Sonya Wood

What has made me successful today is my ability to give myself grace. You know, being in a world where you're always emotionally available for people can be a little overwhelming. I think for me, giving myself grace and knowing that I'm not able to be a change maker for everybody, but knowing if one person out of five got something I said today, then to me, that gives me so much success in my journey. So that gives me a lot of positive and feel-good - I call them my warm fuzzies. It's about understanding that I don't have to save everyone, but if I can make a difference for even one person, that's what matters and what keeps me going.

One of the best career advisements that I've received is, sometimes you're not where you want to be, but you're directly where you need to be. We tend to have this mindset where we want things to look a certain way, and we may minimize ourselves in the process. But sometimes we paint pictures of how we want things to look, and the reality is that you're where you need to be, and the picture is so much more beautiful than what you could have even imagined. It's about trusting the journey and recognizing that even when things don't look exactly how you planned, you're exactly where you're supposed to be, and it can turn out even better than you envisioned.

If a woman wants to go into my industry as an addiction therapist, I want them to know that women are naturally nurturers, and that sometimes our nurturing spirits may get in our way of fulfilling the job. But if you feel as if that's a challenge for you, just know that somebody who may not have been nurtured as a child could really benefit from that nurturing and transparency. As a woman going into this industry, this business and this profession, keep your emotions at bay, but know how to place them where they're needed most, because it can be overwhelming for you, especially if you are an empathetic person. But sometimes empathy is very much so needed in the space of addiction - I think more than we give ourselves acknowledgement of. So embrace your natural nurturing qualities, but learn to channel them appropriately so you can be most effective.

Some of the challenges that I face include the inability to support persons that need treatment due to insurance purposes, limited resources in the area, and working in child welfare with a lack of openings for mental health appointments. The reality is that everybody who uses substances doesn't do so because they want to - some of them have mental health challenges. And finances really hinder people from being able to receive the treatment that they're needing. On the positive side, there are programs that people can go to that are free of charge. However, you have to be willing to go to those programs without having anything to return to for about 30 to 45 days. But once you get sober, the outcome of sobriety is very rewarding. So while there are significant barriers around insurance, resources, and access to mental health care, there are still pathways to recovery for those who can commit to the process.

In my work, the values that are most important include the ability to be ethically sound. Being a professional and a therapist, being able to hold yourself accountable for what people share with you - I really, really hone into my ethical principles and my morals of being able to be compassionate and being able to empathize with persons that have things going on. In my personal journey, because I am a person that has a chronic illness and I'm also an advocate for the chronic illness community, being able to be vulnerable and transparent is crucial. Those times when people get to see you as your authentic self, they're able to receive and give you more, versus you trying to always have it as if you have everything always put together. So authenticity, compassion, ethical accountability, and vulnerability are what guide me both professionally and personally.