Position: Classroom Therapist 
What led you to your current position: My journey to becoming a social worker was inspired by a lifelong passion for advocating for those in need. From an early age, I was drawn to helping others and saw the profound impact that social work had on the lives of vulnerable individuals and communities. This, coupled with personal experiences that exposed me to the struggles people face, fueled my determination to make a difference. I pursued a formal education in social work, where I enhanced my skills, gained a deeper understanding of human behavior and psychology, and learned the importance of empathy and active listening. Throughout my academic and professional journey, I've been motivated by a strong sense of social justice and a commitment to fostering positive change. My path to becoming a classroom therapist was influenced by a blend of personal and professional factors. It's a role I find deeply fulfilling and a continuation of my passion for working with children and have the privilege of providing support, guidance, and resources to those who need it most.
What inspires you to do this work: It is the profound impact it has on the lives of students. Witnessing the transformation in a young person who gains confidence, copes with emotional challenges, and begins to thrive academically is incredibly rewarding. Knowing that I can be a positive influence in their lives, helping them navigate the complexities of their emotions and learning, is a powerful motivator. Additionally, the opportunity to collaborate with educators and families, working together to create a supportive and inclusive environment, is inspiring. The belief that I can contribute to a brighter future for these students and empower them to overcome obstacles is what fuels my passion for being a classroom therapist every day.
What is a recent highlight you’ve experienced in the work or an important lesson you’ve learned in this role: A recent highlight in my role as a classroom therapist was witnessing a remarkable breakthrough with a student who had been struggling with severe aggression and self-esteem issues. Through consistent support and therapeutic interventions, the student began to open-up, express their feelings, and build a strong sense of self-worth. The real turning point was when they started good social relationships with peers in the class, something they had been terrified of doing before. It was an incredibly gratifying moment for both the student and me, as it showcased the power of resilience and the impact of our therapeutic work. This experience reinforced the importance of patience, empathy, and the value of a trusting therapeutic relationship in helping students overcome their challenges. It underlined that progress might not always be linear, but with persistence and a supportive environment, remarkable growth can be achieved.
Share your life motto or something unique about yourself: My life motto is "Embrace the journey, learn from every step, and never stop exploring new horizons." I believe that life's experiences, both positive and challenging, shape our growth and understanding of the world, and there's always something new to discover and learn along the way. (You can see that in my career trajectory; I am a professional Classical Dancer, and I was a Lawyer and now I am a Therapist)

The classroom team has outlined and developed clear expectations to support students with predictable responses and ways in which they are able to earn Incentives. They have created a full-on classroom Costco that serves as a way to cash in on the incentives that they earn day to day.  One of things that I love in visiting the site is the student/staff relationships and interactions. There is a clear line of communication amongst all members that allows for conversations around student desires and expectations. One of the most recent discussions has been about fidgets, while very useful, can also be very distracting. Here you can see the consensus that they came to in the end. 

With a rich history of academic excellence, a robust extracurricular program, and a strong commitment to community involvement, Walters Middle School continues to be a source of pride for the Fremont community. We are so excited that are a piece of the larger puzzle that makes it such a great school community. If you are ever around and stop by Ms. Vina’s classroom you may walk away with a piece of candy, but you’ll definitely leave with a smile from the joy the classroom and its team brings. 

Chronic Absenteeism (generally defined as students who have missed 10% or more of school), has been in the news a lot lately (Attendance Works).  It’s been a thorny problem in education since way before COVID, and it has only worsened in recent years (NPR.org).  
 
The additional funding pathways opened up in response to COVID provided opportunities for schools to design and implement innovative approaches to meet the exacerbated challenges at hand.  One such approach is the Compass Care model, co-developed by Valor Collegiate Academies and Seneca, with research and development support from Transcend Education. Compass Care is a short term (~10 week) tier three student- and family-focused intervention to uncover the reasons leading to chronic absenteeism and support students and families in identifying solutions and putting them into practice. 
 
The 2023-24 school year brings our third year of implementation in the two middle schools and one high school that make up the Valor Collegiate Academies network. It’s also the third year of Seneca’s partnership with Rocketship Public Schools California, where a grant from the California Community Schools Partnership Program (CCSPP) has provided funding for the CareCorps program, a school-based family-focused wraparound team that brings a deep focus to helping families access the basic needs resources that are the foundation to wellbeing. .  
 
