All About Me...

Hi! I am Dr. Tina Vitolo. I am a licensed clinical social worker and I have my doctorate in social work. My dissertation researched the impact of complementary and alternative interventions in clinical social work practice.

I help unconventional mental health therapists ethically merge their non-traditional and spiritual interventions into their clinical practice without sacrificing their unique skill set and passion to build a professional life of freedom!

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My Story

In 2022, I found myself in a place I never expected. I had just completed my doctoral degree and had spent three years researching and studying the beneficial impact of complementary and alternative interventions in social work practice. I was hooded as an absolute expert on this topic and its clinical application. But here’s the kicker: despite all this knowledge, experience, and "expertise," I still didn’t feel confident in my ability to integrate these tools into my private practice. I had this resounding fear that I was somehow moving unethically and compromising the license I worked so hard to obtain.

I felt like a sham. I mean, I literally chose to get this degree, and here I was, still feeling like an imposter. What the actual F&$k? I got the highest degree possible! There is nothing else to learn! I remember thinking, "This literally cannot be it." I felt defeated, frustrated, and embarrassed. But then, one day, something shifted.

I got pissed! I decided I was not going to accept this. There was no way in hell I was going to invest over $200,000 into my education not to practice the way I wanted to. Especially when I personally and professionally knew the benefit and the accelerated healing that could exist when blending the two.

I began to think about the mental health system and how much it has failed us, and how much it was failing the vulnerable individuals looking for change. I saw amazing therapists jumping to coaching, and I understood it, but I also saw the huge gap that was being created in the mental health field. If every innovative therapist jumps to coaching because they don’t know what steps to follow to do this legally and ethically, what happens to all those vulnerable people looking for a therapist that blends the two? My private practice clients would tell me all the time how much they benefited from my approaches and my integration of spirituality.

Even though I knew in my heart this was the type of healer I was meant to be, I still hid the integration of my practices from my colleagues. I mean, they would think I was nuts if I was integrating oracle cards, my intuition, or crystals. However, the more I aligned these practices with clients, the more whole, genuine, and authentic I felt.

The more aligned I felt in my clinical practice with clients, the more isolated I felt in the field. I just wanted to show up authentically in all aspects of my life; however, I found myself shutting down or turning on pieces of me depending on who I was around. It was exhausting. As a spiritual being, human, and healer, I struggled with having all these parts of me exist at the same time, but I knew this was the key to my personal and professional freedom.

Something I learned quickly was that there was not an easy answer to my questions. I was reading through my scope of practice, getting cross-eyed because the language was so vague! I started emailing my state boards; however, I came to the realization that the board is not here to support me. (ooof!) That seemed common knowledge for most people, but it shocked me. “The board writes the laws but cannot help you interpret the law”....when I saw this response, I literally fell out! Whaaaat?!

I reached out to old professors, chatted with colleagues, and everyone would say, “You have a good idea, I wish you luck with that,” but they couldn’t give me any guidance on where to go next. Then I hired a law group specializing in helping medical professionals integrate Complementary and Alternative Medicine, and I thought I hit the jackpot. After spending close to $1000 just to “chat” for 45 minutes, they sent me an email saying they didn’t think I was a good fit and they couldn’t help me. Niiiiice.

I was seriously ready to give up—school, boards, professors, lawyers, colleagues, no one could help me.

I would meet with intuitives and psychics, and they would always tell me that this is what I was destined to do. They would tell me to be patient and that one day it would all align and make sense. Have you ever rolled your eyes at your spirit guides? (Yeah, me too.)

But one day, in true spirit fashion, I was staring out the window while sitting on my couch and heard, “malpractice group.” What? Did I hear that right?

I immediately took out my laptop and started looking up malpractice groups. I found two and emailed them both, and boom, one got back to me right away. I figured that if I couldn’t get answers within my profession, a malpractice law group would be sure to tell me if I was moving ethically and legally.

First thing, we dove into the state board requirements. I learned what language to look for, and I understood that the boards do not really have explicit language. We have been brainwashed to fear the board when, in fact, the terminology is a joke. But just because they do not offer clarity doesn’t mean that it gave me a free pass to move how I wanted to.

So, I provided the law group with my vision. After all, I wanted to feel confident and competent in my innovative practices, and a regular informed consent was just not going to cut it. I examined my state board's scope of practices with a magnifying glass. Although they did not speak about empirically supported treatments or evidence-based practice, I felt compelled to create language around how my unconventional practices aligned.

I built this formula:

Integrative Clinical Practice Framework + Clinical Fusion of Unconventional Practices within an Evidence-Based Framework + Identified Risks + Applicable Trainings and Expertise = Personalized Informed Consent = Professional Freedom! BOOM!

I remember sending my lawyers a 10-page report including all of this and saying, “Am I gucci???” Oh, the relief I felt when they said, “Yes, I have no idea what else you could be missing!” I was like….FINALLY!!! I was so excited and eager to share this knowledge with other therapists who shared the same frustration and fear as I did. I decided to invest in a coaching program to help me educate, market, and build a community of innovative therapists!

I took all the knowledge I had gathered from my personal journey, my academic education, and coaching education and packaged it into the Innovative Practitioner Accelerator Program. It is literally a one-of-a-kind, all-inclusive guide for you to become the healer you have always meant to be, transform into an expert in your holistic modalities, build competency around clinical theory and evidence-based practices, and build a personalized informed consent that protects you, your clients, and your practice.

Now, I have two successful businesses: my private holistic mental health practice and as an empowerment coach for unconventional therapists!

I get to teach and model what I needed in both realms. I always say it is our life purpose to find something we are passionate about, find the gap, and fill it. That is exactly what I did!

Having professional freedom to practice the way I want has allowed me to impact more lives and make a bigger impact. It isn’t just about the 1:1 impact, but the collective consciousness shift that is occurring due to the accelerated healing that my clients are experiencing by blending these modalities. I show up to my sessions empowered, excited, and filled with joy, and I give my clients permission to do the same. My clients are becoming models in their own community, and their friends and family want to know what they are doing.

The more aligned we become, the more of a magnet we become for our ideal clients. It’s simple math. But I’ll be honest, it was hard to believe it until I did it. I don’t do any marketing in my private practice, and I have built my practice off referrals. Even better, I don't even take insurance clients.

I remember what it felt like to have clients I didn’t vibe with. Now, I can’t wait to log on. Even better, the more aligned I became, the more doors opened for me. I went from not knowing more than one or two therapists that integrated more innovative practices to having one of the fastest-growing communities of unconventional therapists!

Having professional freedom in my private practice allowed me to dream bigger and create more. It was like once I achieved something I never thought I could, I couldn’t wait to take on something more. It’s like the domino effect….every day I am just more and more excited about what's next! This is exactly what co-creation is!

And I want this for YOU too! I can’t wait for you to feel true professional freedom.

It’s time to redefine yourself!It’s time to release the fear!It’s time for you to embrace becoming the innovative healer you have always meant to be!It’s time to move empowered!It’s time to celebrate your story, passion, and skills!