Her Story
About Dr.
I've been working in school counseling for 9 years and as a mental health counselor for the last 5 years. My specialty is in anxiety, depression, and suicidality amongst children, youth, and young adults, and I help people through the toughest seasons of their lives. As a school counselor working with middle schoolers, I start my day in the cafeteria with the students, checking on them and troubleshooting any issues from the beginning. Every day is different because I never know when there may be a student in need. I teach peer counseling, leadership skills, and career research and development. My day is fluid and starts with the students and ends with the students. In my mental health counselor role, I see clients for various reasons to help them process through grief. I've always worked with people - since 2010, I've been the youth leader at my church, overseeing the children, youth, and young adults ministries. Helping them and realizing what I was able to provide for them made me want to help other young people as well. I also do taxes and accounting services since 2011 because there's something about puzzles that excites me when someone comes in with a difficult tax situation. I was also a classroom teacher at a middle school for about 3 years, teaching civics, and I absolutely loved watching the light bulb moments. I really do enjoy helping people. I am an adjunct professor at Southeastern University in their School of Theology, where I train ministers. My business, Amazing Family Solutions, is my own personal private practice focused on bringing more awareness for mental health resources and providing information that anybody can use, even if you're not a trained mental health professional.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Dr.
01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
If I were to empower another young lady going into school counseling, I would tell her to trust your instincts. Because what she feels, most of the time, she's right. That child that walks past you, and your instinct says, hey, ask them a question - ask that question. And to be present, because I know there's a lot that we have to do in the day, but I make sure the kids still see me. The school counselor is the heartbeat of the school. We know what the school may need, any supports that it may need, we're usually the ones who find out first. And although it may feel like one of the more overlooked roles, you are important and essential to the functioning of any campus. What I would tell a young lady going into mental health counseling is to have boundaries and to make sure that you balance out what you do with self-care. Because the amount of trauma that you may hear - secondary traumatic stress, it happens even in passing. Your job is to help people find a rhythm again after experiencing something difficult. Sometimes that can pass off on you, and you have to make sure that you have a plan in place to take care of yourself, even if that means taking a break or that means referring the client elsewhere, because you realize that maybe your caseload is too much, or maybe what they're going through is causing you to feel something. It's not a sign of weakness, it's a sign of strength to be able to recognize when you are experiencing too much, and when it's time to refer. Be easy on yourself, because every case is different.
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