Name: Laryonda Ward
Your Position? Clinical Intern at Lazear Charter Academy
What led you to your current position?
Back in 2010, at the age of 17, I witnessed a close family member be murder and that lit a light up inside of me. This prompted my mother to take me to therapy, where the therapist wasn't helpful, so I took a vow that I would give back into the therapy world in order to ensure that I would provide my clients with everything that the therapist lacked while working with me. After I graduated from college in 2014 I got a position in Seneca as a Mental Health Counselor which I loved. As the years progressed clients would continuously make statements like "I wish you were my therapist". After hearing that so many times I decided it was time to elevate myself and obtain my MFT.
Fun Fact/Quote? I come from a huge family I have 56 (and counting) first cousins on my mothers side alone.
What does your average day look like? An average day for me consist of therapy with clients, group work with clients, notes and documentation, and of course spending free time to connect with the other members school community.
Why do you do this work?
As stated earlier I do this work because I want to provide clients with support to better navigate through life. Also due to my background growing up this work means a lot me. Growing up in Oakland I learned that often times the youth aren't receiving the proper care they need and we were over looked a lot. Being constantly overlooked made many of the people that I grew up with start to feel like there was no point in trying. After witnessing multiple people be murdered constantly this became a norm in our community, but because it was so normalized often times people were't even given the space to mourn. There are a handful of problems that people in the Lower Class face so my goal is to simply provide them the help that I can provide and connect them with their community resources.
Your Position? Clinical Intern at Lazear Charter Academy
What led you to your current position?
Back in 2010, at the age of 17, I witnessed a close family member be murder and that lit a light up inside of me. This prompted my mother to take me to therapy, where the therapist wasn't helpful, so I took a vow that I would give back into the therapy world in order to ensure that I would provide my clients with everything that the therapist lacked while working with me. After I graduated from college in 2014 I got a position in Seneca as a Mental Health Counselor which I loved. As the years progressed clients would continuously make statements like "I wish you were my therapist". After hearing that so many times I decided it was time to elevate myself and obtain my MFT.
Fun Fact/Quote? I come from a huge family I have 56 (and counting) first cousins on my mothers side alone.
What does your average day look like? An average day for me consist of therapy with clients, group work with clients, notes and documentation, and of course spending free time to connect with the other members school community.
Why do you do this work?
As stated earlier I do this work because I want to provide clients with support to better navigate through life. Also due to my background growing up this work means a lot me. Growing up in Oakland I learned that often times the youth aren't receiving the proper care they need and we were over looked a lot. Being constantly overlooked made many of the people that I grew up with start to feel like there was no point in trying. After witnessing multiple people be murdered constantly this became a norm in our community, but because it was so normalized often times people were't even given the space to mourn. There are a handful of problems that people in the Lower Class face so my goal is to simply provide them the help that I can provide and connect them with their community resources.
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