Counselor Personal Statement

Personal Mission and Vision: I have wanted to become a counselor for many years and the reality is that counseling is deeply intertwined with trauma work. In fact, oftentimes it is the same thing! My motivation for entering this field is my own positive experience with therapists walking alongside myself during times of my own personal trauma. On the flip side, I also feel motivated by the therapists that have failed to support me adequately. These experiences highlighted just how impactful counseling can be and I want to be part of that support in the most positively impactful way that I can. I am currently in my internship phase of graduate school and working within the Sherwood Middle School. My clients are the majority of middle schoolers

There has been no shortage of diversity of problems presented to me. Although it has been incredibly difficult and stressful, I feel as though it is such an honor to be able to support these kids through such a pivotal part of their development. Additionally, my current internship work is laying the foundations for my future practice by providing such specialized training experience geared exclusively towards middle schoolers. I am also building connections with the students and their community during my internship. I would love to remain within the middle school itself, but due to more systemic issues such as government funding, they are not only not hiring interns, but recently had to let go of multiple mental health care providers within the school system. This is not to assume they’d even want or have a need to hire me after my completion of my internship. It is simply that remaining in the middle school after graduation is not an option. My hope upon graduation is to look into opening a private practice. However, there are a myriad of factors that may make having a private practice and working with a particular age group

My Plan B begins with a focus on my physical and mental health. Then, depending on the state of my health, I can pursue remote work of interest, such as writing or teaching. South: Who is your support? My husband has been my best friend since I was sixteen years old. We met on the video game, Minecraft, and have been best gaming buddies ever since. He is my ultimate support. Outside of him, I have my parents who conveniently live right next to my internship site. After a hard day, I was able to just pop in on the way home. I also have my friends both in person and online through gaming that continuously support me throughout my life’s hardships. All of these people make up the microculture of support around me. West: How will you design your life outside of your work? My chronic illness makes it crucial that I have a good work and life balance. I have found stress and a reduction in rest to be causes of flares of illness. This means I need to be very intentional about the amount of hours I work and how I feel about those hours. I plan to hold a smaller caseload than perhaps the majority of counselors do and work closer to part time hours than full