Therapist Yori Scott says Divine Direction is key

Yori Scott is not just another therapist. As a Licensed Professional Counselor and founder of Therapy Works Counseling Services, she has spent over fifteen years guiding people through trauma recovery, workplace mental health struggles, and faith-based resilience. Her approach blends clinical expertise with spiritual wisdom, creating pathways for healing that reach beyond the therapy room. With her upcoming book Divine Direction, Scott is helping readers understand how to find purpose and healing after life’s most difficult experiences.

For those who have never heard of divine direction and don’t have any idea and experience with the divine, how would you suggest they first establish divine relationship?

I think that divine relationship first starts with you knowing yourself, with knowing where you come from, with knowing what direction you’re going in. Even if it’s not divine yet, we do need to know where the goalpost is. I think it first starts with self. And sometimes that’s hard for people. Sometimes it’s really hard for people to look in the mirror and to look at their reflection and to see if there are wounds and scars that have not been healed.

Where were you when this book was first whispered into your soul that there was a book that needed to be provided to those in need of divine direction?

Reaching people one on one has been truly amazing. Being a therapist and working with people one on one and being able to give them the tools and the resources and just watching them grow has been life changing, and it’s something that I don’t take for granted. But I realized that one to one means that there’s one of me and so many people who are hurting and so many people are suffering. And God said, write it down and I began to write my process down.

I began to document the resources that I gave to clients. All of my notes, all of my resources, all of the stories that I’ve heard, all of the prayers that I’ve prayed, all of the exercises and the tools that I’ve given them, helping them goal set, just came to be into a book. It’s only one of me and there are a lot of people who are suffering from trauma, past trauma, present trauma. 

That’s how it became a book, journal, guide, just over the years, resources that I’ve collected through having sessions and realizing that not everybody is going to be able to go to therapy. There are some real obstacles for people in which therapy is not accessible. There’s something about writing it down and making it plain that really stood out.

For those who are really working to figure out their divine purpose and divine direction but don’t know that they’ve experienced trauma, what are the three to four traumas that we ignore?

We define trauma as anything that has rocked your core beliefs. Anything that you believed to be true about a person, about an event, about a dream, a goal, a mission that you learned was not true. Let me give you an example. If you grow up your whole life believing that police are meant to protect and serve and that they’re safe and that you can call them if you need help, and you were then pulled over and frisked inappropriately or thrown against a car or sat on the side of a curb in the freezing rain, then it rocks your core belief about what you thought a police officer was meant to be. That’s trauma.

If your working definition of love is to show up for someone, to support someone and to listen and be there and pray for someone, and then you get in a relationship and that person emotionally, psychologically, physically, economically abuses you and takes everything, drains you for everything that you have, but at the same time say they love you, that rocks your core belief because what you thought love was and what they’re showing you is different. That’s trauma.

If you believe that your body is meant to carry a child and that you have all of the necessary organs to carry a child to full term, and then you miscarry or have a stillborn child, that rocks your core belief of what you thought your body could do. That’s trauma.

Everyone’s definition of trauma is different. It is based on your upbringing, it’s based on your level of perseverance, it’s based on what you understand, it’s based on your own core beliefs. So it’s not for me to tell you that something wasn’t traumatic and it’s not for you to tell me that something wasn’t traumatic. 

We have people today saying everybody’s traumatized, everybody’s triggered, this generation is just too weak. It’s not for me or you to define what someone else’s traumatic experience is because we don’t know what their core belief was about that situation before it happened. Trauma is a wound, a fracture that either you have nursed and healed or has gone undiagnosed.

When you figure out a practice for all of those people wanting to date, what are three things you suggest that people should really adhere to when it comes to dating in this current social media, digital world?

One, be ready. Be the person that you want to attract. Be that person first yourself. I’m married and marriage is not easy, but I have to show up in a way that is acceptable. It’s not fair for me to want all of the lists. I’ve heard six figures, six feet, all of the lists. But you first be who you want to attract. You’ve done the work, you know who you are, you’re dealing or dealt with trauma, so you are showing up whole and ready.

Two, I think that no one is allowed to tell you what your own realistic expectations are, but have them and know them. And be open and willing to be flexible when someone you meet comes your way that you feel like you’re aligned to but doesn’t meet every single thing that you check off on your box. You need to know the difference between non-negotiables. Everybody has been house searching or apartment searching, right? So you go in with this checklist, but then you have certain non-negotiables. Those are the things that you won’t bend on. Everything can’t be a non-negotiable, though.

