Today we’d like to introduce you to Fred Borroel.
Hi Fred, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Thanks for the opportunity to share some of my story with your audience. My name is Fred Borroel and I’ve spent most of my life here in San Antonio. I’m glad to have served our community in many ways, mostly in the social services field. For example, I’ve been a mentor for the Boys and Girls Club, a Program Assistant for the Prefreshman Engineering Program, a counseling intern at Por Vida Academy, the Preparation for Adult Living Training Coordinator at Baptist Child and Family Services, and the Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare Director at ChildSafe. My most rewarding experiences have come when I’ve successfully engaged people in conversations and activities that help them recognize their potential for growth. Since graduating from Our Lady of the Lake University and becoming a Licensed Professional Counselor, Supervisor, I’ve committed to many different projects. At the heart of it all has been my passion to strengthen relationships among people who care about a common goal. That’s pretty much what’s been the impetus for me starting RelateAbility, PLLC.
RelateAbility is my effort to help connect people to accomplishments in their personal and professional lives. I’m a mental health practitioner who specializes in adventure therapy, experiential learning workshops, and relationship building among colleagues. RelateAbility evolved from years of conversations and experiences with friends, family members, clients, and colleagues. Staying active in professional communities like the Association for Experiential Education and creating engaging programs for non-profit agencies has helped me focus my energies and remain dedicated to my work which centers around experiential learning and adventure therapy.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I’ve come across many challenges starting my own company. I think the trickiest one has been helping others understand how archery, ropes challenge course activities, kayaking, postcards, and playing cards help professionals promote wellness and build stronger relationships together. I truly believe for many out there, what it takes is to experience it. So, at times, it can be disheartening to know so many schools and social service agencies have helping professionals who are struggling with maintaining compassion satisfaction in their work when I firmly believe I can help by creating opportunities for them to connect intentionally to their passions again as they connect meaningfully to one another.
Years of working in the non-profit world has helped my endurance, though, and has helped me remain steadfast in my role to serve helping professionals. I’ve been grateful for my experiences in the non-profit sector as a therapist, trainer, grant writer, group facilitator, program director, and program designer. These have all helped me prepare for structuring my business around service to others and understand the unique challenges helping professionals face whether in schools, social service agencies, or community health clinics.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We can start here: Take time to think of one helping professional important to you. It could be an educator, social worker, counselor, therapist, nurse, doctor… Now consider of all the helping professionals out there why this one came to mind. Chances are you love them, they’ve helped you or someone you love, you know they might be struggling on some level, or it’s you. It could be a combination of any of those.
RelateAbility exists to help that helping professional when they need it because contributing to the wellness of helping professionals heals generations of people. When helping professionals rejuvenate their capacity to care for others, they can sustain communities. And when helping professionals rejuvenate their capacity to care while having fun together, we create joy in organizations which often carry the burdens of our clients, students, and patients.
Whether it’s through relationship building with colleagues, professional development and training, or family enrichment workshops with loved ones, my consulting business strives to promote wellness with helping professionals so they can lead fulfilling lives. I am especially honored when I can facilitate experiences for helping professionals which in turn help them engage more effectively and enjoyably with client and student groups they serve. Something that helps sustain me is that I get to work with my clients in kayaks, in parks, on an archery range, on a ropes challenge course, as well as in office settings. And to serve people who need a little extra support via professional counseling services, I invite them to access services through San Antonio Adventure Therapy, PLLC. So, if you’re a helping professional whose passion to serve others has been challenged by stress or life transitions, schedule a free phone consultation so we can explore some options together, whether it’s for teambuilding and consultation or professional counseling. Of course, if you know a helping professional who you think might need some help, please share my information with them as well.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
I opened my business and private practice full-time in October of 2019. Five months later, in March 2020, those early underpinnings of my business shifted dramatically as the rest of the world shifted too. With all the nervousness and uncertainty that has accompanied the Covid-19 crisis, I’ve learned to adapt. The most important lesson for me (as someone who has relished in sharing physical space with others to strengthen connections) has been that connection can happen emotionally and powerfully in a virtual setting. I’ve learned to use online platforms to engage teams from different parts of the country. I thought that would be impossible when Covid first hit and have been pleasantly proved wrong about that. I have thoroughly enjoyed facilitating online meetings where people can still play and have fun together as they work towards common goals. While at the beginning of the pandemic I was cursing the timing of starting my own business, I have learned to embrace the challenge of keeping my mission alive through the virtual world.
Contact Info:
- Email: fred@relateability.org
- Website: https://relateability.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/relateabilitypllc/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RelateAbilityPLLC
- Twitter: @Relate_Ability
