By Alicia Benjamin
The desire to help people find healthy ways to navigate life’s challenges and bring them greater emotional balance, self-confidence and happiness is what motivated the husband-and-wife counseling team, Derwin and Shawntal Isaiah, to start Isaiah Counseling & Wellness 12 years ago.
“We are really passionate about making sure that people are well, and so we do that by being compassionate, by being real, by being understanding. Those are the things that are important to us,” Shawntal said.
Both Shawntal and Derwin provide private psychotherapy services to adults and young people, 13 years old and older. Shawntal earned her master’s degree in clinical social work from the University of Pittsburgh. Derwin earned his graduate degree in counseling from Webster University in South Carolina.
“My specialty is working with women who are similar to me — navigating life and wearing a million hats and trying to make themselves the priority. And feeling OK about doing that and not feeling guilty,” Shawntal said.
Derwin specializes in couples and men’s mental health, she said. “In the Black community … our men are not always open to seeking support, I think because we’ve often been taught that seeking help is a sign of weakness,” she added. “So he has a way of connecting with men and helping them to prioritize themselves and their mental health as well.”
Additional therapists at Isaiah Counseling & Wellness provide counseling services to young people (13 and over), adults, couples and families.
Shawntal said what makes their family-owned business work so well is the mutual respect she and her husband have for each other. “We’re both passionate about this work but we’re different. They each respect the different skills that the other brings to the table,” she said.
Even when they both come home from work after long and challenging days, Shawntal said she and her husband acknowledge their feelings and “then we shut it down,” she said. “We move on. I think that is what helps us.”
Isaiah Counseling & Wellness is located at 1914 Brunswick Ave., Suite 1B in Charlotte.