March – Success
Nell Wegmann, President of Couples Counseling and Virtual client at Union Plaza OffiCenter, is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. With over 30 years experience, her style is collaborative and interactive helping her get couples to the heart of the matter and feel closer and more connected. To learn more about Nell and Couples Counseling, keep reading.
Every business has a story, tell us yours.
I’ve been practicing Marriage & Family Therapy for 30 years. We recently moved to Minneapolis from Richmond VA and I had to start over building my private practice. OffiCenters is the perfect location to start seeing one couple at a time. Over the last 1 ½ years my practice has grown and I am able again to help couples reconnect and feel close again.
You were chosen as this month’s Success Client. Tell us about your most recent Success.
A couple came in after one partner had recently had an affair. I worked with them for 14 sessions and they are doing so much better. In fact, they told me at the end of the last session that, if it weren’t for me, they wouldn’t be together. I love it when they do the work and I get the credit.
No one likes to brag about their business, but if you HAD TO . . .
I’m really good at working with couples where one partner has a hard time expressing his/her thoughts and feelings and so has shut down. I create a safe place for them to reconnect with important feelings and help them share them, sometimes for the first time.
We learn from our mistakes, especially in business. Give us some words of wisdom.
I thought setting up a private practice here would be similar to how I’ve done it in the past. That was naïve. Minneapolis has stronger licensing regulations, 5 Marriage & Family Therapy graduate programs (so there is more competition) and more sophisticated internet users, so it is a whole different market. All of that slowed down the process.
Share the best advice you ever received.
From a business perspective, I’ve been encouraged to carve out a niche market. For the past 10 years, I’ve specialized in just working with couples, which is like being a sub-specialist. All my work, training and reading is focused on couples. From a clinical perspective, the best advice I’ve received is that anger is a cover for fear. Facing some fears is too frightening, so many of us protect ourselves from having to deal with our fear, by getting angry. It feels a lot stronger and safer. So here is some free advice: next time you see someone is angry, stop and think about what they might be afraid of. It changes everything, when you can see the fear behind the anger.
Describe your perfect day off.
Whenever weather permits, I like to be outside, running or biking. My husband and I like to read and watch movies too. We moved to the Twin Cities because my daughter, son-in-law and granddaughters are here, so spending time with them is always fun.
What might someone be surprised to know about you?
When in the Spanish Sahara in 1971, an Arab offered my then boyfriend 3 camels for me…..In the dessert, that is a big deal!
Together we are stronger. Tell us something you like about being our client.
OffiCenters has been a godsend. The offices are lovely, the staff is professional and warm and they take good care of my clients. I feel very much at home here.
If you could work anywhere under the sun, where would you choose?
I’d love to have an office in a tree-house surrounded by green in the summer and stark bare trees in the winter.
How can people CONNECT with you?
My website is: couplescounselingllc.com and my email is nell@couplescounselingllc.com
My phone is 612-323-8288
