We Are Essential

Nancy’s Story

These days, everyone is trying to keep the fabric of society from unraveling, and many of our friends in the Oklahoma City community have agreed to talk about it. Their views expressed here do not reflect the views of their employers, nor the views of my employer. We are just working together to convey their experiences. 

Our feature today is a brilliant and accomplished person whose big heart and knack for trailblazing has led her to many outstanding contributions to the community in Oklahoma. Here she is advocating for a wider use of play therapy:

The bright shining star advocating for a play-based approach to psychotherapy for children and families is Nancy Rumley Soliz. She grew up on a farm near Minco (where they have the Honey Festival every year), is a sophisticated lover of theater, delivers dark witticisms with a laugh and a smile, is a devoted wife, mother, and homeschool educator, and is the kind of therapist you want your kid to have. 

Nancy and her colleagues in the mental health space have been working tirelessly to quickly adapt to the changing times. She and her colleagues have made heroic efforts to remain available to people and families, especially now when our need for therapists and mental health professionals is more apparent than ever.

How Nancy’s Life Has Changed

Before March 2020, Nancy was a busy mom and entrepreneur. She and her husband Rudi have three children together, and Nancy owns two businesses.  Nancy and Rudi’s children attend a partial-mixed school, which means that they attend a brick and mortar school two days a week and are homeschooled by Nancy for three days a week.

“On Mondays or Wednesdays, I would drop off all my kids at their schools and head to my office.  I typically see about 8 clients per day and also do some supervision for therapists.  During the off time, I’m planning sessions and doing paperwork.  For my other business, once a month I would be teaching or assisting all day Friday and Saturday on a 15 hour training.”

Like a lot of parents, Nancy worked hard to take care of business while the kids were in brick and mortar school. Nancy’s two businesses are centered around or play-based therapy. Neuroscientists and health care professionals agree that play-based therapy can help children process trauma and other life events, and can aid in forming those all-important healthy attachments between children and caregivers. 

“My first business is a private practice called Mandala Play Therapy Solutions.  I provide behavioral/mental health therapy to children, adults, and families.  In my private practice, I work Monday and Wednesday 9 am to 9 pm.  I work with a variety of clientele, but have specialized training in working with children that have experienced trauma and attachment disruptions.  I also work with adults that have experienced childhood trauma.”

Nancy is one of the premiere practitioners of play-based therapy in Oklahoma and trains others in this important psychotherapeutic practice.

“My second business, Oklahoma Play Therapy Training Institute, provides training for other mental health professionals wanting to learn more about implementing play therapy.  For this job, I teach monthly classes with my business partner, Lea May.  We typically do at least 15 hours of training per month and provide supervision to clinicians.”

Since the social disruptions related to COVID-19, a lot of things have changed in Nancy’s life and practice.

“Right now, the teaching job is completely on hold.  I am still getting to provide supervision, but I am doing it all via telemed.  I have continued to work Monday and Wednesdays, but now my kids are not going to school.  My husband has been lucky enough to get to stay home and work remotely.  That being said, our kids are definitely getting a lot more screen time on Mondays and Wednesdays so that my husband can actually work.  On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays I am homeschooling.   Since our children go to a blended model school (2 days of school at brick and mortar, 3 days at home), those days are looking fairly similar.  The only difference is that I’m shoving in Monday and Wednesdays work in the 3 days that we have.  I know I am not alone in this.  A lot of families are having to juggle with work/home/school life!”

As a mental health professional, Nancy is acutely aware of the kinds of stressors surrounding all of us these days, and tries to use her professional tools to keep herself and her family centered and focused.

“I also know how anxiety works as a mental health practitioner, so I’m trying to control what I can, but not worry about what I can not control.”

Adapting to providing mental health services in such an unsure and insecure environment has been difficult for Nancy. Like many people moving to virtual meetings and virtual work environments, there were a lot of unknowns. This is especially true since Nancy works with a lot of young kids and their families.

“I see a lot of kids and some very young kids.  I was really scared that it wasn’t going to work and I was going to be out of a job until this was all over.  It has actually worked really well, it just has looked different.”

Every person’s life has changed right now; every person’s life looks different. As a mental health professional, Nancy has some great advice and perspective for the differences that are barraging all of us. 

“Different doesn’t have to be bad and for me it has actually been an awesome growth experience.”

How We Can Help Nancy

We don’t all have Nancy’s academic credentials and gift of listening well to others. We definitely can’t all do what Nancy does. If the last few weeks have taught us anything, though, it’s that we can all help each other some way or another. Here is Nancy’s first-rate suggestion to help her and her colleagues to continue to serve the mental and behavioral health needs of Oklahomans:

“Call your representatives to have them accept telemed across the board for behavioral health during this time!  Some insurance companies have made different rules for telemed and do not cover it in the same way.  Gradually, more and more insurance policies are making exceptions, but there are still some stragglers.  I was able to talk to my state senator, Carrie Hicks, and she was super helpful in getting the insurance for the State of Oklahoma on board with using telemed for behavioral health during this time.”

What Nancy Wants You To Know About Therapists

“I wish people knew that mental health services are available to them.  My office has about 10 mental health clinicians, and we are here to help.  I know parenting, couples issues, etc. can all be heightened when we are sharing so much time together.  You don’t have to do it alone.”

We are all, every single one of us, going through an incredibly difficult and traumatic experience right now. We are all experiencing change and challenges and uncertainty. Nancy and her colleagues are here to help. They can be reached at www.familysolutionsok.com and are ready to meet with you - virtually, everyone in their own separate abodes.

“We have an office full of clinicians with varied specialties.  If you need help or just want some extra support during this time, don’t be afraid to reach out!”

What Nancy Wants You To Know About Caring For Yourself

“We have to find ways to connect during this time.  Humans were made for connection.  Find ways to connect with family and friends.”

We thank Nancy for being willing to share her experience with us. She’s a delight and I hope you will reach out to her or her colleagues for support during this time. 

If you or someone you know would make a great feature, please email [email protected]. We will be featuring members of the Oklahoma City community daily for as long as we can.  Take care of each other, wash your hands, and shop local.