By: Abbey Crank
Six years ago, Dominique Cecil had a dream. Little did she know, this very dream would come to life three years later as Yellow Bird Counseling, LLC.
“Yellow is my favorite color, and birds, to me, signify freedom and peacefulness,” Cecil said. “A friend of mine was helping me come up with names, and it stuck. Yellow Bird really encompasses my own personality and the journey I want our clients to experience.”
She added, “Clients may come to us feeling like they don’t have much support or hope. Leaving us, I want to give them that mental freedom and peace the bird signifies.”
On April 12, 2019, Yellow Bird officially spread its wings as a fully functioning business. It is located at 2100a Southbridge Parkway Suite 650 in Birmingham, Alabama. Counselors take appointments Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. until 6:30 p.m.
Cecil and her team offer a range of options including individual sessions, group therapy and couple’s counseling. Clients also have the choice to meet with therapists in person or strictly online.
From religious trauma to daily life stressors, Yellow Bird takes clients with all different challenges.
Cecil spreads mental health awareness through the practice’s social media presence. Yellow Bird can be found on Instagram as @yellowbirdcounseling and TikTok as @thattherapist1. Every Thursday evening, she does Facebook Lives discussing mental health as it relates to pop culture.
“We wanted a social media presence, and that was something that was newish for therapists to be doing,” she said. “Recently, I talked about Will Smith at the Oscars and Kanye West on a Live.
“I normalized what both of them could be going through because people relate to celebrities. If they see themselves in these people, they can give the problem a name and know that there is a route they can take for help with those types of behaviors.”
The 36-year-old owner prides herself on being known as “that therapist.”
“I came up with that nickname because I’m unconventional and unorthodox. I don’t wear suits or heels; I’m just myself,” Cecil said. “I’m just ‘that therapist’ that can also be seen as a human.”
Growing up, Cecil did not think her life-long calling would be counseling.
“I didn’t always want to be a therapist. Up until my freshman orientation, maybe a week before, I was a music major. I was going to do vocal performance at Montevallo,” she said. “Just because of my own personal experience in foster care, my passion switched to wanting to help other children not have to go through what I went through.”
She added, “It’s very traumatic for a child to have to leave their family. My passion lies with children, but it broadened to incorporate adults. A lot of children that didn’t get the treatment they needed growing up ended up being adults who needed that same help.”
Cecil also experienced religious trauma.
“I was a very avid church goer for mostly all of my life. My parents had me in Catholic school, and I went to church voluntarily with my friends,” she said in a Facebook Live. “What’s sad is that even hearing worship music brings pain to me. That hurts.”
Religious trauma develops from the institution, not the religion itself.
“What’s dumbfounding is that people go around and say what the Bible says without research. … Then people may mismanage the behavior and meaning of the Bible to weaponize rather than bring people together, bring peace and bring solace. It’s used to slice people,” Cecil said.
Currently, there are eight other mental health specialists on Cecil’s team.
“Those are my people, and they know that. If there’s anything they want to do that they think will benefit our patients, I’m on top of that. We’re really close,” she said.
One of Cecil’s newest recruits is 49-year-old Monique Pierre-Louis.
“It’s an awesome experience to be a part a group that’s filled with professional women. Not only do we uplift our clients, we uplift each other,” Pierre-Louis said.
Yellow Bird, according to Pierre-Louis, is helping break the stigma and fear surrounding therapy and mental health.
“When I look at Yellow Bird’s page, it makes me want to click the button and see what it is. We’re not stiff therapists with glasses on. We’re fun and cool. That’s what makes people gravitate to us because they don’t see us as a clinical person, per se,” she said. “They look at us as regular people, but we still have the credentials and know what we’re doing.”
COVID-19 sparked the popularity of online therapy sessions, which is Pierre-Louis’ specialty.
“Therapy is honestly on a rampage because it’s gone virtual. You’re in the privacy of your own home, and I’m in the privacy of mine. If you want to show up in your pajamas, I’m good with it. If you want a snack, eat your Cheetos. I want you comfortable,” Pierre-Louis said with a laugh.
In January of 2021, 30-year-old Yellow Bird welcomed Shekinah Lee. Lee spends most of her time as a Birmingham City School’s counselor while also taking patients on the side.
“Everyone here is very different, but we all add a very good flavor to the soup that is Yellow Bird Counseling,” Lee said. “We’re all over the place, and each of us have businesses separate from this. It’s a very open, supportive and a collaborative network of practitioners, as opposed to being a one person, one band, one sound type of mindset.”
Lee’s therapy approach is person-centered. Instead of fitting people into a cookie-cutter therapy plan, she crafts a game plan for each specific client.
Her passion came from the person she looked up to the most: her father.
“I’m from Miami, but I’ve lived in Alabama for 15 years. A year or two after we moved to Alabama, my dad passed away from colon cancer,” Lee said. “He was a mental health technician, so a lot of my passion for counseling sparked from conversations with him.
“I can remember, without violating HIPPA of course, my dad would tell me about how he’s helping this client or how he’s helping a person navigate their disorder. I always thought it was so inspiring.”
For those struggling with mental health, Lee offered advice.
“Don’t be dismissive of what you’re feeling. If it’s starting to interrupt your day-to-day, don’t ignore it. Our emotions are messengers. They’re messages for us on what’s going on that needs to be adjusted. You owe it to yourself to try and figure out what it’s trying to tell you,” she said.
One of Cecil’s biggest missions with Yellow Bird was to create a safe environment for everyone to feel comfortable.
“I have clients that I’ve seen for like three years, and they send their friends and family to me. My clients to do feel closer because they are able to see us so much,” Cecil said. “It’s kind of like a community. I call us Yellow Bird Nation.
“Our clients are more like family. Of course, we follow our ethical guidelines, but we have a more relaxed approach. They can reach out in between sessions if they need us, and they have access to me and my other therapists.”
To book a free consultation with Yellow Bird, head over to www.yellowbirdcounseling.com, email therapy@yellowbirdcounseling.com or call (205) 236-9136.
“Everyone needs a therapist so they can manage and maneuver environments that may not be ideal for them,” Cecil said. “Sometimes, people don’t know they’ve experience trauma. They could be walking around on a broken leg and wonder why they can’t run faster. It’s important for therapy to normalize and become a tool for a person’s overall wellness.”
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