So, I am sitting in a job interview—second interview for my first “real job,” post graduate school—and I am getting my butt kicked. Let me set the scene for you. I am in what appears to be a classroom-type setting with long tables lining the perimeter. There are folks—clinicians-- sitting around the tables, and I have been placed smack dab in the center of the room to field their questions about how I a newly graduated, doe-eyed, Cis, Caucasian woman can provide anything of value to the community of color that I have applied to serve. I am frozen. I am intrigued, and I am absolutely filled with gratitude. Graduate school never taught me how to manage a situation like this, and in this moment, I am thinking that I probably shouldn’t stand up because I have probably left a puddle in my chair. Wouldn’t that be embarrassing?

Thinking back, I have always been someone that has connected well with people—younger, older, Caucasian people, people of different racial backgrounds or sexual orientations than me—didn’t matter. If I was there, and we made eye contact, we were going to have a conversation. Period. The cool part…I love it! People’s stories have always been so fascinating to me, and I have always felt grateful for the trust that I have been given to hold other’s stories, even upon our first meeting.

My first experiences with this began when I was just a child. I was (and still am, funny enough) that person at the playground or in line at a carnival/fair, who others would come up to and share their life stories with. Give me 5 minutes in line for something, and I could telling you about little Timmy’s mommy and daddy’s divorce, how he has been staying with his grandparent’s, and how his worries often feel like a volcano in his tummy. At restaurants, same thing. Sitting and waiting for our food, I would often be privileged enough to hear about our waitress’ marital struggles, and how she worries that her youngest child may be coping with ADHD. Again, these experiences, for me, were fascinating. I wanted to know more. And, most importantly, even as a child, I wanted to know how I could help.

So, I’m sure you can imagine my overwhelming joy when I was sitting in my Psychology class as a senior in high school, and it became evident to me that I could build my career around communicating with people about their stories and finding ways to help them. It was as if the skies had parted, and the light was shining down directly on me. In the distance, I may have even heard angels signing… I was set. This was it. Career goal, set!

So, I am back in my job interview. Still getting my butt kicked and returning cognitively from my mild dissociation and recalling all of the reasons that I found myself doing this work in the first place. I am listening to the questions that I am being asked, and I am noticing a pattern to the questions that I am being asked. The pattern feels like a “jab, jab, hug.” It’s difficult, challenging question after difficult, challenging question, and then it is wrapped up with love and support. There is this call for me to authentically “show up” in a real way, be informed, and know that if I don’t get it right it will be okay. Brene Brown breaks down this moment in her work, stating “I am not here to be right. I am here to get it right.”

This moment and the warm feeling that this beautiful framework of questions created inside of me being on the other end of the table through this interview process was life-altering. And for me, it became a large part of how I have done my work from that point forward.

Following my amazing interview experience, and being hired for this position, I spent over a decade working with under-resourced youth and families in a community of color. I served the community I worked in from sun up to sun down. I learned and I grew in ways that I never knew possible, not only as a professional through my involvement across multiple systems, but also as a human. I learned about my privilege. I didn’t understand it really until this point. I learned about trauma, and I learned about strength. I learned about resilience, about surviving, and what it means to really be accepted and loved as family in a community who looks differently than you do. It was everything a young, hungry, social justice-oriented therapist could ask for. My passion was lit, my cup was filled, and then I decided that I wanted to have a family of my own.

Over my time in community mental health, my husband and I were blessed to have two bouncing baby boys, and bouncing they were! As a mother of two, I learned quickly that I would not be able to do the work at the intensity that I was earlier in my career regardless of how hot my passion was burning. While this broke my heart, I also knew that it was necessary to raise my children in the way in which they need and deserve. So, with a heavy heart, and fierce determination, I was out to find my next career-based journey—group practice to private practice.

My entrance into the group practice and private practice world was mind-boggling. Coming into this world, I had absolutely convinced myself that there was no way that I could love this work as much as I loved my community-based mental health work. How would I find room for the grit, realness, and “jab, jab, hug” approach that had served me so well over the past decade in my career? Boy does the expression, “you know what they say about people who assume things” fit here. I was wrong, and I am not too proud to admit it. With the work I do now, I have seen how trauma transcends across populations. I have found ways to serve children, teens, adults, couples, and families in the way that I love to serve them. I have found places to continue with my social-justice work. And I do it all in a way that continues to allow me to be there for my children in the way that I want and need to be there for them as well. This work feeds my passion. Period. I am called to do it. Now, that is what I call job satisfaction. 😊

Education, Training, and Experience-

After graduating high school, I received my BA degree in Psychology from Western Washington University, and then earned my MA in Marriage and Family Therapy from Pacific Lutheran University. Additionally, I have earned my Child Mental Health Specialist (CMHS), Mental Health Professional (MHP), and Ethnic Minority Health Specialist (EMHS) credentials.

Experience working with-

• Across the lifespan-children, adolescents, adults, couples and families

• Across under-resourced communities as well as more affluent communities.

• Intergenerational patterns of dysfunction within various family systems

• trauma

• mental health issues associated with drug addiction

• anger management issues

• social and emotional issues that present across various settings such as school

• issues with attachment and bonding

• blended family and other relational issues, couple’s issues

• issues associated with grief and loss

• Parenting/co-parenting/parallel-parenting skills

• and many, many various mental health diagnoses

Through my work, I had the opportunity to serve as a Clinical Director of a community mental health agency for approximately 5 years. Through this experience, I discovered that I enjoyed providing supervision and training for my colleagues as they became licensed clinicians. As such, I then pursued and completed credentialing as an AAMFT Approved Supervisor. I continue to provide this training upon request to date.

Professional License-

• LF60077794