“No One Talks About This.” Diane Palacios Is Working to Change That.

SheAchieves Focus Entrepreneur

Pregnancy and parenthood are often surrounded by expectations of joy. When the experience brings grief or emotional distress, those expectations can leave little room to talk honestly about it.

Diane Palacios is a licensed professional counselor in Phoenix specializing in perinatal mental health and trauma. She founded Palacios Crew Counseling and Palacios Pathways, through which she provides counseling and publishes informational booklets.

Diane is our featured SheAchieves Focus Entrepreneur. Through this series, we share the journeys of Arizona women entrepreneurs to help more people get to know them and discover their businesses. We spoke with Diane about her approach to care and the decisions behind building a practice of her own.

Edited for length and clarity.

Tell us about your two businesses. Who do you help, and what brings them to you?

Palacios Crew Counseling is a small group therapy practice specializing in perinatal mental health. We work with people navigating pregnancy and life after childbirth, including those experiencing postpartum depression, anxiety, OCD, infertility, pregnancy or infant loss, and birth trauma.

Our clinicians offer individual therapy and couples counseling. We also connect clients with resources in the community when they need additional support.

Through Palacios Pathways, I publish booklets addressing sensitive topics such as pregnancy loss, infertility and postpartum depression. They grew out of hearing mothers’ stories and recognizing a need for support during experiences that can be difficult to discuss.

As a licensed therapist, I want to give women a private way to explore difficult questions at their own pace, with information from a credible source. The booklets help women make sense of their symptoms and emotions, feel understood and know they are not alone. They can support someone who is not ready or able to begin counseling, or supplement therapy she is already receiving. They are not a replacement for counseling.

What would you want someone considering your practice to know about your approach to care?

You may have imagined becoming a parent would feel different. Perhaps you feel disconnected from your baby or are carrying the weight of a difficult birth. When everyone around you expects you to be happy, it can be hard to admit that you’re struggling, much less know where to turn.

When you work with us, you don’t have to pretend that everything is okay.

We offer warm, compassionate, trauma-informed therapy focused on perinatal mental health, a specialty in which I am certified. You’ll have a safe space to talk about things that are often difficult to say out loud. We’ll meet you where you are and help you understand what you’re experiencing as you work toward healing and finding your footing again.

You deserve support, too. You shouldn’t have to suffer silently because your experience doesn’t match what others expect this season of life to look like.

What led you to start your own practice?

I wanted to concentrate on my area of expertise while having more time with my family. Opening Palacios Crew Counseling in 2021 was a way to pursue both.

I care deeply about helping people through difficult transitions. Having my own practice allowed me to focus on that work while pursuing the work-life balance I wanted for myself. I believe in the power of hope and healing, and I wanted to build a business around sharing that with others.

How has making care more accessible changed your business?

For many people, insurance is what makes counseling affordable. Paying the full cost out of pocket simply isn’t within their budget. About two and a half years ago, I began accepting insurance because I wanted our services to be within reach for more people who needed care.

Accepting insurance also means working within its requirements and receiving lower reimbursement rates. That affects the financial side of the practice. I still have to sustain the business and earn a living for my family while providing the care I believe in.

That balance is an ongoing challenge. Making services more accessible has to work alongside keeping the practice financially viable so we can continue serving people.

Where would you like to put more of your time and energy?

I really enjoy training clinicians who are passionate about perinatal mental health. I would like to devote more time to staff development and supporting their work in this specialty.

Making room for that while maintaining my own client work is a balance I am still working through.

What advice would you give another woman considering starting a business?

Know your strengths and build on them. You do not have to be good at every part of running a business. When something falls outside your strengths, look for someone who can help or take it on. Delegating gives you more room to focus on the work you do well and the value you bring to your business.

Connect with Diane

Diane Palacios is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Licensed Independent Addiction Counselor, with certifications in perinatal mental health and EMDR therapy. She is bilingual in English and Spanish and brings more than 30 years of mental health and community service experience to her work, including serving unsheltered women and children in Los Angeles and helping open a family group foster home for teen girls in Arizona.

Palacios Crew Counseling is located at 214 E. Monterey Way, Phoenix, AZ 85012, and offers in-person and virtual sessions.

To learn more or connect with her practice, visit Palacios Crew Counseling or call 602.767.3706. To explore her booklets on sensitive topics surrounding pregnancy, postpartum and loss, visit Palacios Pathways.

You can also share her work with someone who may be looking for this kind of support.

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Every business has a woman behind it. We’d like to meet you.

Why did you start? Who do you help? What are you working to build?

Our Focus Entrepreneur program shares your story to help your business reach its next customers. If you’d like to be featured, email Info@SheAchieves.org.