Yadira Fortunato

So nice to meet you! First off, what’s your name? Tell our readers a bit about yourself—where you’re from originally and where you live now.

My name is Yadira Fortunato, and I’m a Dominican American therapist and the founder of Think Out Loud Therapy. My parents are from the Dominican Republic, and I was born and raised in New York. I’m currently based in the Hudson Valley, where I run my telehealth practice and provide services to clients in New York, Florida, and Delaware.

Tell us one thing you love about where you live now.

One of the things I love most about living in the Hudson Valley is the sense of community. It’s very family-oriented, which I really value, and it has a slower, quieter feel than the city while still having so much to enjoy. There are beautiful views, great restaurants, and a real sense of connection. It feels like a wonderful place to live, raise a family, and build a life.

Tell us a little more about what your company does and how it started. How does it help your customers?

Think Out Loud Therapy is a psychotherapy practice I founded with the goal of helping people create meaningful change, not just talk about what’s wrong. We provide individual therapy, therapy intensives, and immigration psychological evaluations. My work often focuses on anxiety, trauma, overthinking, people-pleasing, and the patterns that keep people feeling stuck. I’m especially passionate about therapy intensives because they give clients dedicated time to go deeper into an issue without the usual start-and-stop of weekly sessions. For immigration cases, I provide comprehensive psychological evaluations that help document the emotional and psychological impact of a person’s experiences and circumstances.

If someone wants to start a business, what advice would you give them?

My biggest advice is to understand that being great at what you do and building a successful business are two different skill sets. You can be incredibly talented, but people still have to know you exist. Learn how to market yourself, understand who you serve, and communicate clearly why someone should choose you. And don’t wait until everything is perfect. A lot of business is trying something, seeing what works, adjusting, and continuing to show up. Visibility matters.

What is one piece of feedback from a happy customer or client that you won't forget?

One comment that has stayed with me came from a client who said, “I really like this. It doesn’t even feel like therapy. It feels like we’re just talking, but things are changing for me.”

That meant a lot because it reflects exactly how I want therapy to feel. I show up as a clinician, but also as a human being. I don’t believe therapy has to feel overly formal or hierarchical in order to be effective. My goal is to meet people where they are, create a space where they feel comfortable being themselves, and still do meaningful clinical work that leads to real change. I think that authenticity and sense of equality is something many of the individuals I work with really value.

Where do you see your company in the future?

I see Think Out Loud Therapy continuing to evolve in a way that feels intentional and flexible. I want to keep growing my work in therapy intensives and immigration psychological evaluations, because those are areas I feel especially connected to and where I see a real need.

At the same time, I know myself well enough to know that I like to pivot, grow, and try new things. I don’t want to build a business that becomes so rigid that I feel trapped by it. My goal is to remain a solo practice, continue refining the services I offer, and create a business that gives me room to evolve while still providing high-quality, personalized care.

What is the biggest misconception about your industry?

One misconception I think people still have about therapy is that therapists are supposed to be completely neutral, almost like a blank slate with no personality. That has never been how I practice.

I believe therapy can be clinically sound and still feel deeply human. I may share parts of myself when it helps create connection or helps a client feel less alone, but never in a way that shifts the focus away from them. My clients are going to get a real person in the room with them. We may laugh, cry, sit in difficult emotions, challenge old patterns, and have very honest conversations.

I think that humanity is part of what makes therapy effective. The relationship matters, and I want people to feel like they are working with someone who is present, authentic, and genuinely engaged in the process.

What has been one of your biggest struggles building your business, and how did you deal with it?

One of my biggest challenges has been learning how to be both a therapist and a business owner. Becoming a therapist teaches you how to help people; it doesn’t necessarily teach you how to build a brand, market a practice, understand SEO, or communicate what makes your services different.

I’ve learned to treat the business side the same way I approach anything else I want to get better at: I learn, experiment, pay attention to what works, and pivot when something isn’t working. Building Think Out Loud Therapy has pushed me outside of my comfort zone in a lot of ways, but I’ve actually come to enjoy that part of entrepreneurship. It has allowed me to think creatively about how I reach people and how I grow services I’m passionate about, particularly therapy intensives and immigration psychological evaluations.

Where can our readers learn more about you and your company?

https://www.thinkoutloudtherapy.com/