Her Story
About Stephanie
Stephanie Sorady is a licensed psychotherapist and private practice owner based in Los Angeles, California. With six years of experience in the mental health field and nearly three years owning her practice, she works almost exclusively in trauma treatment with adult women across California and Florida, the two states where she is licensed. She also manages and mentors an employee who is a therapist. Sorady earned her Bachelor's in Social Sciences from the University of Southern California in 2015 and her Master's in Social Work from Columbia University in 2020. She is a Certified EMDR Therapist, a member of the National Association of Social Workers, and received a fellowship from the Veterans Health Administration to work with homeless veterans. In addition to her clinical work, Sorady mentors social work students and takes on pro bono clients to make therapy more accessible for women. She attributes her success to the loving and supportive women in her life, including supervisors, colleagues, friends, and her own therapist. Sorady values respect for others' choices and dignity, education and learning, and personal freedom, which led her to work for herself. She advises those entering the mental health field to prioritize their own therapy and mental health care and to communicate healthy boundaries.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Stephanie
01What do you attribute your success to?
I'd say a lot of loving and supportive women in my life. I've had really good supervisors and colleagues and friends, even my own therapist. Just a lot of women who have been so supportive and encouraging and just made me feel less alone.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I've ever received was from one of my supervisors in graduate school. When you're learning so many technical things, you kind of get caught up in what the textbooks say and what you're supposed to do. She reminded me that the most important thing is to learn to trust your instincts. If you get a gut feeling about someone or something, go with it, because it's always steering you in the right direction.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
If they're entering the mental health field, really prioritize going to therapy and taking care of their own mental health. If you can't take care of your own, you definitely can't take care of someone else's. I'd encourage them to learn how to communicate healthy boundaries because it's a field where you can really give a lot of yourself and it's really important to know your limits.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Challenges include navigating healthcare which is difficult for patients and therapists to get reimbursed, and getting people to feel comfortable asking for help even though we talk more about mental health. Women especially are so strong and push through without recognizing they've been through trauma. Opportunities exist because there's a mental health professional shortage across the country and many states don't have enough therapists to meet demand, so there's room for people to make a difference.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Respect is really important to me, like respecting other people's choices and their dignity. It's really important when doing mental health work to respect what your patients want and what they think is best for them. I also really value education, I love learning, it's a big passion of mine. I also really value personal freedom, which is why I ended up working for myself - freedom of choice, freedom to make mistakes, freedom to take risks and try things.
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