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\u201cI had to advocate for my own services,\u201d Dr. Paul-Constantin told Laura Forbes on Sunday, as she spoke during the Consortium-broadcast show Live with Laura. \u201cTo think I had such an expansive background in special education and I had friends in healthcare, and I still found it very difficult to navigate those spaces,\u201d she recounted. \u201cIt was then I was reminded that I need to go back to what I initially knew that I needed to do\u201d \u2013 build an organization \u201cto advocate for individuals who needed services.\u201d<\/p>\n
Today, Paul-Constantin, holder of a PhD in specialized education\/educational leadership, is the founder and executive director of Beautiful Dreamers, which provides behavioral support services to children and families in Georgia and the Virgin Islands. The licensed mental health counselor with masters degrees in clinical mental health counseling, special education and student administration support and counseling is also the director of counseling services for Peas in Their Pods, an organization which focuses on giving a voice to missing children of color and their families. Paul-Constantin is also the chair of the territory’s Board of Licensed Counselors and Examiners, a certified psychometrist, certified anger management therapist, a reunification therapist, and the mother of two teenagers.<\/p>\n
According to her, establishing strong and healthy boundaries is the key to maintaining a high functioning lifestyle. Enforcing firm boundaries is an act of self-love, she said. \u201cThat’s respecting myself, recognizing when my cup runneth over and there’s nothing else for me to give to anybody else, so I stop and I give it to myself,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n
That firmness of necessity extends to herself, Dr. Paul-Constantin told Ms. Forbes. Achieving such a high level of success did not come easy. She responded to a question about motivation by dismissing the concept entirely. \u201cI do not believe in motivation,\u201d she said, describing it as a fleeting emotion. What’s important, according to Paul-Constantin, is \u201ccommitment and consistency.\u201d That’s what took her \u201cthrough the long nights and the defense and all of the other educational things that I have done.\u201d She understood that there’s \u201cno compromising\u201d on goals and objectives, and thus no matter whether she was feeling motivated in the moment or not, \u201ccommitment and consistency is where the magic is,\u201d she remarked.<\/p>\n
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