Dr. Carleah East is a clinical psychotherapist, licensed mental health counselor, licensed supervisor, professor of psychology, and Founder/CEO of SMILE Psychology & Associates, LLC. Extensive and incredibly impressive titles aside, students call her “Dr. Diva” while clients often call her their homie.
“I like to foster a sense of friendship with my clients,” East explained, “one that doesn’t cross boundaries but is about transparency; sometimes I have to shed these acronyms behind my name and become a human being.”
Her approach to teaching is similar—it’s all about being real.
“Through my storytelling and bringing life experiences into the classroom, it helps to educate students and maybe be more accepting of whatever they have going on,” she said. “That’s what education should be about—it’s not just teaching about the world; it should include teaching the students about themselves.”
East’s journey to counseling originally started with the legal interpretation until she realized her passion for helping people in a different way.
“I knew that I was meant to help and that I had a way of reaching out to folks who wouldn’t feel judged,” she recalled. “I’m good with being the representative of the therapists out there who genuinely love and care about their clients.”
SMILE Psychology was founded on such principles of love and truth.
“We are not the, ‘How does that make you feel’ group,” East laughs. “I tell people to imagine they’re on the phone with a close friend, that’s the kind of relationship we foster here.”
The physical office location is in St. Pete, but services have gone virtual since the global pandemic hit.
“From beginning to end, there’s no judgement and you get to feel safe in your own home so you can feel secure and we can work more flexibly,” East said. “I’ve also had clients call me on their lunch break or commute home from work; we’re just talking.”
During my conversation with Dr. Diva for this profile, one of her clients who would have panic attacks while driving sent her a text saying they just drove for 20 minutes without any problems.
“That’s the type of relationship we have, they felt comfortable enough to send me a message out of the blue on a Thursday afternoon,” she explained.
East’s practice also ensures each session is beneficial for the client in a tangible manner.
“Nobody leaves SMILE without two or three nuggets they can plant and see growth from,” East said. “That’s what sets us apart: we make sure everyone leaves with some seeds of hope that they can immediately see growth.”
East and her team at SMILE want to support people in our community who can’t afford therapy, so they’re organizing a fundraiser during the month of September to raise $10,000 to give counseling to people impacted by the global pandemic.
“We know people are suffering who need our services,” East said. “I’m not raising 10K to pay my rent, I’m raising money to provide services for up to 200 clients until alternative funding comes through.”
The fundraiser will go live on SMILE’s website (smilepsychology.com) and every donor will get a positivity playlist of different genres by local DJ Tayy. “She DJs all my events. Music has such a power to heal, motivate, and inspire; in these dark times, we need that,” East said.
And if you’re still on the fence about reaching out to anyone, heed this piece of advice from the Dr.: “The answer is never really ‘don’t do it’—the answer is to find ways to get through it.”
See all winners from Best of the Bay 2020.
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This article appears in Best of the Bay 2020.
