about the, the place. Like even with like maybe some ideas about Africa or or, you know, oh, it's cheap there, or it's, there might be some things people just believe about the place.
[00:08:27] But really you might come here and say, okay, well there's certain things that are cheap, but there's certain things that are actually more, you know, that are expensive. And, you know, there's different, there's nuances. And so when you go and you actually experience the place, then you can kind of dive deep into those nuances and be better prepared for your ultimate success.
[00:08:46] Forever long you're gonna be in that space.
[00:08:48] Kym: Nice. Yeah. Will you tell us about it, like, about living there and, and some maybe the good, the bad and the ugly, so we could kind of get a good picture of what, because I mean, everywhere you go you've got that right. The good, the bad, and the ugly. But I, I'd love to hear, I'd love to hear like your perspective now that you've been there for a year. Like how are you feeling about everything?
[00:09:08] Meashline: Yeah. No, it's um. like, my experience is like baptism by fire, even though I did all these things in preparation. It's, it's so different from my, in many ways, it's very different from my upbringing and from where I come from as far as growing up in California in Sacramento, and then my adult life spending in the Bay Area, having some time in Maryland as well.
[00:09:33] So like I just. I was raised Christian and my family that I'm married into is Muslim. I was raised speaking, you know, in English. The family that I married into is French and French speaking, and que and, and Susu, all these other languages that had no real. Exposure to you know, so just those two things alone.
[00:09:57] someone might see me on face value and say, oh, she's, she's black. You know, she's African, and so therefore it must be the same experience. But when
[00:10:06] Kym: Oh my gosh.
[00:10:07] Meashline: That dive into it, it's like, it's totally, besides our skin color, it's a very different, you know, a lot of different experiences. So I had to be really open.
[00:10:18] And, you know, I've always had a love for language learning and so I've been on a language learning journey for the past few years, learning French. And so that's been, you know, there's the money, right? Like the money is different, the language is different. So if you don't have. those foundational things, can create a barrier. So you have to be, I've had to be very open. I've had to be extremely flexible. I've had to be extremely just a, a ker of knowledge. And I already am a person that likes to learn and just experience new things. So I think having that kind of heart. Has allowed me to be an open person that is not like, oh yeah, I don't like that.
[00:10:59] I don't like that. I don't like that. It's more like, okay, let me see, let me try. I think I might say I don't like it, but I'm open at least. And so that's what it's required. You know, it's required that of me every single day.
[00:11:11] Kym: I feel like this lifestyle is not for somebody that's like super OCD or, or, or rigid, you know? It's like it's not gonna work I mean, a whole new everything. It, I think it's amazing. Language, culture, money, you know, all of that. It's gotta be quite like not culture shock, but just like it's gotta be a lot to adapt to over time, you know? Or culture shock. Maybe we could call it that. Yeah.
[00:11:34] Meashline: Culture shock and also like there, I, and to be fair, you know, to be honest too, it's okay for when you're making these plans, like, you know, those who maybe are listening when you're making those, these plans, it's okay for you to have your ne your necessities as well. It's okay, like I had necessities that I needed.
[00:11:50] Too, like I was very clear like, I need to have, you know, this certain type of living arrangement, I need to have this certain type of access to like internet. Because you know, I have a business to run, right? I need to have this certain level of, you know, safety or I need to have this certain level of access.
[00:12:09] Right? So these are like my five non-negotiables that needs to be met. Everything else. I can figure out, you know, so I don't wanna make it seem as if I'm just like, yo, whatever. I did have very clear like, here's what I need.
[00:12:23] Kym: are like, we're gonna be safe. I'm gonna be able to work.
[00:12:26] Meashline: Yeah, yeah. I'm gonna go to work, I'm gonna be able to, you know, and I even put in little, I even put in with my partner, I even put in little things like every once or twice a month.
[00:12:35] I want to be able to go and do this at a, at the hotel. I want to be, there's islands that are nearby every, you know, twice a year I want to go to the islands and stay in the bungalows and enjoy the beach. And so. You can put in the things that also that bring you joy and peace as well. Even if you don't have a partner just for yourself as well, like, you know, I'm, I'll compromise in this area to get these things that I want, but I also must have these things as well to make my, you know, for my own mental health and wellbeing yeah.
