Brooke Kowalski

Background

About Brooke Kowalski

My journey to discovering the field of social work was a bit unorthodox, but has helped shape me into the clinician I am today. Having graduated undergrad with a degree in graphic design, I am able to work with my clients using creativity and hands on activities that help to build rapport, bring comfort, and provide de-escalation techniques through the use of art. After undergrad, I joined Teach For America and was placed as a kindergarten teacher, where my knowledge of working with children grew. I learned about the structure of a school day and the stress that can create for a child, I learned about how to provide the correct support for a child while also pushing them out of their comfort zones, and I learned how to connect with a child's systems of support to gain trust and understand of the child as a whole. Another element of my life that has helped to shape my clinical abilities is my participation in sports throughout my college career. The greatest lesson that soccer taught me was that every player on the team receives feedback in their own way. As a teammate I throughly enjoyed learning the way each player needed to be motivated, similarly to how each client needs to be motivated.