Sarah Durrell

Background

About Sarah Durrell

A Master's level Social Work student graduating in May 2024. In the field of social work my passion is for working with adolescents, especially in schools. The school setting is a unique, interdisciplinary environment in which my skills with working collaboratively, problem solving, developing engaging and effective programming and emotional intelligence truly shine. My experience serving the junior and senior high student population in an evidence-based, competent, compassionate and creative manner combined with my education and lived experience make me an ideal addition to any mental health team. In addition, I have an extensive background in leadership, management, business operations, customer service and sales. While someone may think there is no connection between sales and social work, they would be wrong! For example: building rapport is intrinsic to the customer experience in sales as well as fostering genuine therapeutic alliance throughout the helping process, while developing, executing and monitoring strategic plans to achieve business and organizational goals draws from the same skill set needed to create effective SMART plans with clients. The list goes on and on, but it is evident that my experience is highly transferable to both work with clients at the clinical level and to organizations at the macro level. Lastly, spending over 10 years supervising and working in partnership with others has impressed upon me the importance of creating a positive, person first atmosphere in the professional space. I do this by being a dedicated lifelong learner, creating a safe space for honest discourse, giving and openly receiving both positive & constructive feedback, facilitating consistent development with clear action plans and by making sure to find a moment every day to make myself and others laugh.