We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Brooke Kettering. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Brooke below.
Alright, Brooke thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you share an anecdote or story from your schooling/training that you feel illustrates what the overall experience was like?
I went to Pacifica Graduate Institute for my master’s degree. I had never heard of it, and was somewhat judgmental toward anything that wasn’t a ‘research based’ institution. I followed my intuition, and the fact that it allowed me to maintain my full time job in San Diego, and enrolled. I grew so much from the experience. It was so different from my science background at a research university (UC San Diego) and allowed me to integrate the mystical/spiritual aspects of healing and wellness with my already established cognitive neuroscience/psychology background.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My father was a psychologist and my mother studied psycholinguistics, so I was raised around people who asked a lot of analytical questions, and was aware of psychology as a career path. Through my own life experiences, I decided that becoming a therapist would be something I could be fulfilled by, be proud of, and would allow me the flexibility to create a good work/life balance. I had psychedelic experiences as a teenager that I knew were helpfully psychologically and in getting to know who “I” am and who I wanted to be. I knew that one day I wanted to help others use these substances to have their own experiences, but had no idea how I would get there or achieve that. With the recent changes in laws around various formerly illicit substances, that is finally becoming a reality. I have been doing ketamine assisted therapy for 2 years, and will be starting as a clinician for research on a phase 3 clinical trial of psilocybin this year.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I had to unlearn the idea that I needed to follow some predetermined, well laid path. Both of my parents have PhDs and studied hard sciences, so I had to allow myself to study something much more ethereal (Jungian psychology) and to let go of the idea that I needed to have the highest degree in order to be taken seriously and serve my life’s purpose. I also had to be discrete about my beliefs regarding psychedelics and cannabis earlier on in my career, as that was before there was such wide acceptance and excitement around these compounds. I had to trust my intuition, my experience, and my self knowledge in order to pursue a path that was somewhat off trail :) I was also terrified of starting a private practice, as it seemed risky and uncertain. I had to learn to trust myself, much through the support of my own therapist at the time, to take the leap.
If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?
Absolutely 100%. I would even choose the same graduate program :) If I could go back, I would probably have started my private practice right after getting licensed.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://brooke-kettering.clientsecure.me/?mld=1838164a4930-0e61927d4-2b0d580f-49a10-1838164a4950
- Instagram: @brookeariellelmft
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brooke.kettering/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brooke-kettering-ma-lmft-4475b94a/