Just a Therapist Breaking Into Blogging
Maybe you’re thinking, “not another blog!”
Or maybe you’re not and you’ll read this in its entirety. If you fall into the latter, I appreciate you. I’m Greta, a mental health therapist in Kansas City and this is my first blog post. Let me introduce myself and lay out the vision I have for this blog.
The Background Details
I grew up in a small town in southwest Missouri, familiar with being known by your last name, Friday night lights, and running into 3 people you know every time you go to Wal-Mart. I was raised by the two greatest parents on earth. I’m one of 5 children, known for being the enthusiastic one with occasional diva-like tendencies.
I moved to Kansas City after high school and attended William Jewell College (Go Cards!), where I earned my Business-Marketing and Psychology degrees. Wanting to further explore psychology during the summer before my junior year, I rode around town with my mom passing out my resume and cover letter to every psychology/private practice/mental health office we could find.
A few days later, a psychologist at one of the offices called me and said, “I know what it’s like to want experience. Come do office work for free and I’ll give you observation hours of assessment and therapy sessions.” I hit the jackpot with that offer and after that internship; I knew I wanted to do therapy. The rest is history. After I graduated from William Jewell, I moved to Springfield and earned my Masters in Clinical Psychology at Missouri State University.
I treasure my education and my experiences during my time in higher education more than almost anything else in my life. I’ve met a lot of incredible people and gained valuable knowledge – and learned equally valuable lessons. I’ve been lucky enough to be surrounded by my brilliant peers during both undergrad and grad school, but I was admittedly the least valuable member on trivia night while at MSU.
***Special shout-out to my Clin Psych cohort for carrying all the points - #blessed.
Right after I graduated from Missouri State, I moved back to Kansas City to pursue private practice. It was a scary move to skip agency work altogether, as a lot of new clinicians take that route first because:
there’s a huge need for agency work;
there are plenty of open positions in agencies; and
private practice is hard, especially if you don’t know what you’re doing.
So with [minimal] confidence, possession of a Business degree, and spectacular colleagues to guide me through the process, I’ve been providing therapy in the private setting ever since. I started out seeing children, adults, and couples, but now that I’ve been in the ‘biz for a few years I’ve found my favorite groups of people to work with. You can read more about my specialties here.
State of Mind - Kansas City
I recently named my practice “State of Mind” because I think it perfectly represents the whole change and betterment that we all seek, regardless of whether you suffer from a diagnosed mental health issue or you just get in a “funk” every now and then…which we all do.
I’ll say it louder for the people in the back:
WE ALL GET IN A FUNK EVERY NOW AND THEN.
A lot affects our state of mind – personal perspective, lifestyle choices, responses to events around us – and I really can’t wait to explore all of those things with you through this blog.
I’ll run this blog like I run my practice. It’s dedicated to mental wellness that doesn’t feel like the unsexy secret you have to explore privately because it’s too embarrassing or uncomfortable…or whatever society’s stigma of mental health has trained you to believe.
Why the Blog?
Anyone who knows me in my personal life will tell you that I love to talk. Brevity is not my strong suit. I tell a lot of stories, but I love hearing them more. Lucky for me my career is a literal mashup of listening to + talking about the human experience; therefore, I’ve got a lot to say about a lot of things. Insert blog here.
Please note: I’m bored with the psychobabble.
So, if you’ll be reading any of my future posts you’ll see that I’m casual, direct, and I try to be trendy with my words sometimes. I might even mention Tupac in the same blog post in which I talk about Brene Brown, so be prepared for some unconventional prose.
Powerful stuff happens in therapy. Life lessons are learned and sometimes I want to shout from the mountaintops how awesome my clients are and the cool ways they learn to improve their own lives. Sometimes I have my own realizations about my work and I think, “that should really be shared.”
So here you go, World: Lessons I’ve learned along the way, insights written out for you, and (my personal favorite) actionable items for those tough spots you’ll find yourself in from time to time during this life.
Going Forward
Some posts may be long, some may be short.
Some you’ll relate to, others not so much.
Some you might agree with, some you won’t.
And that’s okay – I'm not here to appease the masses!
This blog will reflect a lot of my personality. I like to get personal, say what everyone else is thinking, and sometimes ruffle a few feathers. I also like to get value out of anything I spend my time on.
So, every post will have a takeaway. Every. Single. One. No post will be aimless without value or insight to gain. A blog won’t change your life…that whole part is up to you. But maybe I can help you out along the way.