Arianne Broadnax

CNS 771 CG-Dr. Scholl

Assignment 3.5 Interview with a Clinician
May 29, 2015
I was extremely grateful to conduct an interview with Ms. Denise Winkler a
Licensed Professional Counselor here in the Winston Salem community. Denise
shared many insights into the realm of counseling from her experiences over the
years. Initially to earn her degree she attended an accredited master level
counseling program and although at the time there were no requirements for
licensure she made the decision to become licensed passing the National Board
Licensure Exam. Subsequently to this accomplishment Denise completed her post
graduate requirements of 2 years/2000 hours of direct counseling under
supervision.
Denise has practiced in multiple settings, public mental health, private nonfor-profit and other health care settings working with all age groups. Although her
focus has been with children and adolescents. One of her previous work experiences
was here in Winston Salem at Insight Human Services/Partnership for Drug Free NC
as a counselor with children and families with substance abuse issues. She
described that within various settings, she has been able to work with clients from
multiple funding sources (Ex. Medicaid, NC Health Choice, & Sliding scale). Her
primary scope of practice has been and remains a client (person) centered
approach in working with children and families. She currently works for Family
Services and also works on a contractual basis in an assigned school with middle
school children. Denise also shared some of her experiences in Motivational
Interviewing although states she has no formal training, often pulls from this
modality and incorporates this into her counseling sessions. She gravitates toward
more of a strengths based approach with her clients.
Denise shared more insights related to the rewards and biggest challenges of
working as a counselor. She was very passionate in her descriptions about working
with individuals who have limited resources in life or limited opportunities and how
she often aspires to be the one individual that helps them see there is more to them
than what they may have heard or experienced, and to be a listening ear. She
exudes optimism in her work with clients and is most rewarded by seeing these
underprivileged clients achieve success regardless of their circumstances. Denise
also shared the joy she receives in working with kids because she loves being
greeted by children and their resilience considering within the counseling profession
many clients often may not be as delighted to be in therapy and often are carrying
their problems or challenges and it may be demonstrated through their
countenance at the start of each therapy session. She reflected during the interview
the joy she receives from the smiles on their faces, their innocence and overall joy
of life.

Challenges Denise has experienced being a mental health counselor have

been in regards to fewer resources, increased demands such as with Evidenced
Based Practices and paperwork which has become overwhelming. The push for
productivity (pressure to see more clients per hour in order to bill) has triggered
increases in her stress levels and distractibility. She mentioned one internal struggle
is to be present more for her client than present for the demands of her
employer. Denise also shared at times she feels that she is doing less counseling
due to paperwork requirements. She also relayed how funding sources have
impacted her work, with now having to use creativity in ways to provide services for
clients due to limited funding because previous funding sources have been depleted
for Mental Health services. She is also challenged with initiating referrals for clients,
as a result of limited resources and decreases in access to services for clients. She
discussed the changes in Mental Health over the last several years have been
beneficial in weeding out those services of poor quality but also on the contrary
increases the difficulty for those legitimate providers in the community who are
attempting to remain afloat.
Reflecting on the last question of if she were starting over, whether she would
still chose to be a clinical mental health counselor she indicated yes. She shared
how fortunate she feels to have been able to work in the field and conduct therapy
although the manner in which MH services have been provided has changed over
the years. She indicated different choices she would have made such as pursuing
as many certifications as possible to make her more marketable as a
counselor/therapist. She mentioned two certifications in particular she would have
liked to gain such as play therapy and substance abuse. She also stated that she
would be more active in pursing private practice and the ability to be able to
collaboratively work with other professionals, without dependence on the
stipulations of the Local Management Entity to decide what, how, and when services
would be provided. Overall Denise is glad about her choices to be in the field of
counseling and desires to remain in the field. The future awaits and I could not help
but think back on Denises reflections on what was rewarding to her and perhaps as
she progresses forward in the counseling profession, who knows maybe she may
seek out more of advocate counseling role with clients to help those underserved
populations!
Denises reflections were truly profound and I was able to recognize
similarities in the challenges she is facing relative to my mental health experience
as a qualified professional over the last 12 years. I intentionally chose to interview
Denise because she is a seasoned professional and because of her work with
children and families which is also my area of interest. I found her reflections on the
positives such as the rewards of the field to be enlightening and caused me to
pause during the interview and reflect on her response in working with children as
possibly what also motivates me to work with children. The feedback she provided
during this interview is very helpful to me as a counselor in training and provided an
overall spot-on glimpse of what I will be journeying into. Her discussions about the
challenges she faces only leads me to note the high importance of self-care and
burnout prevention as areas I need to attend to. I have much respect for her as a

person and a clinician for her willingness to be transparent about the realities of the
mental health counseling field. The interview painted a picture of how the
counseling field has transformed just in the years she has been a counselor Change
is an inevitable aspect of this journey on a personal level, as a clinician and as a
profession! As ~Denis Waitley states, You must welcome change as the rule but
not as your ruler.