Meet Joy Johnson: Psychotherapist & Author

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

Hi Joy, do you disagree with some advice that is more or less universally accepted?
I honestly don’t believe that self-esteem is very important, in conventional terms. Having high self-esteem tends to mean thinking highly of yourself. While that’s not a bad thing, it can be a difficult place to get to when you’re already struggling. Often, the methods we use to try to increase esteem can end up leading us to compare ourselves to others and trigger our inner critic, which is rarely helpful. I specialize in self-compassion, which s found to be much more effective to your overall wellbeing. Self-compassion can meet you right where you are, no matter how little or highly you think of yourself. It simply asks that you treat yourself the same way you would a dear friend. Self-compassion reminds us that we’re all flawed humans just doing their best, just like those we love most. Rather than being another critic or enemy to yourself, self-compassion encourages you to befriend yourself, to simply ask, “What would I say to someone I love who made this mistake or is struggling with this?” Research and my own personal work as a therapist has shown building a practice of self-compassion to be incredibly healing for folks.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I just wrote my first book, The Self-Compassion Workbook, which released this month. It’s a guide to self-compassion filled with lots of practice exercises for cultivating more love, kindness, and acceptance for yourself. I often joke that I’m a recovering perfectionist and self-compassion has been an integral part of my growth in learning to be kinder to myself and take risks (like writing a book!). In it, I’ve drawn upon my own experience, as well as my years work in the mental health field. This book is accessible for anyone, no matter if you’re a total self-compassion skeptic or you’ve been practicing for years. Getting to this point in my career has been both challenging and incredibly rewarding. I’ve worked in psychiatric facilities, in-home therapy services, medical social work, and employee assistance programs, just to name a few! My desire to help others combined with my perfectionism was a recipe for burnout. I was so hard on myself for not being able to single-handedly change broken systems – which, looking back, is not only an impossible expectation but a thought that led me to be more self-involved rather than able to care for others and work toward systemic change. Starting my own psychotherapy practice has been wonderful and exciting to have more agency in my work, what clients I work with, and how I set up my own systems for helping them. Self-compassion allowed me to heal and intentionally create what worked best for my wellbeing, which in turn allows me to be a better therapist and show up for others in more meaningful ways in every part of my life. The process of writing the book was it’s own self-compassion practice! It was exhausting but also such an amazing way to be able to understand my own journey and share what I’ve learned more people!

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?
I live in southwest Atlanta and I might be biased, but I’d say it’s the BEST side! The Westside Beltline is never overcrowded and has lots of new local spots opening up. Monday Night Garage, Bogg’s Social & Supply, and Slutty Vegan are some of my SW favorites. There have also been several socially distanced protests, festivals, and events at our local parks supporting local activist groups and I feel lucky to be a part of this community. While it’s not on the Westside, Superica is one of the restaurants I recommend to everyone visiting ATL. My current favorite coffee shop: Buteco in Grant Park Favorite ice cream spot: Big Softie in Summerhill Best donuts: Revolution, hands down! Best gluten free everything: Hell Yeah! Gluten Free in Inman Park Basically, the perfect week in Atlanta would consist of lots of good eating, brewery hopping, and lots of walks on the Beltline & around our beautiful parks. Then, we’d go to the mountains for some hiking – maybe Blood Mountain or Emery Creek Falls in North Georgia.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
It’s hard to choose! I’ve been so thankful for the support I’ve received in my work in Atlanta through the years. First, I couldn’t be a therapist without my clients. I feel so honored that they share their stories with me and allow me to hold space for them each day. I also have to acknowledge my current colleagues – we created a beautiful office space in Inman Park together that we don’t get to use much at the moment, but I’m still so thankful to be part of this group of badass women: Sarah Birdsong, psychotherapist specializing in couples counseling (https://www.birdsongtherapy.com/) as well as corporate diversity coaching & training (https://www.larkinbirdsong.com/) Elizabeth O’Brien, psychotherapist specializing in maternal mental health (https://www.eoba-lpc.com/) Sarah Price of Neon Cardigan, offering conscious coaching for personal & professional growth and brand design (https://www.neoncardigan.com/) Destiny Winters-Davis, associate counselor specializing in holistic health & chronic illness – https://www.destinywinters.com/ One of the first people that comes to mind when it comes to building my psychotherapy practice is Stephanie Cook of Couples Counseling ATL. She agreed to meet me for coffee when I was first starting out and offered tons advice and encouragement as a friend and colleague. She’s now built a thriving group practice specializing in couples counseling with multiple locations in town! (https://counselingatl.com/) More recently, Alison Harney of The Writing Room ATL was an incredible resource for writing my book. She led an Artist’s Way group that helped me learn how to get unblocked creatively and was everything I needed to be able to write a book during this crazy year! (https://www.writingroomatl.com/)

Website: www.therapywithjoy.com
Instagram: therapywithjoy
Facebook: Facebook.com/therapywithjoy
Other: You can find my book here: https://amzn.to/2FqmiJT …or where ever books are sold!

Image Credits
First photo (headshot) – Katie Snyder Art from the office photo by Merideth Hanscom