Jo Frederic, ACSW, LCSW, CSW-G
Equipped with strong professional experiences, a dedication to providing quality service to her clients, a strong desire to succeed, and a reliable automobile, Mobile Psychotherapy Services Founder Jo Frederic, has blazed a trail for others to follow.
A roadmap for success
Early on, Jo’s career aspirations were simple – she wanted to be a competent psychotherapist and support herself financially. So she did what many young people do. She went to college, earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and spent years gaining significant work experience as a social worker and in other fields of endeavor.
Living in beautiful Hawaii for 20 years, and returning to the Mainland in 1993, Jo found success working in for-profit and nonprofit public and private agencies, and in group and solo private practices. By her standards, things were rolling along nicely, but there was room for greater career and financial satisfaction.
Obstacles along the way
Life changed in the early 1990s when Jo’s Dad was experiencing cognitive difficulties. By 1996, he was diagnosed with a rare form of dementia, Pick’s Disease. Jo chose to return to the Mainland and moved in with her parents to help her Mom with caregiving responsibilities and to spend precious time with her Dad. Though this was not necessarily the course she initially charted for herself, this experience altered her life and paved the way to new avenues for Jo to explore.
Through caring for her father and observing the mental, emotional and physical toll his illness was taking on both he and her mother, Jo recognized that there was a woefully underserved population of seniors needing mental health services. She turned her social work knowledge and skills in that direction, and established Mobile Psychotherapy Services – forever changing the course of her own and many others’ lives.
A new direction
Since establishing Mobile Psychotherapy Services in 1997, Jo has met her clients’ needs by bringing mental health services to them, thus enabling them to receive the benefit of psychotherapy in the comfort of their residences. In addition, she has achieved a more comfortable lifestyle for herself.
Taking Mobile Psychotherapy Services on the road
Also a keen business woman, Jo learned that today, only 3 percent of clinical social workers in private practice specialize in work with seniors. As an aging population with baby boomers expected to have significant mental health needs and demands, she was inspired to share her experience and teach other psychotherapists how to take their practices on the road.
Though she spends significant time supporting other Mobile Psychotherapy Services private practitioners as they set up, manage and operate their own mobile practices, Jo maintains her own mobile practice, providing much needed mental health services to the growing numbers of clients who can say “my therapist comes to me.”