And I think number three is be willing and ready to understand that, like New Edition said, there’s gonna be rainy days. Every day is not going to be sunshine and rainbows. And are you willing to do the work? Because anything that’s worth having is going to take some effort, it’s gonna take some grit, it’s gonna take some work. Those would be my top three.

In terms of having that divine direction and doing the work that’s inside that book, what’s the purpose of having a workbook?

This book is not just for people who have dealt with narcissistic parents or partners or bosses. This book is for anyone who wants to grow. I think there is something beautiful that happens when we read other people’s stories and we hear other people’s testimonies. I think that builds community, I think that builds understanding and it builds empathy. And so in this book, you are going to hear from other people’s testimonies, and what that does is it shows that if they did it, I can do it too.

There are worksheets that are going to help you to be accountable, to create SMART goals. We’re going back to the basics. We’re going back to the basics where we learn how to create boundaries, where we have checklists, where we hold ourselves accountable, where we create goals and we stick to the goals. So there’s something very powerful in taking accountability for where you are, how you got here, and where you’re going.

There is time for reflection in this book. There’s space for you to reflect and journal and go back and heal that inner child. And I know sometimes when people hear inner child, they’re like, why do we need to go backwards? Like, why can’t we just move forward? And I think that comes from a community of people who sweep things under the rug. Going back to heal your inner child is giving voice and definition and words to what happened then that you didn’t necessarily know how to articulate now.

And there are action steps to help you move towards closure, move without closure, because you’re not going to necessarily get closure from everyone. But there are actionable steps to help you move forward to create closure and to be the best version of you. I really do believe that there is such a thing as post-traumatic growth. And post-traumatic growth happens alongside of trauma. There is a way to redefine yourself, to redefine your purpose and to come out stronger than you were before. And so that’s my whole purpose of writing the book, and that is definitely my goal for every reader.

What are five things that an individual needs in order to come into a therapeutic session and invoke change?

One, coming in knowing that everything that you say and tell the counselor is completely confidential. I think that’s the reason why people are moving away from just venting to friends and family members or even pastors, is because they don’t know if what they’re sharing is going to be confidential. And it’s hard to open up and be vulnerable with a complete stranger if you don’t believe that they are going to keep your information safe.

So understand that if you decide to partner with a therapist who’s licensed, and I want to tell you, there’s a difference between a coach and a therapist, and no shade to coaches because there are a lot of great coaches who are changing lives and doing a lot of awesome work. But when you come to a therapist, we are trained to understand diagnosis. We’re trained to understand how to help you work through trauma in a way that a coach may not, in a way that a friend may not.

That’s first, knowing that it’s a safe environment and that everything you share is going to be confidential. I think you then need to tell your story. That is so powerful, to be able to say, this is what happened to me. No one interrupting you, no one trying to talk over you, no one trying to one-up you about how their life was worse than yours, which sometimes happens when you’re talking to friends or coworkers. Knowing that you are going to be heard and that you are going to be validated and that that therapist listening to you, understands and empathizes with what you’re going through.

Three is be open to feedback. This is a big one. Open to feedback because a therapist is not your friend. I didn’t get in this to make new friends. I got in this because I want to invoke change. And change is not always easy, so I’m going to challenge you. I’m going to challenge your mindset. I’m going to challenge your core beliefs.

I’m going to ask you why you do the things that you do. Is it because your mom, your grandma, your auntie told you to? Or are you doing the things that you are doing because you realize they are hurting or helping your life? So I’m going to challenge you. You’ve got to be open and willing to accept feedback.

Fourth is, it is a huddle and there’s a break. Imagine a football team comes together, they huddle, and then you break. You have to go out and actually do the work. Just like you go to church, you hear a sermon, it makes you feel good, but you’re tasked to now go out and live different. Counseling is not just a venting session. You’re not coming and paying good money or swiping your insurance card just because you want to be heard and validated. That’s not where it stops. You have to go and do the work.

And lastly, you’ve got to teach others what you’ve learned. You’ve got to show up different. I think we all have an obligation in order to help those who don’t have the tools. And so whatever way that you can, whether it’s showing up different in relationships, whether it’s sharing tips and advice of what you’ve learned in therapy, but there’s an action step, there’s a call to action that is needed and necessary.

Divine Direction is available wherever books are sold, including major online retailers and local bookstores. For more information about Yori Scott and her work with Therapy Works Counseling Services, readers can connect with her through her professional platforms and explore additional resources for trauma recovery and faith-based healing.