My training to be a counselor began as a young girl living overseas, experiencing different cultures, ethnic groups, values, and norms and learning how those impact people in society. I realized at an early age the importance of mental health and how it contributes to the fullness of your life. My worldview helped me gain knowledge, understanding, and sensitivity to cultural concerns and challenges. As I grew older and experienced more of life, I realized how important it was to provide a place for people of all cultures to come and work through their life issues.
My undergraduate studies prepared me from a social work and D&A perspective. My graduate studies prepared me to use my clinical skills and training to help those seeking counseling in the private and public mental health arenas. I have provided those services in a variety of different settings. Most of my experience has been in the public mental health field: from working as a mental health provider in an FQHC facility to being a therapist in a forensic clinic, to working at an inpatient dual diagnosis/co-occurring treatment facility, to working as a therapist in an EAP program, and working within my own private practice, each setting has equipped, trained, and prepared and helped me for the next.
Within each of those settings, I have been able to use my clinical skills and knowledge, as my language skills in providing counseling in Spanish for those of Spanish-speaking cultures, as well as stretching myself to work with populations such as sex offenders, drug addicts, and more, without judgment. It has been some of the most rewarding and humbling experiences I have had thus far. Through it all, I have maintained integrity, honesty, confidentiality, tenacity, respect for others, empathy, acceptance, and diversity as some of my most treasured practiced core values.
I look forward to continuing to utilize my skills and training to help those seeking counseling services within the private sector.