Her Story
About Eleanor
Eleanor Rolfe is a therapist specializing in mental health and addiction. She currently serves as a therapist in the clinical department at her facility, working with the pilots and professionals program, where she has worked for about two years. Prior to this role, she worked as a substitute teacher at the elementary school locally and as a case manager with the Department of Children's Services in the foster system in a different state. She holds a master's degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Liberty University. While pursuing her degree, she obtained her ADT license through the state of Maryland. She is also NCC certified, holds her CFLE-P, and earned her LGPC with her master's. She is a member of the Chi Sigma Iota society, an academic and professional honor society for counseling. As a military spouse of 27 years, she has been involved in the Aberdeen Proving Grounds Community Spouses Club and has volunteered with Army Community Services and various other military programs over the years.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Eleanor
01What do you attribute your success to?
My personal family military experience as a spouse has really benefited me. I have a wonderful, supportive family. My husband's been amazing. Being able to support him over the years, grow, mature, and help others through different ways has helped me to grow in the emotional intelligence that I needed to be able to do this job.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Remain curious. We tend to jump to conclusions or assume someone's behaving a certain way, but if we remain curious as to why they're behaving or responding this way, we often surprise ourselves with different answers and outcomes than we thought.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Pace yourself and make sure that you're taking care of your own self-care and your own mental health. Set your own boundaries and hold them around work and that balance so that you don't weigh yourself down. Continue being open-minded and learning. We're not always right. We have to be open to new ideas and new ways of doing things all the time.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
There's a big stigma. They're misunderstood. A lot of people just don't understand and prejudge every diagnosis or anything about any of the areas, whether it's addictions or mental health. There's also a lack of research and development, and that's being cut at all levels, which makes it hard for practitioners like myself to be able to do our job effectively and really help others.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Honesty is vitally important, both professionally and personally. Having integrity, just doing the very best that I can, and being honest when I can’t. If it's more than I can do, or if I don't know the answer, then just acknowledging that and stating that is really important to me in my life.
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