Superior resident opens Room to Breathe Counseling

Taking what you’re passionate about and turning it into your profession is every adult’s deepest aspiration; this is true whether you’re 18 or 58. And when your passion also coincides with meeting an important need in your own community, or in the world, the success is that much sweeter.

The late Steve Jobs even claimed, “The only way to do great work is to love what you do.”

Superior resident, Lawana McGuffey recently started living out a career dream of hers after opening her own mental health practice called Room to Breathe Counseling. And it’s even more fulfilling than she imagined.

“Though it sounds cliché, I love helping people and I am so thrilled to be able to do this as my job,” exclaimed McGuffey.

Throughout her life she has often been the person that people come to for advice. She said, “For decades, I have given counsel and encouragement as a friend and mentor. I love helping people seek peace and joy in their lives and I wanted to be licensed and do it as my job.”

Prior to counseling she worked in elementary education and taught in private schools. McGuffey explained, “After several years of teaching, I became a uniformed police officer in Anniston, Alabama. After that I stayed home most of the time and homeschooled our children.” Her other side jobs included being a casual herbalist and wildcrafter. McGuffey stated, “I enjoy making herbal salves and tinctures to help my family and, in the past, I sold them commercially.”

But then in 2017, a new job opportunity helped narrow in her focus and set to work on following her path into mental healthcare. McGuffey shared, “I was blessed to go to work for Nancy Smith at Choices for Change Counseling as a receptionist, and soon after at the age of 58 began graduate school to get my Master of Social Work. I practiced as an addiction counselor candidate under Nancy's supervision.” In addition to her own practice, Room to Breathe Counseling, she is also a contract counselor, in mental health, for the Papillion Center of Gallatin, Tennessee.

After receiving her undergraduate degree from Jacksonville State University in Alabama she pursued a Master's from Campbellsville University in Kentucky. McGuffey said, “My Master's degree took two years and was completely online. I worked full time and still had two teenagers at home.”

Fortunately, her husband, Clint was retired while she went back to school and he helped with their children’s homeschooling as well as keeping home life running smoothly. Her employer was also very supportive of her schooling journey. McGuffey confessed, “It was very hard for me and I think I was the oldest person in my program by a long shot but because I had so much support, I was able to do very well and graduated in May of 2020.”

For McGuffey, it has always been easy to see the value and importance of counseling and mental healthcare. She noted, “I have personally benefitted from therapy in the past. I appreciated the low-key, easy-going rapport with my counselor and I enjoy providing that for others.”

And as she progressed through her schooling and toward her new career, she has been grateful for various avenues of support and guidance. McGuffey reflected, “I have had many mentors along the way. My mom, who at almost 93 still is active in the lives of many people, speaking support, love, and encouragement into their lives. She has been my greatest example of selflessness, encouragement, and wisdom.”

She added that longtime social worker and local counselor, Nancy Smith, and the staff at Choices for Change Counseling also contributed greatly to mentoring her and encouraging her career. McGuffey expressed, “I am also grateful to the local community of therapists, counselors, and social workers that daily teach me and help me find my way in this new career. They have accepted me as part of their community and richly blessed me.”

McGuffey’s new practice, Room to Breathe Counseling will be open to adults and children. She stated, “I can work with people with addictions as well as mental health concerns. Another part of this new practice is that I provide life coaching, and advocacy as well.”

As for the name of her new practice she said, “I think the name came from the thought that people are looking for peace...room to breathe so to speak.” She also added, “Everyone needs a little help sometimes. If that is with an addiction or a mental health problem, these involve diagnoses and my skills as a licensed counselor.”

“Sometimes people just hit a rough patch and need a little guidance and encouragement,” acknowledge McGuffey.” This is where her life coaching services will come into play. She noted, “At this point, my life coaching is focused on professionals, but it is applicable to anyone who is in a rut, wants to change their life, or just needs a little help reaching goals.”

McGuffey is glad to see the advancements in mental healthcare as well as decrease in negative feelings over seeking help. She shared, “We are entering an era of destigmatization for behavioral health. People with mental health needs can range from serious mental illnesses to milder diagnoses. There are many evidence-based treatments that can help people get their lives back on track. This is done matter of factly with no judgment and no stigma. It is very much like going to the doctor or the dentist. The concern is evaluated, the client decides what direction they would like to take and the therapist comes alongside with effective treatments and support.”

McGuffey also recognized that, “In Mineral County, we are so blessed with natural beauty and recreational opportunities and we also tend to be rugged individualists. In rural areas, there can be difficulties with making a living wage, housing, and education.” And Montana has had the unfortunate reputation of having high rates of depression and suicides over the past decade.

In 2021, the National Alliance on Mental Illness reported that one in five U.S. adults experience mental illness each year. 163,000 adults in Montana have a mental health condition. More than half of people with a mental health condition in the U.S. did not receive any treatment in the last year. 573,811 people in Montana live in a community that does not have enough mental health professionals. So, people who live in rural areas like those in Mineral County, it is a struggle to find the help and care they desperately need.

“Our close-knit communities can wrap around and support us at times but sometimes there is quick judgment and condemnation from the community if people struggle due to stressors, addiction, and trauma. This is where I and the other behavioral health professionals come into play with our non-judgmental and discreet help to reach life goals,” remarked McGuffey.

She is eager for the community engagement part of her new practice. Adding that, “I am so excited about seminars, and working with my colleagues in private practice, in the schools, and in public health. I want to help professionals with self-actualization and preventing burnout and compassion fatigue.”

McGuffey also mentioned, “I am also an educator at heart and will begin some seminars this summer. The first one should be coming out in July and will change lives by changing how we perceive fear of failure and inadequacy and how to keep these fears from preventing us from taking risks to move forward in life. It will be called Room to Breathe - Fear.” It will be open and available to the public.

At Room to Breathe Counseling, time spent with her clients whether it’s in person or virtually is what’s most significant. But with that in mind McGuffey said, “I hope to keep my client load fairly small so I can give them each the attention they deserve as well as keeping time open to be a mom and grandmother.” And after almost 34 years of marriage, eight children, and 13 grandchildren, she can attest to the principles of strong relationships.

McGuffey is proudly licensed as an addiction counselor, and she is also a licensed clinical social worker candidate. She said, “This means I see mental health clients under supervision until I have completed 3,000 hours and passed my test. I am duly supervised.” She plans to work on a cash pay, sliding fee scale.