We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Emily Garcia a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Emily thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about the best boss, mentor, or leader you’ve ever worked with.

Almost everyone has had the experience of having a “bad boss.” Maybe it was one that made you feel inadequate or didn’t trust your work. The benefit of those experiences is that when you have an amazing boss, you see them for all that they provide. Although I have had some pretty spectacular bosses overtime, the one that stands out is a woman named Kasey. When I was in my 20’s, I got a job doing child protection work. As you can imagine, this is a job that presents some quite stressful situations. While doing child protection work, I was in school full-time earning my Master in Social Work and I was working the overnight shift. So, to say that I had some anxiety provoking moments is an understatement.
Here I was, a kid who had good intentions and wanted to do the best I could to serve children and their families, but I didn’t always know what I was doing. There were many times that I walked into Kasey’s office and cried from overwhelm. She always stopped, listened, and made me feel heard. Kasey had a way of using her strength, knowledge, and compassion to provide me with the mentorship I needed.
During my first month as a child protection caseworker, I had to remove a child from their family due to child neglect. When we would remove children, the next step was to schedule a sit down meeting with the family to see if we could come up with a collaborative plan. During this meeting, it came out that there was a restraining order between parents and that I had made a mistake in putting everyone in the same room. The grandmother who was present turned toward me and started screaming that I was incompetent. My mind was racing and I didn’t know what to say. Right in that moment, Kasey stepped in and in the calmest voice acknowledged the frustration, defended me, and created a plan to move everyone around in order to make things right. She deescalated a highly volatile situation in a matter of seconds. I remember thinking, “I need to remember exactly what Kasey just did.” I was so grateful.
I’ve always looked younger than I am and this didn’t bode well when I showed up to investigate parents and caregivers. I was frequently asked about my age. Kasey taught me that the families weren’t concerned about my actual age. I could’ve been 85 years old and they would have questioned me. What they were really concerned about was if I wanted to understand them. I will always remember the day that Kasey told me, “No one knows a child better than their own parent.” This didn’t always mean that people were able to do right by their children, but the majority of the time, people did know their children in a way that the rest of the world wouldn’t.
I went on to become a therapist, then a manager of therapists. Over the years, I have passed forward so much of the wisdom that Kasey imparted on me. Kasey’s leadership lives on through me as I do my best to show up and be authentic and compassionate with my team.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I am a group practice owner and therapist at Tribe Mind and Body Wellness. My first experience in therapy was when I was 15 and it changed my life. I wanted to do for other people what my therapist did for me, so my life trajectory was created. I worked as a therapist in a community mental health setting for 11 years before opening Tribe. I decided to name the business Tribe Mind Body Wellness because we all need to feel a sense of belonging and as though we are part of a tribe. And, our wellness is made up of our mental, physical, and spiritual health.
Tribe has a unique organizational culture that sets us apart from other group therapy practices. Within the group, we foster a growth-minded attitude that is safe and supportive. Each therapist in the practice seeks personal growth, so that they may be their best selves for their clients. Our services are moderately priced, offering excellent services, including workshops, retreats, and mental health therapy to individuals, groups, children and adults. We work with kids as young as 4 years old and people up to ANY age. We love working with people who are ready to commit to being open and trying new tools that they learn from a Tribe therapist. Our clients often report that they no longer feel that they are alone in their struggles.

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

To become a licensed therapist, you have to go to college, get a masters degree in a related field, spend two years gaining experience in the field under a qualified supervisor, and take an exam. It is a pretty intensive process. Then, when you get your license, you have to be ready to continually learn and grow. So, on our team, we have people trained in Eye Movement Desensitization Therapy (EMDR), Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Gestalt Psychology, Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP), and so much more.

However, nothing compares to the skill of showing up with compassion and an ability to fully tune into our clients needs. My entire team continually works to improve their therapeutic modalities, by attending trainings and doing consultation work. But it is just as important that we take care of ourselves so that when our clients walk in the door, they are the 100% focus of our attention.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

When I was 15 years old, I was removed from my home after I disclosed abuse by my stepfather. Eventually, my older sister became my kinship foster parent and helped me to get my life on track. While going through the process of testifying against my stepfather in court (he was sentenced to 18 years in prison), I improved academically, attended therapy, and found joy in my life. Within 2 years, I was accepted to a really excellent private college and was able to create beautiful friendships.

I learned that even though our past is an incredibly important part of our story, it doesn’t define us. We have a choice in how we want to utilize our story and I chose to allow it to propel me into a life where I could use my experience and passion to help others.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.tribemindbody.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tribemindbodywellness/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/emilytribemindbody
• Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-garcia-tribe
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/tribe-mind-body-wellness-lakewood

Image Credits
Tara Visconti & Chris Valiant