I am a working mother of eight-year-old twins living the dream in Wallowa County, Oregon. My route to counseling has been circuitous but it is absolutely where I am meant to be.
At sixteen I decided to become a veterinarian. I worked hard in high school to get into college. I worked hard in undergrad to make it into vet school. I worked hard in vet school so I wouldn’t drown. Then I worked hard at my first job. My work ethic was never at fault, but it left little room for exploration of outside interests or for a healthy focus on self-care.
While I was in school it was easy to justify the subversion of extracurricular interests to my primary goal of becoming a veterinarian. The habit of unreservedly giving school the best of myself carried over into my career, something I suspect is true for many of us. The situation was not aided by the culture of my workplace, in which self-denial was seen as a necessary trade for patient care and client care. Missed meals and infrequent bathroom breaks were the norm. Our hours of operation were more of a suggestion to clients than anything we enforced. Twelve-hour (or more) days were expected, and a stack of 80-100 charts at the end of the week was depressingly commonplace. As one might imagine, staff turnover was relentless. Although this added to workload and clinic stress, it also afforded me the opportunity to meet a large number of truly amazing individuals.
I loved my clients, patients, and coworkers, but I was distressed that self-care and healthy boundaries were dismissed as a luxury. I watched an unnecessary number of talented, compassionate individuals leave our clinic and sometimes the profession in an effort to restore balance in their lives. The role of caretaker can be immeasurably rewarding, but often our best caretakers do a poor job of caring for themselves. I wanted to see that change.
To that end, I dove back into the university world in pursuit of a Masters in Mental Health Counseling. Now, one degree, a truly amazing internship opportunity, and several life-events later and I am thrilled to be practicing as a Professional Counselor Associate. My mission is to support and educate caretakers on their wellness journey, and prove that it is possible to achieve excellence in a caretaking role without sacrificing a lifestyle of joy, fulfillment, self-care, self-knowledge, and mental wellbeing.
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