Her Story
About Patty
I started my career journey in college as a pre-med major, but after two years I realized it wasn't the direction I wanted to take. I was really leaning towards a neonatal type of field, working with babies and children. When I spoke with an advisor about wanting to help people, they suggested social work, which I had a different connotation for at the time. After talking with the chair of the social work department, I switched majors midstream in college and went right through undergrad, graduating with a BSW, and then went right through and got my master's. My undergraduate degree focused on early childhood, while my master's was in gerontology. I did field placements at both ends of the spectrum - Early Intervention (a Birth to 3 program helping families with children with disabilities) and with elderly shut-ins. I loved both populations, but my first job was actually with the program where I did my undergraduate field placement, and I really never left early intervention. I've done that pretty much my whole career. I branched off into private practice with a specialty of working with children that have disabilities, such as autism and other special needs, and then children that have anxiety and depression, which in today's world has just increased significantly. I also run the Nicky Green Foundation, which I started in 2012, for awareness and prevention of youth suicide. Now I work in more of an administrative capacity, overseeing service coordination departments across New Jersey's 21 counties, making sure families get the services they need. I do my direct practice with children and families in the evenings through my private practice. I'm a very transparent clinician - I always tell clients that communication is key and that we need to build trust with each other, that it has to go both ways.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Patty
01What do you attribute your success to?
I think just being able to come with an open door, listening and not having any judgment. I work with a lot of families that have had child protective agencies involved with them, and they already come with that guard up, and they've had a lot of people judge them already. Being able to just not be that judge and jury to them has shown them that not everyone comes in with an opinion before they meet them. I'm also a very transparent clinician. I always kind of talk to clients that I'm not going to hide anything. Communication is key, and we need to build trust with each other, and that you have to be able to trust me just as much as I need to have a trusting relationship with you. It goes both ways, and this can't be, you know, you're coming here, you have to be able to trust me.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say that it's really important to be able to empower someone and not enable them. And also that they need to make sure that they always provide themselves with self-care, because it's a hard job to do. And we, as a helping profession, we always seem to put ourselves last. And it's important to be able to take care of yourself, because this is heavy work.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I'd like to be able to network with others to open up doors of opportunity for children to have access to mental health services. In particular, I'm trauma-certified, so there's a lot of trauma that children experience, and at a younger age. I find that less and less therapists have that experience that I have. There's not a lot of therapists that work with a younger population. And I think that trying to network and bring in more therapists to work with a younger population, I would like to see that happen. It's fun working with younger children, and it's rewarding working with them and just seeing them make progress.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Family is probably my biggest accomplishment and most important value. I'm a mom of four and a grandmom to five right now, and a wife of 40-plus years. We are very family-oriented, and my children and my grandchildren are all pretty close. What I find most rewarding in my work is watching people be able to make changes in their lives in a positive direction.
Join Influential Women and start making an impact. Register now.