Envision Academy in Oakland was also awarded a CCSPP grant to implement Compass Care in their middle school and high school. Launching the new Envision partnership in 2023-24 and bringing our innovative model to another school community has been very exciting. We’re learning a great deal with each year of implementation. The data from our work so far is promising, and we’re currently looking at other opportunities to expand the model and assess its impact in wider sample sizes. 

The Mt. Eden High School counseling enriched classroom is one of HEART’s longest standing contracts, spanning over 20 years. Mt. Eden also holds a special place in my heart because not only was I the classroom therapist there for 6 years, but I am also an alumni (you can’t hide that Monarch pride)! The team there is made up of Erika Brindopke, Classroom Teacher (former HEART MHC), Kaelyn Hosokawa, Classroom Therapist (former HEART clinical intern and All-in SSA), Crystal Rodriguez, Clinical Counseling Associate, and Larn’ea Cockerham, Mental Health Counselor. The team there is always having fun events to engage folks on site, like hosting an ice cream social in our classroom to start the year off. They also help to highlight our diverse community by incorporating various cultural celebrations into the classroom (pictured are decorations the students made during Chinese New Year and an Ofrenda that was constructed during Dia de Los Muertos). Larn’ea has also recently started a clothing brand to help bring awareness to mental health, linked here. 

The rates of burnout in mental health professionals have increased in recent years. Across several studies, it’s been found that 21% to 67% of mental health workers have experienced high levels of burnout.
 
As providers we use ourselves as tools. Keeping those tools in good condition can be challenging when managing busy caseloads, keeping up with paperwork, trainings, and other various demands of the job.  Before one of our Pathways clinicians became a mental health provider, she primarily taught Yoga. In yoga training, instructors are trained to think of themselves as conduits (or tool) for healing, allowing energy and teachings to flow through them.

As a mental health practitioner, she finds it beneficial to apply these yoga principles because it helps her separate herself from the work when appropriate. A tool can be put away when not in use, it is not part of us or within us, we are in control and have choice of how and when to use it. For her, this is a key understanding for workplace self-care hygiene. The practitioner as tool mentality sets up a mental boundary as to when the work begins and ends. It makes space for us to do difficult work with children and families facing complex trauma and later engage with our loved ones when we get home without our thoughts and heart still being tied up in the work.

The term self-care hygiene is meaningful for minimizing burnout because it suggests that it’s a daily preventive practice. All too often we don’t give our needs attention until there is an outstanding problem.  

All service providers are vulnerable to vicarious trauma or compassion fatigue. Vicarious trauma is a process of change resulting from empathetic engagement with trauma survivors. Anyone who engages empathetically with survivors of traumatic incidents, or material relating to their trauma, is potentially affected, including doctors and other health professionals. Compassion Fatigue refers to the way that employees who directly assist people with trauma may develop their own Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a result of empathizing with clients.

The first step in managing vicarious trauma or compassion fatigue is to identify it when it is happening (please see below for a list of common symptoms). The second step; minimize stigma!! Burnout is a common and normal response to abnormal circumstances. In-line with the practitioner as tool mentality, it can be expected that the tools need some maintenance and upkeep to perform the job effectively. Take up space, give workplace challenges airtime in psychologically safe environments. Share experiences with your supervisors, talk about it in consult groups and enlist the support of your colleagues. Talking about the burnout can help us get the support we need and encourage others to do the same.

Finally, action to mitigate stigma around burnout is through Rest! The glorification of overworking and normalizing unhealthy levels of stress is pervasive throughout workplace culture. Rest is Resistance! Build helpful breaks into the workday to do something restorative (that does not involve a cell phone). Step out into nature, feed yourself something healthy, enjoy a leisurely walk, plan time off. Self-care hygiene can include finding a mindfulness practice; try yoga, meditation, or walks in nature. I am grateful to share in this work of being a healing tool to serve our community. Our community is better served when we prioritize the maintenance of these important tools. 
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Have your own tips for self-care hygiene? Please share in the comments below!

