Her Story
About Brooke
Brooke Beneway is a licensed master social worker (LMSW) serving as a mental health clinician at Southbury Counseling in Southbury, Connecticut. She works with kids, teens, and adults, including one couple, applying cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy, motivational interviewing, and grounding and coping techniques to create a safe space for clients. Beneway earned her bachelor's degree from Springfield College and her master's degree from Fairfield University in May. She is a member of the NASW and the Phi Alpha Honor Society. Beneway attributes her success to the support of her family, mentors, coworkers, and supervisors, and she values purpose, passion, choice, authenticity, and transparency in her work. She advises patience in the social work field, noting that both professional and client progress takes time, and she received career advice encouraging comfort with the unknown while figuring things out along the way.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Brooke
01What do you attribute your success to?
I definitely think the people around me have had a huge impact on my success. I've had a lot of support throughout the process. My family, for one, my mentors, and now my coworkers, and my supervisors along the way as well have all been really helpful in supporting me and allowing me to ask questions when I have them and being patient with me as well.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
It's okay not to know what I want to do for the rest of my life or not know what populations I want to work with. Just kind of being willing to be uncomfortable with the unknown and figure it out as I go.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Be patient. Because progress takes time, and especially in the social work field, your progress professionally might take time, but also your client's progress will take time as well. We can't always even if we're trying our hardest, clients might not be making the growth that we want to see, and just being patient with them throughout that process.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Definitely purpose. I think there is a reason why we do the things that we do. I value passion, I'm very passionate about what I do, and I want my clients to feel the same passion. I feel like purpose and passion go hand in hand. Choice is very important to me. I think that we make certain decisions in our lives, and I want to honor the choices that my clients make. I definitely value authenticity and transparency. I'm very much myself with my clients, obviously in a professional manner, of course, but I'm not super different than what maybe my friends see. I'm very authentic in who I am with my clients.
Join Influential Women and start making an impact. Register now.