You're choosing to be open and vulnerable.
You deserve to know a bit more about the person in the room with you!
When I'm not working, I'm a wife and mom to two teenagers, juggling those challenges like everyone else. I can never have enough plants, and I've been told it's a problem. As a die-hard Gamecock Football fan, I've experienced my fair share of disappointment. A chaotic upbringing has taught me to bounce back and be okay with the ordinary. I am almost never bored even when I'm alone and not doing a thing. In my heart I am artsy and creative and can spend hours working on a project but... let's just say, "I'll never make a living at it!"
On The Clock....
I began my career knowing I wanted to work with disadvantaged and struggling kids in some capacity. I started working in residential group settings with kids displaced from their homes for various reasons. This allowed me to get to know the daily struggles of these kids as they worked towards reunifying with their families. My case manager positions helped me step back and see the situations from the viewpoints of all parties. As I began to work more closely with parents and their caregivers, I developed a love for family work. My next position involved primarily going into the homes of struggling kids and helping them from a systemic approach. Eventually, I gained experience working in the school setting and in juvenile detention centers. My time working with trauma victims and developmentally challenged persons rounded out the diverse experiences of my early career. I began to find more fulfillment and passion moving from social work towards psychotherapy with my clients. My beginning psychotherapy work was primarily with children and eventually, I became trained and rostered as a Parent-Child Interaction Therapist (PCIT). I also specialized in helping adolescents with symptoms of anxiety, depression, oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). I was primarily trained in Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) and Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy (TF-CBT). The more contact I had with the parents and other adults in sessions the more I began the move towards work with older teens and adults. This is the balance I have today in my practice. I get to help young kids and their families and older teens/adults achieve their goals.