Meet Rebecca Johnson Osei | CEO & Clinical Psychologist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Rebecca Johnson Osei and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rebecca, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
I know people can have incredibly divergent tolerance for risk. Most people probably fall somewhere towards the middle of the spectrum, but then you have people who are very tolerant and others who are so risk-averse that they almost never leave the comfort of their safety zone. I tend to think of risk-taking as situation specific. People who are always risk-seeking for the emotional high concern me, but I also worry about people so averse that they experience anxiety when thinking about risks. I do think a certain amount of risk is necessary though, to live a full life and reach our potential. If we stay where we are comfortable, we also don’t get to grow. We don’t get to learn about ourselves in ways that can only happen by experiencing something new or finding ourselves in a situation requiring us to be resilient. For me, one of the biggest risks I took in life was opening my therapy practice. In truth, I could have done it sooner but of course doing so was a big risk and that was scary. But we also know what they say about risk and rewards!

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
One of the things I am most proud of will probably seem a bit strange: I am actually really proud that there are a huge number of mental health practices borrowing from our model. The idea for a concierge practice came to me many years ago, and it was heavily based on the medical concierge model which was also in its infancy at the time. But in the mental health field, this is something that really wasn’t being done at all at the time, and I used to spend hours on the phone with potential clients explaining concierge mental healthcare. For the record, it largely has to do with having therapists who limit their caseloads, so that they can be more available and more tuned in to their existing clientele. We don’t use gate keepers, so you can always reach your therapist directly, and we have a significant focus on providing high-quality, accessible care with an emphasis on the customer experience. I like to say that we are the Rolls-Royce of therapy. I truly believe this model allows for the best kind of care. There are so many amazing therapists in the world, but most of them are worked until they burn out, and no matter how good a therapist you are there’s only so much you can do when you don’t even have time for a lunch break in your day! The system has become totally driven by the need to see as many clients as humanly possible in a day or a week largely because of low payments from insurance providers relative to the cost of running a practice. Conversely, our therapists see an average of four to five clients a day! This allows them to really focus on every single person they work with. I hope more therapists and psychologists will begin to utilize this model because everybody deserves a therapist that makes them feel like they are their only client!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Breakfast at Malibu Farm Café on Malibu pier (o.m.g. the Swedish Pancakes!) ALL THE BEACHES.
A drive through Malibu Canyon.
A stay at the Montecito Inn (Charlie Chaplin’s hotel!)
Santa Barbara in toto – perhaps a massage at the Salt Caves
Brunch at Cici’s in Westlake.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are so many people who have deeply impacted my life. It would be impossible to really go through all of them. And I say impacted because sometimes it’s a negative experience that has the most effect on you. On the positive side, I was fortunate enough to have a supportive family who have empowered me, pushed me, and supported me; both family I was born into and family I found. But there have also been people and situations in my life that have taught me through strife and the struggle. In particular, as a graduate trainee, I found myself in a toxic environment that was very hard to withstand, but it taught me that I am strong and resilient, and that I can persevere even in situations where someone is constantly trying to cut me down. A similar situation early in my career helped to motivate me to open my private practice, because sometimes it takes a situation to be so bad that the risks inherent in removing ourselves from the situation seem trivial in comparison with the consequences of staying put.  I wouldn’t wish anyone to find themselves in the same positions, but having been through them, I can’t pretend that they didn’t play major roles in forming who I am today and how I approach problems and obstacles both professionally and personally. I’ve also been fortunate enough to of aligned myself in my business with some pretty amazing Psychologists who have helped keep me motivated and oriented to why we do what we do. We’re constantly learning from each other so our group is in a constant, galvanizing state of perpetual improvement. I always tell my clients: if you’re alive and well, perhaps everything in your life, good and bad, has worked out exactly as it was supposed to! And if you don’t feel that’s true, there are people on this Earth whose entire job is to help you get to a place where you do.

Website: https://conciergepsychologyla.com/

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

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/conciergepsychology

Twitter: https://twitter.com/conciergepsyc

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ConciergePsychology/

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/concierge-psychology-westlake-village

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