Meet Our Founder

Q&A with Dr. Teri Davis.

A: Hello! My name is Dr. Teri D. Davis and I'm the Founder of Mrs. Etta's Place, a therapy and wellness service for women. I'm a licensed Clinical Psychologist with over 20 years of experience offering evidence-based treatments for a wide range of common mental health concerns in Black women such as depression, anxiety and trauma.

A: At age 13, I was attentive to the early incidents of school shootings and asked my parents "why do people do that". I sincerely wanted to know why people commit violent crimes, so I thought that pursuing law would give me an adequate answer. However, after taking a general psychology course in high school, I slowly became knowledgeable about various psychopathologies, family histories and life difficulties and how these contribute to troubled behavior. 
I wondered whether having someone to talk to about their problems would help people in life. I then knew that I would major in psychology in college to better understand human behavior. This initially led me to study the field through research and statistics. After some time, I learned that having a PhD in Clinical Psychology would offer me the most flexibility in my career, despite it being extremely difficult to attain. After applying to over 30 programs, and pursuing two master's degrees in the interim, I finally gained admittance.  I understand that I am a person that never fears difficult goals, so I went for it! 
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A: I find that being a strong clinician is primary to having a thriving practice. I spent eight additional years after completing my doctoral studies to achieve advanced training in psychopathology, trauma, women's health and evidence-based treatments that work. I believe that maintaining a successful private practice will test your endurance; whether that’s through seeing more clients over time, administrative duties, understanding when you need a break, or even knowing when you need more training in an area.  
Additional areas of importance include maintaining credentials with insurance, effective marketing strategies, attending conferences to meet other clinicians, and building relationships with hospitals and community-based organizations. Also, knowing when it's time to expand into a group practice, starting with just a couple of clinicians and moving into clinical supervision with the acquisition of trainees.

A: This is extremely important. Part of the reason I started my practice was to support women from underserved communities by addressing generational challenges stemming from cultural ideals and family systems that contribute to trauma, making it challenging for them to seek help. These communities need more awareness of the benefits of therapy, active healing, self-understanding and the common thread of silence as a coping mechanism.

A: My approach to mental health care involves offering a listening ear regarding challenging life events that result in experiences of trauma. Early on, I rejected the notion of faulty cultural beliefs and commonly used sayings that I felt contributed to Black women suffering in silence, such as "what happens in this house, stays in this house", "pray it away", "time heals all wounds", "just move on and don't talk about" or "If you know better, do better" and culture.I practice trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), solution-focused therapy with a hint of psychodynamic and family systems therapy. All of these explore how you think about yourself and the world, working through painful life experiences that have shaped you, while understanding the resulting feelings and behaviors. I am a very talkative therapist who asks many thought-provoking questions and works with patients to better understand themselves and the path forward.I'm excited to continue to grow my practice and support women worldwide!

A: After many years in private practice in Los Angeles, I founded Mrs. Etta's Place in honor of my mother, Esther L. Davis (aka Mrs. Etta), who passed away in 2021. I wanted to honor her life with something very meaningful to the lives of women who can relate to our experiences. So, a year later, I woke up one day with the answer: open a therapy clinic for Black women in my hometown of Oklahoma City bearing her name.
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A: We are very serious about confidentiality, upholding the therapist-patient relationship and we focus on better understanding life challenges and actively implementing strategies to heal. We do not lead with forgiving others, reunification with others that hurt you or being judgemental about being in a difficult relationship. We guide you to better understand what your true needs are in life, walk you through self-discovery, and define how best to self-care or protect your peace (which may include not going to Thanksgiving dinner. Lol!) Let's heal together!