About Us
Our Journey
In 2011 the Founder of Independent Life Project set out to create a "space" not a "place" where people could turn for help that was open well beyond the hours of traditional support services. She felt mental health, family matters and business support should not be "treated" with stigmas that suggest if you seek help, you are inherently broken or incapable. She recognized that at some point, society set in motion the false narrative that a supported person is less likely to succeed than a stand alone person. She knew nothing could be further from the truth and in fact, the supported person tends to prevail as more likely to succeed in almost every scenario..
She decided to dismantle the proverbial waiting room that leaves every person seeking help, feeling judged before supported. Psychologist offices, bank lobbies, government waiting rooms, educational advisories and the list goes on. No more brief case carrying professionals weighing in on your ideas or products, casually dressed therapists glaring over the beak of their glasses asking about your mother own noses, silently asking, "what are you here for?" And the answer is always that inner frustrating self-judging defeat. "Because I need help."
The result was the earliest form of boundaryless therapy and professional advocacy services in the emerging industry. Today, Independent Life Project and Beyond Therapy support individuals, families, small business and groups with the options of chatting via text, meeting in a coffee shop, gathering in a boardroom or having a phone or online session, even at 2 am, all with the intention of normalizing support. Welcome to the self help team.
Challenge Builds Strength
In its early days, the idea of reaching out for mental or professional support via text message or meeting in a coffee shop, was met with staunch criticism. Many in the industry felt it lacked the formality of a traditional office setting thus appearing unprofessional or not legitimate to the consumer. The founder of ILP however, felt just as strongly that the goal was not to "fit in" but rather to "be the right fit" and chose to stay the course with making getting any sort of help comfortable over traditional.
In 2020, The Pandemic of Covid 19 changed the opinion of all industries on what could be done virtually or out of offices leading nearly all personal health and personal and business support providers to pivot to the very formats ILP had been operating within for almost 10 years. The stigma of "unorthodox" methods finally ended and a new era of access began.
Today, ILP stands as one of the leading and most boundaryless mental health and life transition service companies. A dream to help when help was needed became the standard we know today and now, not only the right fit but the best fit is available for thousands of people and growing.
Concierge to a Healthy Tomorrow Without a Dependency on AI
Today Independent Life Project offers what is called concierge personal, professional, life and business support through our "Beyond Therapy" concept. This method of support services has been a long time coming and we are excited to have been one of the trailblazers for this amazing individual and family service option.
NO AI
This should speak for itself, but we will say it the old-fashioned way. We do not use any form of artificial intelligence in any of our sessions with you. Everything you share here is received by an organic, real life, human being and everything we share back comes from the same. This means, we might be a couple minutes past your scheduled time to start a session, just like the ole waiting room, because you will always be meeting with a real person who might grab a quick something to eat or run to the bathroom between appointments. Hang in there, we're coming because, there is NO AI at ILP. It also means we will come to you. You might be in California, and your concierge is in Maine, but the distance between doesn't need to mean we become a face through tech support. Face to face is necessary sometimes and so our founder said, if what we need to do is better done in person, go to the person and get it done. For this reason, some of our membership plans include face to face meetings with you at least quarterly.
CONCIERGE MEMBERSHIP
Begin Your Journey with Beyond Therapy