A Personal Story and Professional Path– Meet Grad Intern, Kate M.
· Team Spotlight · By The CCD Clinical Team · Clinically reviewed by Lisa R. Savage, LCSW
What inspired you to pursue a career in mental health, and how has your journey shaped your perspective on the field? Over my last 24 years working with children and adolescents as a teacher in the public school system, I’ve seen the complex challenges youth in particular face. My own path with anxiety, depression, […]
Kate Madigan
What inspired you to pursue a career in mental health, and how has your journey shaped your perspective on the field?
Over my last 24 years working with children and adolescents as a teacher in the public school system, I’ve seen the complex challenges youth in particular face. My own path with anxiety, depression, cancer, parenting, and foster care/adoption have also provided me a landscape of personal experiences that have stirred a deep curiosity in mental wellness. In life’s most difficult moments, I’ve found that having another person willing to be truly with us in the chaos can make all the difference. Whether in my own home, the school setting, a therapy session, or the community at large, I want to create a space where each person feels heard, valued, and supported on this journey we call life.
What is one area of mental health you are particularly passionate about, and how do you hope to make a difference in this space?
Building a space where children, adolescents, and their families can discover their own inner strengths and feel safe enough to explore patterns of being that are no longer serving them is important to me. In particular, I’m passionate about exploring how families interact and form healthy attachments. Recognizing how we show up in a space and react to those around us can be transformative. Additionally, the complexity that comes with developing our own independent identity as we grow when standing on the line between two different cultures is a focus of mine.
Can you share a specific skill or approach you’ve learned in your studies that you feel will positively impact your future practice?
Recently, I’ve been working through training on EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) with Ana Gomez, and the experience has been exhilarating. Applying this evidenced-based approach to process trauma and anxiety effectively with a variety of age groups, including our youngest clients in preschool and kindergarten, requires extensive training, but it is worth it! The mind is highly adaptive, especially when young, and this technique taps into the brain’s natural desire for balance.
What do you find most rewarding about studying mental health, and how do you plan to carry that motivation into your professional career?
Knowledge is power, and that moment when a client comes to a realization that moves them toward a healthier way of being is priceless. We are all on a journey, and it is an honor each time a client invites me into their space to walk with them on their pathway.
How do you see your education and training helping you address the unique needs of diverse communities?
One of the most important foundations of counseling I try to always keep in the forefront of my mind is that it is my job to go into the client’s world, not force them to join me in mine. I seek out daily interactions that challenge my perspective of the world around me. This may be listening to a particular radio show or podcast that differs from my point of view, engaging in conversation with others who have different lived experiences, or more formal training. Opening a space for clients to know that I acknowledge our lived experiences will not be the same and that I welcome conversation when they have concerns about the impact of those differences is essential. My education and training have taught me that recognizing, respecting, and honoring the way each client’s culture and identity shape their desired outcomes for therapy requires ongoing self-reflection and vigilance on how I bring my own way of being into our shared space.