[00:13:04] Kym: That's so smart. Just for people listening that have a partner involved in this to like talk about what are our non-negotiables if we're doing this, this is how I need to do it, and being able to like agree on that is like super important. Yeah.
[00:13:17] Meashline: exactly. Super. It's super duper important because if you don't do that, that's how you build, you know, resentment, right? Like you can build things like resentment. Mm-hmm. Because you're like, I moved here and I don't let anything out. I don't have anything that I want. You don't wanna do that even with yourself, right? If you can be resentful of your own choices and decisions, if you don't make space for your own desires and your own needs.
[00:13:40] Kym: Absolutely. So what are the islands nearby? I wanna know, are they the over the water bungalows?
[00:13:46] Meashline: Oh yes. Oh my goodness. They're
[00:13:48] Kym: Oh my God, I've always wanted to stay in one of those. Have you gotten to go yet?
[00:13:52] Meashline: so these islands are so, they're like the best, they're like West Africa's best kept secret. I don't even wanna talk about them too much 'cause they're so beautiful. But I'll for, for those who are listening, so they're called.
[00:14:08] Kym: oh,
[00:14:09] Meashline: So there are these islands that are off the coast of, of Guinea, and they're a group of islands, and it's as if you walked into paradise. It's sunny skies. Blue water fresh air. The bungalows are not on the water, but they're right over the water overlooking the ocean. You can have crap and, and, and lobster and fish and planting and, and it's just, it's beautiful. So you can take a, you.
[00:14:44] Kym: That's my kind of place.
[00:14:46] Meashline: Yeah, it's only like a 20 minute if you take a conventional boat 20 minute, if you take a traditional boat, like 30, 35 minute boat ride from the city, and it totally changed. Like the atmosphere is like totally different than the hustle and bustle Corner creek. There's the islands, so there's different islands you can go to. The president even has a on one of.
[00:15:09] Kym: wow. I'm gonna go look that up right after this episode. I
[00:15:12] Meashline: Yeah.
[00:15:13] Kym: at pictures. I love it. I love it. So tell, so can you tell us, I mean, this is probably a stereotype in my mind, and I have interviewed a couple people in different parts of Africa, but like, how is the infrastructure like with the internet.
[00:15:27] Like Tanzania, I guess. Like they had rolling blackouts all the time and she had to prepare for those. So like, do you have to deal with any of that where you are now or how, how is it for you?
[00:15:38] Meashline: So most definitely there are row, what we would call in the west rolling blackouts. And so those are the things that were a part of my, my planning, right? So that's why I say go to place and experience it, because with every, with every challenge you can create potentially a solution because you're not likely the first person to have these particular needs.
[00:16:02] So yes, there are moments where the light electricity turns off. And while that is frustrating you. What we did was we made a plan. So for us specifically, we have so for the internet, we have a, it's like a, it's, it's only this big, it's not very big. It's like a battery. And so it's, if the internet turns off or the electricity turns off obviously that impacts the internet.
[00:16:25] Then you can plug in this battery and automatically gives you internet. so I'm on it right now. I'm using it right now so that there'll be no issue just in case. And so that is something that you can have for like your practice. You always have it. So either you use it all the, all the time when you're in your sessions or you plug it in if like, if for some reason something happens.
[00:16:47] Another thing is a generator. A lot of people have generators. So if you have your own home, you can have a generator. So if your, if your electricity is running on a generator, it, it, it will never turn off. What turns off is like the citywide electricity, and so that's what turns off. So you have your own generator, which we do in our co in our we live in a high rise like apartment building.
[00:17:09] so we do have a generator, but we have to wait for the people to turn it on so that, so if I'm in a session, obviously I can't be like, oh, can someone turn on the generator? So that's why I have my own system in place where I have no internet issue because it always, it's always, yeah.
[00:17:26] So that's something that does impact you, oh, go ahead.
[00:17:28] Kym: I was just gonna say, so what is this device called? Like if somebody's listening and they're like, I need that just in general. Like what? What is that?
[00:17:35] Meashline: Well, I dunno the name of it, but you can probably, yeah, I dunno the name of it, but you can probably just type in something that's along the lines of you know, internet, mobile internet you know.
