We recently connected with Brooke Glahn and have shared our conversation below.

Brooke, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What was your school or training experience like? Share an anecdote or two that you feel illustrate important aspects or the overall nature of your schooling/training experience.

Graduate school was transformative both intellectually and personally. During my first week of graduate school I learned I was getting a divorce. We were a young couple who grew up religious and had followed the path that was laid out before. The path was to get married and have kids and we did that all pretty quickly. As we were together we discovered that the religion no longer fit our values and as we left the church are marriage followed. In my masters program we were encouraged to not only learn about the mental health profession and how to become counselors but we were asked to be pretty vulnerable with our cohort and do a lot of inner self work. I learned how to open up and lean on others for support. I learned how to set healthy boundaries. I learned how to listen with unconditional positive regard for the people I got to work with and help. Not only did I get to learn how the brain works and how to become a counselor but I got to grow on a personal level that I never expected that I would get our of a graduate program. I think the experience helped me understand what it’s like to be a client in the room and the difficult work it takes to open up to a stranger to help discover more of yourself and the areas that need healing. It also wasn’t easy being a single mom with two kids under 5 at the time but the training that I received during my classes, practicum, and internship and the University of Wyoming helped shape me during such a transitional time.

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?

Listening to others stories and connecting with them on a deeper level has probably been a passion of mine since I can remember. I grew up as the youngest of five, constantly observing behaviors and relationships and figuring out how to support others. I am a mom of two kids that are now ages 8 and 11, they are constantly growing and evolving and I think they are pretty awesome individuals. I have a very supportive partner that I started dating the day after my masters graduation and I think we make an excellent team. I’m very proud to be a mental health provider. I started my internship at the University of Wyoming Counseling Center and ended up getting a full time job their after graduation. I had excellent supervision and experiences during that time that helped shape me into the counselor I have become and I recently decided to start my own private practice a year ago. As a passionate and Licensed Professional Counselor my experience allows me to understand the best ways to address each client’s needs in an effective manner. I am flexible in my approach and use collaboration as the basis of my therapy—ensuring a comfortable, safe environment where we can work together. I love supporting clients with increasing their self esteem, improving communication in relationships, boundary setting, and also working through trauma, anxiety, and depression. I enjoy connecting with the people I work with and I deeply care about each of them. I have enjoyed starting my own practice and look forward to continuing to support individuals within my community.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I think having relationships with the University and the awesome therapists in my community has really helped build my practice and get the word out. I’ve worked with a lot of University students and word gets around in this small town. I think the word is that they know I care and that I’ll do my best to help.

Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?

I would absolutely choose the same profession. I guess if I could go back I would maybe try and encourage my younger self to pursue becoming a mental health counselor earlier however the timing of it all felt right and the experiences that led me to this field support my background knowledge and personal life experience that I think makes me the counselor that I am today.

Contact Info:

• Website: openbooklpc.com