Emily Ward

Background

About Emily Ward

I've worked in customer oriented jobs, working at a movie theater, day care, answering service, and so forth. I changed jobs every few years, looking for my "calling" in life. In community college I took a wide variety of classes trying to figure out what I wanted to be when I "grew up": photography, Arabic, art history, German, to name a few. While I enjoyed most of the classes I took, none really felt like they were the right long-term path for me. It was the same with my jobs. Shortly after graduating community college a family member made a comment about me becoming a therapist, and the moment they said that I knew it was right. When I started on my path to become a licensed therapist I was worried that I was not getting any experience in the mental health field. I expressed concern to my advisor that I'll have no experience before becoming a therapist. I've since learned that my jobs in customer service are not as unrelated to therapy as I thought. Many of the skills required to work in customer service are the same skills I'll need as a therapist. As I continue my education I can apply what I learn about being a therapist to become better at helping people in my customer service job. And as I continue working in customer service, I will continue to hone the skills I'll need as a therapist.