[00:17:46] Kym: Oh, power bake.
[00:17:48] Meashline: Yeah, it literally attaches it like the, the signal connects to your wifi, so we have wifi, and so it connects to the wifi that you already have and it powers on your wifi when there's no electricity to power on your wifi.
[00:18:01] Really.
[00:18:02] Kym: that's awesome.
[00:18:02] Meashline: So it's just like a little bad, like it's concept, like a battery, if you think of it like that. And so just to Google that, it, there will be things like that available for people. Yeah. So that's something that, that we have water. You know, we have running water. Most places have the well water where they have the water stored and you, you know, you access the water like that and, and it works just like any other water you turn on the faucet.
[00:18:27] What else? Infrastructure, you know, house, when you live in the city, it's just like any other city. There's buildings, there's highs, high rises, there's smaller homes there's roads, things of that nature. If you're living further out into the, like outer into the, what would call the interior or the countryside, then you might have to have all those things yourself, like you might have to have in-house water in-house, electricity, in-house, things like that.
[00:18:54] But when you live in the city, you do have access to the utilities of the city. But it is a good idea sometimes to make sure what is the backup to that, because sometimes you, you will need a backup,
[00:19:06] Kym: yeah. Gotcha. how safety, do you feel safe where you are in the city?
[00:19:10] Meashline: Yes. so I would say I feel, and this is something that maybe a little controversial, but I just will tell I'm a straightforward person. I feel safer in Africa than I do in the States, and.
[00:19:24] Kym: Yes.
[00:19:25] Meashline: the reason why that is people are like shocked when they, when I, if I say that, but, you know, there's things that we don't face here. Like, you know, sorry to say, like some, like, you know, riot, like some kind of violence, like a school shootings or public.
[00:19:40] Kym: Yeah.
[00:19:40] Meashline: You know, the public things that happen with people that, you know, have been happening more sadly more often in the States. So those are not the things that are typical to happen here, you know, so you don't feel sadly to say you don't feel like, oh, I'm out in public.
[00:19:56] Is someone going to, something going to happen? so that kind of fear is not existent here. So that, so that in itself feels a lot. You know, I'm not, you know, I'm not saying no one does anything. I'm not saying there's no as crime, right? But you to, to address that. We have, we have a hou, most people have their housing and they have, it's gated.
[00:20:20] So people tend to have gates around their, either their home or their complex. And there's usually a security person that's always in front of their com. Home or complex. So no one comes in and out of either your home or your complex or wherever you are without being recognized or without being asked, you know, who are you here for?
[00:20:41] So in that kind of personal safety, that's, that is what, you know, most people experience. But like public safety people have their, they sell at the markets, they have their food out. No one's afraid of someone. People definitely live less fearful. Honestly, there's a lot
[00:20:57] Kym: Wow,
[00:20:58] Meashline: like.
[00:20:59] Kym: that's amazing. Yeah. that's great. So what about your, do, like, how old was your daughter when you relocated there? And like, how is that going? Like, how is, is school? Are you homeschooling? Is she in school? Like, I wanna hear all that stuff too.
[00:21:13] Meashline: So, so yeah, I have a, we have a daughter. wonderful. She
[00:21:19] Kym: Oh, she's two. Okay. She's little. Okay. Aw,
[00:21:23] Meashline: she turned to here in Ree. She came, you know, so when she was one, you know, just freshly won. And yeah, well, my daughter is having the time of her life. I will say that like she is having a ball. my husband's mother is here, so her grandmother is here and this is her first grandchild. And so she is, you know, very spoiled when she goes to the hou to, you know, to her grandmother's house. There's a lot of children there. Everyone wants to hold her. she gets to hold their remote control. She gets to boss people around. She and I have to even kind of like counteract this, you know.
[00:22:03] Kym: You're like, look, it's not happening here.
[00:22:06] Meashline: my household, you often me say. She doesn't understand. No, because she's always around you know, people that wanna give her. And even in the society people are very warm the children. So even if I say we go to the store, maybe 70% of the time, she's gonna get something for free it. She says, oh, can I have, you know, she doesn't say, can I have, but she'll say, you know, Buong, which is Candy Buong. And I'm like, no, no, no, no. And then someone say, here you go. And I'm
[00:22:37] Kym: Oh, it's like I just said, no, you people need to back me up.
