My inspirations for pursuing a career in mental health are both professional and personal; stemming from observations of past clients, my own experiences, and the experiences of my family members. My professional background working with children and families in the education and social work fields has shown me just how widespread the need for mental health care has become. Every family I have worked with has been impacted in one way or another by the growing need for better mental health care. On a more personal note, I have personally needed mental health care before and have seen family members pass away at too young an age for lack of mental health assistance. As a student, I learned that not everyone has the same level of access to certain care despite the widespread need. My time in the field has confirmed that there is an increasing need for mental health care that is not being met. In the years since I graduated with my Bachelor's in Social Work, I have come to realize that mental health care needs are at the root of many societal issues that social work professionals try to address and ameliorate. With this knowledge and experience in mind, I determined that to do the most good in this world I would pursue a Master's in Social Work to obtain licensure as a counselor in my state. In this way I hope to become a part of the solution to the current mental health crisis we are all facing. I have personally seen that early interventions, such as teaching emotional intelligence skills, can help prepare the youth of today for dealing with mental health issues now and in the future. For example, as an intern at the Vancouver Housing Authority, I helped develop a summer program for the teens of families living in supportive housing. The teen program was both fun and educational. Most days we would take the teens on an outing in the community or play games in the community center after spending some time developing skills in emotional intelligence and executive functioning. Leading the group of teens through self-reflection exercises and activities showed me that young people can benefit from being encouraged to think about their motivations and goals. Many of these young people had thoughtful observations about their emotional intelligence skills and how they wanted to improve them. I was inspired by these teens sharing with such vulnerability and bravery. Teens are not the only age group who can benefit from mental health care at a young age. As a preschool teacher, I was often reminded that the most important skills I could teach were emotional regulation and socialization skills. While I understood the value of number and letter recognition, amongst other academic skills, I found that establishing a baseline of social skills assisted students the most. Preschool children who were unable to control or understand their emotions spent more time distressed or confused instead of learning. For example, I had a student who was often caught up in his emotions and thoughts about what other students felt towards him. Let's call this student Charlie. When Charlie was upset because another student did not want to play with him he would become sad and reclusive. This could lead to isolation because other students who approached Charlie in this state would be rebuffed for their efforts. As his teacher, my heart hurt for Charlie because he often felt rejected and alone. However, with some focus on teaching Charlie emotional regulation skills, such as trying something different when his first attempt failed, he began to flourish. Now, when Charlie felt rejected by a certain student he would try to find a different playmate to play with instead of isolating. In this way, Charlie practiced and learned resilience and because he was more resilient he was also more involved in his educational learning. For example, sometimes Charlie would become upset if a friend did not want to sit by him at circle time and would then go to the quiet corner and look at a book to calm down. When Charlie did not feel welcome at circle time he would not get to engage in the group story time, singing, and group activity. This meant that Charlie was not fully benefiting from the educational opportunities his time at preschool afforded him. However, once Charlie developed the ability to keep calm and try new things he was able to be more engaged in the classroom. Experiences like the ones I had with Charlie and other students led me to believe that you can never start teaching mental health skills too early. Personally, I believe that no matter what age you are, you can always learn something new, even difficult and deeply personal mental health skills. In fact, I think that a large part of being human is our ability and responsibility to observe and change ourselves and the world around us for the better. As a child I had to deal with mental health issues from an early age. At the age of 11 I developed Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and had to combat obsessive fears constantly. The underlying cause of my OCD was, believe it or not, a strep infection. After dealing with symptoms of OCD for months my mother took me to our doctor and we were told about Pediatric Autoimmune and Neurological Disorders Associated with Strep (PANDAS). My doctor tested me for strep and I was then treated with antibiotics. The antibiotics did somewhat help me with my symptoms of OCD. However, there were lingering feelings of anxiety and depression for years afterwards. I did not seek mental health care until I experienced a terrifying incident at the age of 21. While Christmas shopping with a friend at Clackamas Town Center a shooting occurred. While my friend and I escaped alive, I was emotionally distraught and scared for my life in a way that I had never been before. After a time I began to develop symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) such as nightmares about the shooting