Why I Became a Lifestyle Therapist
I have been attracted to social and behavioral sciences since high school. I had an amazing Psychology teacher, shoutout to Mr. Day, who ignited that passion. The only thing is I thought my passions lied elsewhere. I had to take that path to find my way to becoming a therapist. My hope with this post is that you will see the path that led me to being a therapist and how I came to be a lifestyle therapist.
Military
I always thought my career path would be the military. It was my dream to out rank my dad and my uncle in the military as well as being the first female in our family to be in the military. I enlisted in the spring of 2006 and by October 2006 I was leaving for basic training.
A lot of the military culture is centered around drinking. This isn’t helpful when you are underage and in your formative years. How much you could drink was a thing of pride for a lot of us. As women, there is also this need to fit in with the guys.
I definitely was not immune to any of this. I developed a very unhealthy relationship with alcohol. My drinking very much became a thing of pride for me. It also put me in a lot of situations that were not safe. I went through a traumatic experience that ended up being an experience that I am most thankful for today.
Recovery Path
After my traumatic event, I was at my lowest. I was hopeless, helpless, and feeling worthless. Drinking became my medication. I hit my lowest point the night I wanted to take my life. I had some wonderful supports in my military family who weren’t about to give up on me even if I had. I went into treatment which would be influential on my life.
While in treatment, I fought it at every turn. Heck, I refused to talk for the first week there. I refused to do the work and I caused trouble. Suddenly, there was a switch and I started to engage. Someone said nine of you aren’t going to make it to recovery. That pride I had said, “Oh yeah watch this.” I took the saying, “Fake it until you make it” as a mantra. I was thinking that I would be faking it to them. Little did I know I was only faking myself right into a career.
I had a wonderful therapist who helped me wade through the bullshit and self-blame. Kim was the biker therapist who would take me on walks to get me out of my head and to help me open up. He would call me on my shit but celebrate my accomplishments. He helped to foster a reconnection with women and introduced me to strong, empowering women in Alcoholics Anonymous. I wish I remembered his last name to thank him and tell him how influential he was on my life.
Leaving the Military for College
A short while after getting out of treatment, I was medically retired from the military. I had no idea what I was going to do. My military buddies started helping me find my new career path. That was a hard process to leave behind a dream I had since childhood. I decide to be a nurse. I moved back home to Oklahoma where my family was and enrolled at University of Central Oklahoma (UCO).
In 2011, I started my core classes for my nursing degree. One of those core classes would be psychology. All though I was failing at first, I loved it. I decided I would be psych nurse. As class went on and my grades improved, I decided I was going to major in Psychology. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do but I just knew that I loved the material too much to walk away.
In my Spring semester, I made the decision to walk away from Psychology after taking Dr. Miller’s Intro to Sociology class. In her class, I found that I had a passion about researching substance abuse. She also helped foster my love for Sociology by encouraging me to switch programs. That is when I found the Substance Abuse Studies (SAS) program at UCO and my home.
Addictions Counseling
I found my people in the SAS program. I made life long friends from those classes in undergrad and graduate school. I loved the classes. My own recovery story made it possible for me to be passionate about those topics. I wanted to help others through their addictions and trauma. I wanted to be someone’s Kim. Then I met a professor who would be just as influential on my life and test my bounds as potential therapist, Mr. Art Christie.
Art inspired every new potential therapist that sat in his classroom. He was a traditionalist when it came to AA but he was openminded, caring, and compassionate as therapist. He instilled that in all of us by teaching us about carefrontations and how to show up for your clients. He also pushed our limits because he believed in us even if we couldn’t see it ourselves.
In Art’s pesky endeavors, he pushed me into an internship with adolescents since I was adamant I wasn’t going to work with adolescents. The joke was on me because I loved it. At this point, I was 26 years old and 4 years sober. I realized I could relate and understand adolescent addiction because I had been there not that long ago. I also had gotten sober when I was 22 years old and in Vegas to boot. I realized a new a path to being a therapist was developing.
Therapist Career
I got my first job as therapist working with adolescents who were stepping down from the residential program that was at the same location. I worked mainly in the outpatient program but I also assisted the residential therapists by filing in for groups. This is where I discovered my next therapy love, groups.
After leaving the agency where I worked with adolescents in outpatient and residential settings as well as working with DHS adults, I moved to being a contract therapist at two different agencies. I also have worked at two different community mental health agencies working with different populations such as Medicated Assisted Suboxone Treatment and court programs. I have also worked for a Methadone clinic briefly. I have worked with a wide range of clients and issues. I have loved every minute of it.
My Transition to Lifestyle Therapist
While I had a wonderful experience in my rehab, my recovery experience outside of treatment was difficult and harsh. I started my recovery foundation in Alcoholics Anonymous and it led me to my personal exploration of what recovery looked like for me. I had also worked in a number of places that had their definitions of what recovery was supposed to look like for people. My personal and professional experiences helped to form my outlook on recovery and sent me on a research path to find better for my clients.
Health
Over the course my military and therapist career, I had bouts of struggles with my physical health. These experiences would lead to my understanding of holistic health which is a large part of my mission today as a therapist. I had chronic back pain from the military and stomach issues that were genetic but were also expediated by my drinking. These issues culminated in a number of hospitalizations and almost dying.
Almost dying would be a catalyst for me personally and professionally. It would be the final formation of my drive to be a lifestyle therapist not just a therapist. With my health, I began researching holistic and homeopathic ways to heal my body. A resounding number of articles pointed me to a whole food plant-based (WFPB) lifestyle. In 2019, I made the switch.
Whole food plant-based has taught me a lot of things about myself and life. I did a lot of self-work not only in my recovery from addiction but also when working on my WFPB lifestyle. I would find a support group that would be instrumental in leading me to becoming a lifestyle therapist. I met a lot of great people who helped inspire me as a therapist. All of us just trying to live our best lives.
Lifestyle Therapist
One of my clients was one of my greatest inspirations. They would always bring up to new clients in group how angry they were at me in the beginning when I corrected them for saying they weren’t recovered. I told them we are never recovered that we are always in recovery. I always told my clients that recovery was about living a life of recovery that just becomes a life. I told them after a certain point, you stop focusing on being sober and being in recovery. I told them you just start living this life you built that is no longer revolving around alcohol and/or drugs.
It was this discussion that really highlighted that I needed to change my therapeutic approach. I wanted to be the therapist that focused more on the lifestyle and helping people live their best lives no matter if it was dealing with issues of food or addictions. All of this has led me here today to hopefully help you!