[00:22:42] Meashline: Yeah, exactly, exactly. Like the positive of that is that like, she's super loved. The negative of that is like, she needs to learn like boundaries and so anyway, so she's having a really great time. She's learning different languages. So she speaks French, she speaks English, she speaks que. And, you know, obviously in a 2-year-old appropriate language, you know, she says, she says different words in different languages.
[00:23:08] She just kind of meshes them all together. And so I had, she does not go to childcare. She, I have a I have someone here that, well, my niece currently who and I'm also getting a new person tomorrow actually that comes into my home and they assist me. So when I'm in my sessions then she's with, my, I call my assistant, people call 'em house girls or assistant. And so she assists me, cooks, you know, helps cook the food, watches my daughter, helps clean the house, and I help as well with my daughter. And if I'm not in my session, I'm helping coordinate and do these things. And then I'm also, you know, doing my, my private practice as well. Yeah.
[00:23:45] Kym: That's amazing. Wow. You've got it all figured out. I'm just, I, I marvel at you move to a completely new country with a 1-year-old and like just made is you're making it work. I mean, it's amazing. That's a lot. That's a lot. It's really good.
[00:24:01] Meashline: really, if I'm honest, like the reason why I Willie ultimately did this, and it sounds so corny, but it really was for love. I felt like I, I grew up with watching someone that I cared about who had desires for his life and never achieved them like that. He, he wanted to do certain things his life, and always, like his life was restricted.
[00:24:23] I feel like he didn't try to do certain things. Spouse was like, or my partner was like, I have these dreams, I have these goals. I just didn't wanna be someone that got in the way of that. I wanted to be someone that like fostered that and I wanted to also achieve my own goals and my own dreams. So it's like, how do I do, you know, how do I do both so that when we're both old and you know, and, and sitting next to each other, hopefully no one can feel like.
[00:24:52] Oh, if I wouldn't have married you, oh, if I wouldn't have, you know, settled down, or if I would, I would've been able to achieve my dreams for my life. So that's really why, you know, I don't wanna lose myself, but I also wanna support my partner. So this is how I try to do both.
[00:25:08] Kym: That's beautiful. Yeah, it really is. So we didn't really talk about it much, but your practice, so you, you've got clients in California, you're licensed in California and Maryland, and you see clients in Africa too, right? In other parts of Europe.
[00:25:22] So could you just. One, the first thing I think about is like, how in the heck do you manage those time zones? You know, like how are you dealing with that? And how's that working out for you? Like, having, west coast, east Coast and then people in Africa that you're seeing too.
[00:25:39] Like, could we just talk about that a little bit for anybody listening? 'cause I know people are like always like, well, how do you, like, how do you work? Like what time are you seeing clients and that kind of thing. That's always a question that comes up.
[00:25:49] Meashline: Yeah, no, great question. So the answer is organization. That's really the answer. if you're someone who, who desires like this kind of lifestyle, you have to do your best to be organized and it it won't come right away. It comes with building. Right.
[00:26:04] So again, with like the resistance and fear, don't think that these things have to just, you just have to be innate to you and wake up and you do it perfectly. It's gonna come with trial and error, it's gonna come with practice. You know, have I messed up before? Yes. Have, I didn't realize that the time was off. Yes. Right. Especially around daylight savings time. Right.
[00:26:25] Kym: Oh my gosh.
[00:26:26] Meashline: You know, I'm not, I'm not here to present myself as some perfect specimen. It comes with practice. So how I manage the time or how I will learn how to do it better is I have a um, there's an, there's an app for that.
[00:26:38] I have my app, and the app has, there's a few of them. And you literally, all you do is you just, whatever, you have clients wherever area, then you just put that city in your app. You have your city.
[00:26:52] Kym: Oh.
[00:26:52] Meashline: My city is Ree, so my city Ree has the time. And then I have, I put everyone else, all the clients that have in different areas. I put their cities also on there. And it's always, the app is always comparing my time to their time so it is very
[00:27:11] Kym: the name? Do you remember the name of the app? Because I know people are gonna be like, what's the name of that app? If you don't, it's okay. It's okay.
