Sarah Deese LCMHCS #S7799

People often ask how or why I became a counselor and mine is a story of happenstance. I graduated college with a psychology degree and realized I didn’t have a plan or experience for entering the workforce so I found multiple part time positions to pay the bills. At one of these jobs, I met a retired school counselor and I was instantly curious about her past career. I quickly realized counseling was a clear fit for my personality and started researching graduate programs. During my graduate work I learned far more about myself than I ever anticipated including the power of language in our own lives, our identities, and our relationships. It’s at that time I changed my own language from “I am a counselor” to “I work as a counselor” which is a theme I often carry into sessions with people who are learning and exploring their own lives. I’ve been a NC licensed counselor for 14 years and I currently hold the supervisory license status. The supervisory license allows me to work as an independent practitioner providing counseling to the public (NC residents only) along with providing supervision to associate level licensees in early stages of their career. Prior to licensure I worked with children and families for several years in a variety of settings. I have owned and operated my private practice for 7 years and before this adventure I worked in community mental health agency setting providing intensive outpatient treatment, intensive in home services, and crisis intervention services. My past work experiences have included treatment services in areas of substance use, severe and persistent mental illness (SPMI), abuse/neglect, trauma, personality disorders, and coordinating services with Department of Juvenile Justice, Department of Social Services, schools, and NC housing resources for SPMI clients. Recently people have asked if I provide counseling or therapy services and I’ve heard the question so often that I started researching the words and definitions. I use the terms ‘counseling’ and ‘counselor’ in my practice for the simple distinction that my licensure title includes ‘mental health counselor’ and my graduate degree is a Master of Arts (MA) in Community Counseling. Definitions of the two words that I’ve found identify counseling as a process of reducing symptoms through skills learning and therapy as a deeper process of understanding the self. In short, I utilize both approaches in my work. I am constantly evaluating a person’s effectiveness in using their own coping skills in order to evaluate the person’s ability to ‘go deeper’ in understanding the self. Utilizing Maslow’s hierarch of needs, a person cannot work on more existential issues without first having a solid foundation. I enjoy working with people in the office because I’m a firm believer in the power of connection and energy during the counseling process. I offer telehealth sessions as needed to accommodate our ever changing world. I’m a member of the American Counseling Association. I am also registered with the Yoga Alliance with the RYT 200 credential.