and panic attacks triggered by normal everyday experiences that reminded me of the shooting. Due to the PTSD I sought therapy. Therapy helped me address not only the PTSD, but the lingering anxiety and depression, I felt like a different person. My symptoms did not go away overnight but I began to see real improvements and became more aware of the many tools available to help deal with mental health issues. After discovering from personal experience how useful therapy and mental health care could be I wanted to know more so I could help myself and help my family. Though I was helped by therapy I was not completely shielded from the effects of poor mental health. My parents and some siblings have experienced and continue to experience the symptoms of alcoholism, depression, anxiety, and suicidality. My parents raised me in an alcohol-free home because my father had trouble with alcoholism before I was born. As I grew up I could see this alcoholism passed on to many of my siblings. Of note, my brother Matt and my sister Autumn both passed away in the last few years because of health problems that were made much worse by their alcoholism. Both Matt and Autumn had tragic experiences in their lives that they found difficult to cope with, and they turned to alcohol for solace. Their alcohol dependency led to both of them dying in their mid-thirties. There have been many times since their deaths that I have thought about how they might still be alive if someone had helped them deal with their trauma in the same way that therapists helped me deal with mine. While I know that I cannot bring back my siblings by pursuing a career in mental health care, I do believe that I can honor their memories and help others avoid their fate. The field of mental health care is life and death, and it must be treated as such. The increase in mental health issues in our country is a crisis and must be addressed so that our citizens can thrive. Mental health issues can affect every aspect of a person's life. Mental health issues like anxiety and depression can make it difficult to enjoy life, pursue goals, or even take the necessary steps to take care of one's day-to-day responsibilities. If people are unable to deal with their mental health issues they may be unable to maintain jobs, housing, and relationships. With the rising number of people affected by mental health issues, we face societal-wide problems if we do not become more effective at dealing with those issues. In conclusion, I believe that we must all do our part to deal with these issues, and for me, that means becoming a licensed counselor in my state.

Mental health issues have been developing all around me and affecting me since before I was born. My parents both have unacknowledged and untreated mental health issues that they have, to some degree or another, passed on to me and all my siblings. Alcoholism has been an issue for my family at least since my dad was a teenager. Dad used alcohol to deal with the stresses of life until he became a Christian, at which time he gave up all alcohol. Though religion helped my father with his alcoholism some of my family members were not so fortunate. My brother Matt died in 2020 at the age of 36 and my sister Autumn died earlier this year at the age of 37. Both Matt and Autumn had difficult experiences in their lives that stressed them and made them turn to alcohol for relief which exacerbated health issues and proved deadly. In a way, their mistakes have shown me where I do not want to go for comfort and have made me more intentional about dealing with stress in my own life. Anxiety has been with me from an early age and I have had to develop methods of dealing with the stress. When I was 11 years old I developed Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) as a result of Pediatric Autoimmune Neurological Disorders Associated with Strep (PANDAS). My OCD was focused on contamination and I became obsessive about germs. I became reclusive and scared of the world because I was truly afraid that interacting with the people and objects around me would lead to injury or death for me or my family. For several months I tried to hide my new behaviors, I was ashamed that I was acting so strange; I knew that something was wrong and did not want others to know too. My hands were washed so frequently and for so long that they cracked and bled from being so dried out. After about six months of living with these fears and behaviors, my mom noticed and decided something needed to be done. My mom took me to our family doctor and I was tested for strep throat and was confirmed to have had it, and was prescribed an antibiotic. The antibiotic treatment seemed to alleviate some of the intensity of my symptoms, and having the ability to share my fears and thoughts with my family calmed my mind too. My mom began holding my hands when she saw me doing repetitive actions and would pray with me to try and comfort me. Religious practices helped me to deal with my anxiety for a long time. Though religion helped me for many years it could not contend with the stressors I faced in 2012. In the winter of 2012, I was at Clackamas Town Center doing some Christmas shopping with a friend when a gunman shot up the place, killing two people. My friend and I escaped without physical injury but I began exhibiting signs of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). I had dreams about being held hostage by a shooter and everyday normal things would get my heart racing because they reminded me of the incident. Due to these issues, I began seeing a therapist and realized that I needed more tools to deal with my anxiety as praying was not helping enough. Through therapy, I have learned how to use breathing, mindfulness, and reframing to approach my fears and issues in healthier ways. Therapy has saved me from dealing with the stresses of life in unhealthy ways and enabled me to live life fully.