[00:27:18] Meashline: But, but you just, just Google it. Just put, it has a, like a, it has a arrow, two arrow signs blue, two arrow signs on it. I know there's, I know there is a few on online, but you just literally do, do that. And then so I can just, I slide it, I go, okay. I need to know what time it is in Maryland really quickly without having to do math in my head.
[00:27:37] Because the time changes the time. You know, three hours difference, four hours difference, et cetera. So I slide it and I go, okay, so if it's two o'clock here, that means it's, you know, five o'clock there, or if it's whatever time is, you know, and so I have that for, I have clients in Nairobi, Kenya, you know, client in, in Kingston, Jamaica in, you know, San Francisco, California, or you know, Gettysburg, Maryland like that.
[00:28:03] And then, so I can just consistently just look at that time. And then your, and then your practice management system also, you know, you have to just make sure that you c you, you sync your calendars correctly, so your calendars with like simple practice and your calendar, you know, with like your Google calendar, you wanna make sure that they sync well so that there's no disruption.
[00:28:24] So the client sees their time. The client always sees their time. They're not, the client is not obviously, tasked to navigate your time zone. You're the one that's tasked to navigate their time zone, which is of course appropriate. And so that's kind of how I, how I do it like that. And then it works out that way.
[00:28:42] As far as when I see my clients. You know, I'm very specific actually. I don't have a lot of time 'cause I have a small child and I really love being really active in her life. So I see clients between 12 noon my time and four o'clock.
[00:28:57] Kym: Nice.
[00:28:59] Meashline: and four. That's all I got for you.
[00:29:01] Kym: That's awesome. Like make it work or find somebody else.
[00:29:04] Meashline: Yeah. Yeah, that's all I got for you. So I don't see clients on Sundays. I try to keep Wednesday off nowadays, and then the rest of the days I, I, I, I allow myself to see people and then I, you know, do what I need to do. And so it's really like a, it feels like it ends up being kind of like a part-time job. It's like 20 hours or so a week probably.
[00:29:25] Kym: That's awesome.
[00:29:26] Meashline: Yeah.
[00:29:27] Kym: is awesome. Yeah. And I, I hear you. I'm glad you're saying that. Like, yeah, I sound like I've gotta figure it out, but I've definitely made mistakes. it happens like it's inevitable to just sometimes be like, oh my God, like literally I just missed an appointment. Like I've had that happen a lot.
[00:29:42] Meashline: yes, because we're human. We're human. I think that if you just embrace that and you, you try your best. But you just tell people that, you know, I try my best and, and and I will do my best. And I, if I see there's error, I will, you know, reach out. Or if you see something that's, you know, difficult for you, please, you know, let me know.
[00:30:00] And I think people usually you know, for the most part understand. But once you get the systems. Once you get the systems in order, then you're, you're, you're less stressed. You know, so looking at it from the be when you're, when you're trying to see if this is a lifestyle for you, just don't allow that to be a, you know, a, a barrier. Like, oh, I won't be able to figure it out. Like, it sounds complicated, it's an app, you know, it's just, it's just on the app.
[00:30:25] Kym: You'll get it, you'll get it. You'll figure it out. Yeah. We, we have master's degrees, right? Somehow we got licensed. I think we can figure out time zones. Thank you for saying that. so tell us about your workbook, your workshops, and how do people find you if they want to work with you?
[00:30:45] Meashline: Yeah. So, the workbook is called Navigating Resistance, understanding the Relationship Between Resistance and Change. And the workbook is really about assisting and supporting people in identifying the resistance, which is basically the thing that is blocking them from realizing the change they wanna see in their life.
[00:31:07] So it's helping people really identify what that resistance is in themselves and their life. Because oftentimes people kind of think they'll say, I wanna change, I wanna do different, but they don't really take the time to understand like, what is it that's really prohibiting you? And the resistance usually shows up looking differently than what we think is gonna look like.
[00:31:28] It usually disguises itself, it looks like being a caretaker or it looks like you know, I would be a bad person if I did that. that's an example of like being a caretaker or caregiver, that's like a face of resistance. So the workbook really has a, it breaks down different faces what I call faces of resistance, what it kind of can look like in your life.
