12: Adriana Popescu, Ph.D., L.C.P. – Creating a Successful Business Going Outside the Bounds of Traditional Psychology

Masters in Psychology Podcast

Dr. Adriana Popescu is a licensed clinical psychologist, an addiction and trauma specialist, and empowerment coach with over 25 years of experience in the mental health field. In this podcast interview, she reveals her personal and academic journey which helped her identify, and overcome, her own experiences with severe illness, hopelessness, and depression. Dr. Popescu discusses her path to recovery and how her passion to learn more about alternative therapies and spirituality opened her mind, and world, to a holistic approach to physical and mental health. She applies these techniques and approaches to her clients and has directed a number of treatment programs in the San Francisco Bay area. She is also the Clinical Director at Avery Lane, an innovative and holistic treatment program for women with co-occuring addiction and mental health disorders. Dr. Popescu has always known that she wanted to help people and go into the healing arts as her dad was a doctor. She originally planned on going into psychiatry because she wanted to help people with their problems, so she attended Dartmouth College and started premed. However, she eventually realized that psychiatry isn’t necessarily doing therapy with people anymore, rather, it is more focused on prescribing medications. Therefore, she changed her focus to psychology. After receiving her B.A. in Psychology, she wanted to take a year off of school before going on for her Ph.D., so she went to Vail, CO where she experienced a series of events that changed her life and academic path. She became very ill, and the doctors didn’t know what was wrong with her. She intuitively knew that she needed to find out what was happening with her body, so she began her journey towards health and wellness by going to massage therapy school in Boulder, CO. She then continued her journey by learning more about meditation, muscle testing, chiropractic, and nutritional supplements. Her passion grew even more when attending graduate school at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in Palo Alto, CA where she learned about Eastern philosophy, somatic psychology, shamanic traditions, and had classes in Yoga and Aikido. She was so driven that she became a certified hypnotherapist, Brainspotting Practitioner, Access Consciousness Facilitator, and Neuro Emotional Technique (NET) Practitioner. In 1999, her world opened up even further when she learned about Energy Psychology. Later she learned more about Talk to the Entities (TTTE), a specialty area of Access Consciousness. Dr. Popescu shares some impactful advice for those interested in applying their graduate degree in psychology outside of the academic world. She states “Well, they don’t teach you in grad school how to run a business, unfortunately, and they should.” She also explains how being willing to go outside the bounds of the traditional model may increase your financial prospects. During the podcast interview, Dr. Popescu shares her belief that “Self-judgment, or judgment in general, is the greatest source of human suffering.” Dr. Popescu enjoys travelling around the world facilitating and attending various workshops on Energy Psychology and Access Consciousness. She has contributed to a number of books, including TJ Woodward’s Conscious Being Workbook, The Conscious Recovery MethodTM Workbook, and the Conscious Creation Workbook. Her own book, What if You’re Not as F**ked Up As You Think You Are? is currently in press, due for release in late 2021. Connect with Dr. Popescu: Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram | Youtube | WebsiteConnect with the Show: Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter https://vimeo.com/590117224 Interests and Specializations Dr. Popescu is a licensed clinical psychologist, an addiction and trauma specialist, and empowerment coach. She is trained and certified in a variety of approaches and modalities. She is a certified hypnotherapist, brainspotting practitioner,