 Some common signs of burnout include:

• experiencing lingering feelings of anger, rage and sadness about client’s victimization
• becoming overly involved emotionally with the client
• experiencing bystander guilt, shame, feelings of self-doubt
• being preoccupied with thoughts of clients outside of the work situation
• over identification with the client (having horror and rescue fantasies)
• loss of hope, pessimism, cynicism
• distancing, numbing, detachment, cutting clients off, staying busy; avoiding listening to client's story of traumatic experiences
• difficulty in maintaining professional boundaries with the client, such as overextending self (trying to do more than is in the role to help the client)

Position: Director of School Partnerships
What led you to your current position: After working as a music teacher, afterschool teacher, and mental health counselor, I went to grad school to study ways that schools can partner with community organizations. I was lucky to find Seneca right afterwards, where I joined the early days of the UE program as a project manager in 2014. In 2018, I moved to LA to help start our small but mighty program down here.
What inspires you to do this work: In this country, education is one of many inequitable systems. However small our part might be in such a big system, I’m inspired to find ways to bring more resources—like training, programs, or simply people who are skilled and dedicated to their work—to support where needs exist in our schools. 
What is a recent highlight you’ve experienced in the work or an important lesson you’ve learned in this role: I feel like I’ve learned so much in this role and continue to learn every day. I’m also a big believer in transparency. In that regard I think I’ve learned that, as hard as it can feel in a leadership role, it’s OK to not have the answer to everything all the time. Sometimes the most important thing you can say is, “I don’t have a good answer for that right now—but I’ll find one for you soon.”
Share your life motto or something unique about yourself: My life motto is “Balance in all things.” Work/life, thinking/acting, giving/receiving, resting/moving, the list goes on. One big part of my self-care is finding time to step back and take stock of how I’m holding these different parts of my life in balance. 

In our Berkeley Clinical Group, we have been discussing intergenerational trauma and what healing can look like as a collective community supporting the families and youth we serve as well. As we do the work with communities that have been historically marginalized, discriminated against and oppressed, we find it even more important to decolonize therapy and our practices along with providing support through the lens of healing centered approaches. We are learning from the works of Dr. Shawn Ginwright, Dr. Thema Bryant, and Dr. Jennifer Mullan. In addition, a lot of our team members working at Seneca have also experienced intergenerational trauma and it is equally important that we hold a space that supports their experiences providing quality care to the families and youth we serve. Please feel free to spend time watching the videos below of the above trainers and experts in our field that are doing groundbreaking work to reimagine what our work can look like with the families and youth that are served at Seneca.

• You Can Heal Intergenerational Trauma | Dr. Thema Bryant | TEDxDelthorneWomen - YouTube
• From Trauma-Informed to Healing-Centered Engagement: A Youth Work Teach-In with Dr. Shawn Ginwright - YouTube
• SCO's CARE Talk - Decolonizing Therapy with Dr. Jennifer Mullan - YouTube

Name: Jules Ough (they/she)
Position: School-based outpatient therapist 
What led you to your current position: I graduated with my master's in counseling in May of this year and was thrilled to find a position where I can integrate my experiences promoting wellbeing, investing in young people, and supporting learning. I'm excited to be part of such a passionate and committed team.
Self-care interests/hobbies that you enjoy: I love baking, reading, spending time outside, and being with my loved ones. 

Name: My name is Madeline Bick, or Maddy is good too. I use she/her/hers pronouns
Position: I'm working as a school-based therapist with the CEC program at Berkeley High! 
What led you to my current position: I just finished my MSW at UChicago and I've been studying school social work, so naturally I was drawn to continue working in schools. I have worked with high schoolers in the past and have really enjoyed it, and the CEC Berkeley team was very welcoming and supportive!
Self-care interests/hobbies that you enjoy: I love being outside and being active! I enjoy walking, hiking, biking, yoga, working out, and dancing! I also love my podcasts and reading, and spending time with my friends!

​Name: Erin Cary

• Position: School-Based Outpatient Therapist
• What led you to your current position: I got my MSW in 2020 after a career in nonprofit development. As a trainee, I enjoyed doing play therapy with kids both in schools and other practice settings, which led me to Seneca’s UE program. I’m excited for my new role as a school-based therapist in Berkeley
  

Self-care interests/hobbies that you enjoy: Running, making art