[00:31:49] So spotted out. And then once you identify the resistance in your life, then you can kind of figure how to work with it instead of ignoring it, you can say, okay I see this resistance in my life. You know, I wanna leave this relationship. I've been trying to leave this relationship, but I haven't left it yet.
[00:32:06] What is it that's stopping me? Oh, really? Is that? I actually like this aspect of the relationship. That's what's called comfort in the uncomfortable. I like this piece of the relationship, so maybe I need to hone in on that's the resistance that's stopping me from making that next step. So let me work with that.
[00:32:24] Can I get that in other ways in my life? Is there other ways that I can achieve that desire that I have without sacrificing, you know. Of myself in certain ways. so the, the workbook does that. It have like little things, little tasks you can do and reflections and journaling and things of that nature.
[00:32:41] So it's available on amazon you just type in my name or navigating resistance, you know, understanding maybe those three words might help you find it. It has a blue cover. And then also my website is available, is available digitally on my website, and it's available in print form on Amazon.
[00:33:03] my website is you know, www.envisiontherapy.net. And then the workshop, if you're interested in the workshop, you can always message me on my website. Usually I just get a few interests and then that's when I, um host The workshop and the benefit of the workshop is that you give the opportunity to be with other people who are also, you know, trying to figure out how to navigate and learn the change that they wanna, you know, acquire the change they wanna see in their life.
[00:33:31] And then kind of bounce off ideas and concept in like a jo. like judgment free zone where we just kind of talk about, you know, oh, I want this for myself. I want this for myself. Okay. What's been setting in your way? What's difficult for you? Oh, I'm trying to figure this out. Well, what's worked for you? So that's another thing that the workshop does for people too. Yeah.
[00:33:50] Kym: I love that. I used to do groups all the time, like way back when, like IOP groups. That group dynamic, like it's just so powerful. It's just so powerful. 'cause it's like I see you and me, and me and you and it's just like, It helps with change for sure. I love it. Well thank you so much for taking the time today. This is so interesting.
[00:34:11] Meashline: Thank you so much for, for having me. I, once I, once I found you a while ago I was just really excited about the traveling therapist and it was before I, I found traveling therapist before I, before I moved.
[00:34:23] Kym: Oh, you did?
[00:34:24] Meashline: so yeah. Yeah.
[00:34:25] Kym: Oh my gosh.
[00:34:26] Meashline: Facebook group and you know, the, and I had messaged you before about, oh, you know, there's West Africans. I would African.
[00:34:36] Kym: Oh yeah. You know, when I logged in today I was like, I wonder if she's the one that asked me for that. Yeah. Because I was like, okay. Because I was like, oh, that's so smart. We need West Africa, east Africa. And then Facebook like changed, changed the chat on me. So I don't know what. What threads are in there now, but I think it's still in there.
[00:34:53] It's still
[00:34:54] Meashline: He still there
[00:34:55] Kym: you for that. I appreciate that. 'cause I don't, you know, I don't think of stuff sometimes, so I love when people gimme ideas. It's like, yes. That's so smart. Okay, I'll do that.
[00:35:03] Meashline: you were so warm and welcoming. And I was like, oh, you respond. I was like, she responded. Oh.
[00:35:12] Kym: Oh yeah, no, I appreciated that a lot. I really do. 'cause I don't, I mean. I don't know. I probably just would've done countries like I didn't think to do it, like in regions like that. So that was helpful to me too. But anyway, thank you. I look forward to following your journey. Are you on Instagram or anything like sharing about your journey or I wanna
[00:35:31] Meashline: Yes, I want, yeah, I do, you know, videos all the time on social media.
[00:35:35] Kym: Oh,
[00:35:35] Meashline: my, on Instagram, it's my name. I think my name I think it's. Or Michelin, I think M-E-A-S-H-L-I-N-E. And then Facebook is the same. And every once in a while I have like a, I have like a video about, you know, different things about the culture and the things that I
[00:35:52] Kym: Oh, I love that.
[00:35:55] Meashline: so you can find me on there.
[00:35:56] I'm available for, you know, for support, and just have conversations. Yeah.
[00:36:01] Kym: I love it. I'm gonna go follow you right after this. Thanks for being here. I really appreciate it.