Meet Shawanda Williams-Anderson | Neuropsychologist

Starting my own business came from necessity. My family experienced a pretty traumatic event and when looking for psychological resources in my community, I found there weren’t any. Secondary to the event, I needed the freedom to take time off from work, provide care for my children, and just to grieve and heal. So, when starting my psychological practice on the northwest side of Houston, I already knew there was a need, a niche, and that it would be beneficial to me and my family. My career goals at the time did not include independent practice or being a business owner. I wasn’t sure I could do it, but it made sense and was the cleared path at the time. Once I began the process, I recognized that it wasn’t as overwhelming as I’d thought and that I was actually good at it. I started off part-time, with a very slim budget and it grew rapidly.

As a psychologist, I have never taken one single business course. So psychologists who practice independently really learn from each other, and being that we are in the helping profession, business is probably not our forte. But, and I know how to do research. So, my practice has been successful because I’ve learned from my mistakes and recognized the benefit of constructive criticism and learning from others. It in no way has been an easy course, and I have had to pivot and change business models at least three times in the last 13 years. But it’s always been about growth and learning to work smarter not harder. Some of the challenges have been, insurance reimbursement, learning to work within managed-care, juggling being an administrator and a clinician; as well as having a family. When the Affordable Healthcare Act initiated, it changed the game completely and was really one of my biggest challenges. Thus, I made the decision to change or modify payor sources and downsized the practice. It actually has been one of my best decisions to date. So now, I contract my work to 3rd party payouts as opposed to seeing individual patients for insurance reimbursement. I primarily provide neuropsychological services for forensic settings/reasons and work with attorneys, state agencies, disability services and independent medical evaluators. With this business model, I can focus more on practical, clinical work rather than administrative duties. This way, the patients and clients can get the most ethical and competent work without the distraction of any red tape.

I like to eat! So, the first stop on any given day would be The Breakfast Klub on Alabama. Good food, good atmosphere. I also think Houston has a lot to offer in terms of art and diversity, so a walking or bike tour of downtown Houston would showcase both those characteristics of the city. Miller Outdoor Theater is a must. My husband is a food truck owner (Coach’s Crawfish) and he knows many of the places for good eats. So I think a food truck tour including the Funnel Bar, Husky Sno, Twisted Grilled Chreese, and Freedman’s Farmers Market would be great. Lastly, taking in a professional sporting event like the Texans or the Rockets game would definitely be on the itinerary.

Without wavering, I would say that my husband, Traevis Anderson, was instrumental in helping me start the practice. He has always been supportive and eventhough we were both apprehensive about investing money and going from a full-time to part-time salary, he never said no and picked up the slack where needed. He also acted as maintenance, security, decorator, and moving guy with his truck every time he was needed.