We recently connected with Breanna Gronli and have shared our conversation below.

Breanna , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

Taking a risk is something that is very hard for me to do. I enjoy consistency, so when a friend mentioned I should go back to school and get my Masters in Social Work (MSW) I laughed at them. For several years I was told this and then finally one day I took the leap. I am forever grateful I took this giant leap of faith because if I hadn’t I would still be at a job where I felt I was drowning. I am still in awe as I look back at my MSW journey, so many doors opened for me as I trusted the process. It became clear with every step I was on my right path and finally doing what I was put on this Earth to do. Help others. I look back at photos in 2018/2019 and I don’t even recognize myself, I was that lost. Taking a risk can be very scary but it also comes with big rewards when you just allow God to be in control.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a therapist working at Sojourn Counseling Group and primarily work with children. I am currently in the process of becoming certified for play therapy and Somatic Experience (learning to work with the nervous system and heal the body). I began my career in the social work world by working at the county level in various capacities. I am sort of a jack of all trades I feel at times. I worked for a total of 7 years as a rule 25 assessor, child protection investigator and ongoing worker, Guardian ad Litem for both children’s court and family court, and as a resource coordinator for youth transitioning into adulthood. Each and every one of these jobs taught me skills and lessons along the way. I eventually was tired of being in a role where kids still view you as part of their trauma story and I wanted to be on the other side of the healing and give them tools and support in a different way. I am grateful for my time at the county and everything I learned, it has lead to me the therapist I am today.

When working with kids going through foster care/adoption I am able to relate due to my own adoption at the age of 10. I was in the foster care system since age 7 and had a rough start to life. I use the lotus flower as a symbol in my work due to its resilience and sign of strength. Lotus flowers are able to bloom out of the muddiest and darkest parts of earth and so can those who come from a tough beginning. We may start in mud but that doesn’t mean we can’t bloom and blossom into something beautiful. After years and years of my own therapy I am not able to use my past as a way to relate and help parents understand the trauma their children have gone through. Along with working as a therapist I have also been given an amazing opportunity to partner with Foster Adopt MN and present on all things trauma. I also speak on panels and give insight to foster and adoptive parents. I am very passionate about learning and teaching about trauma and it affects. I say trauma is like a fingerprint, we all have own unique experience.

It just takes one caring adult to make a difference in a child’s life and this creates a ripple affect for years to come. I always think about how different my life would be had I not been given my own ripple affects throughout my 33 years of life. I use this to be able to connect and be there not only for the child affected by the trauma in their life but also for the parents who just need support and some guidance.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

As stated previously I was adopted at the age of 10. Previous to being adopted I was homeless and experienced abuse on several levels. I was then removed from my birth mother and placed into foster care at the age of 7. I thought I was safe, but as it turns out this foster home was also very abusive on all levels. It wasn’t until I was adopted that I knew the abuse I had endured isn’t normal. I was finally in a safe environment and shown what healthy parenting and love look like. To this day I still have very hard moments and struggle at times, but because of my therapies in the past and supports I am able to be on top and in control where before I was merely surviving. I now get to live and trust in the safety I have created. If I hadn’t been adopted who knows where I would be. I always joke I should be addicted to drugs like my birth mother, homeless, kids removed from me, and most likely dead at this point. However, God wasn’t done with me and he was using me in ways I could never have imagined. I now get to use my painful past as way to help others and relate on a different level. I am resilient but it took years for me to get to this stage in my life and it didn’t come easy.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

When growing my clientele, I believe in being myself. I am quite quirky and will be a loud voice as needed for the kids I work with. Kids’ voices are often silenced and they have no control over what is happening in their world. Kids are smart and resilient in their own right, and they often don’t get enough credit. I am honored to work with the kids I do and to teach them they can be confident, strong, smart, brave, and so much more. I believe I have a unique perspective in working with them and this allows for me to connect with them differently as well as the parents. I always tell parents the work I do with the children is quiet insignificant because the work they do at home is far more important. I believe it really is a team effort and when we can all come together for the sake of their child, it makes the work that much more effective.  

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sojourncounselinggroup.com/ and https://www.bloomingwithbre.org/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bgronli/ or blooming with bre is my business page

Image Credits
All my own