We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Katherine Zeigert. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Katherine below.
Katherine , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. 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.
Thank you for having me, always a pleasure. Founding my own practice was a big risk I took about a year and a half ago, and I have not looked back once. Founding my own practice had been a long-term goal of mine since undergrad, I just did not expect to reach it this early in my career. I would be lying if I said I was “ready” to take the leap when I founded Monarch Therapy LLC back in October 2021. Right out of grad school I started doing outpatient therapy as an independent contractor with a local private practice, and soon was offered another contract with a local domestic violence shelter. I loved the work I was doing, what I did not love was the ethical standards and values of the practice I worked for. As a social worker, professional values and ethics have always been extremely important to me. I am a strong believer that social work is political, and by staying silent in times of injustice you are taking the side of the oppressor. I maintained my own personal and professional values and ethics, but I knew I would be fighting an uphill battle as long as I remained in that practice. In addition, in the span of about a year I had lost three close family members all while trying to cope with the pandemic. Those experiences really put things in perspective for me and I knew it was time to take a leap! I founded my practice with the promise to myself, future employees and clients that I am committed to running an ethical practice and I will never stop advocating for my clients and at-risk populations within our country and I haven’t looked back!
Katherine , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Of course. Social Work is my career, and also a huge part of who I am as a person. First and foremost, I want all future and/or potential clients to know that priority number one for me will always be providing a safe space for you no matter your gender identity, sexual orientation, race, etc. Secondly, I will always advocate for my clients and their rights inside and outside of our sessions. I am a strong believer that as a social worker my work does not stop at my office. My work includes protesting against mine and my client’s rights being taken away, voting for candidates that are also going to fight for your rights, etc.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
Absolutely. I am a survivor of childhood sexual abuse. It took me roughly a decade to tell anyone, and even now only my spouse and my own therapist know the full extent. Heck, that is one of (if not the first) time that I have written/said that statement. Honestly it still scares me to say that statement out loud, unfortunately there is still stigma attached to it. I coped with this trauma alone for nearly my entire childhood, and although I would never wish that pain on my worst enemy, I am thankful for the resilience I built during those years. This has been a hurdle that has tried to stand in my way numerous times through the years, primarily during grad school and my clinical work. For years I saw it as a weakness, as if it was a blemish or flaw of mine. Over time I made the decision that I was not going to allow it to define me, or my practice as a clinical social worker. It is far from a flaw, my resilience is a huge part of the woman and clinician I am today and I fully intend on using my experience to further advocate fiercely for my clients and provide them the professional support I wish I would have had as a child.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
The time that immediately comes to mind is the pandemic. I, like many others, never expected to live through a pandemic. Therefore, I never considered how I would have to adjust my career, business and life accordingly. The first week of March 2020, I lost my grandmother suddenly. The very next week, the world shut down. I truly believed at the time that the shut down was temporary. I remember grabbing a few things from my office that first week thinking “I won’t need much, I’m sure we’ll be back in the office in about two weeks or so”. Boy was I wrong! Once it became apparent that life was not returning to normal anytime soon, I had no choice but to pivot. Other than my family’s and my own health, my biggest concern was how to keep my client’s safe while also ensuring continuity of care. I had never done telehealth sessions before, but I knew it was my best and really my only option at the time so I took the leap. That period of life required an immense amount of patience, care and resilience from us all. It certainly was not ideal, or easy, but I am thankful that I had the ability to pivot and thankful that the pandemic resulted in a necessary increase of accessibility for clients.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.monarchtherapykzoo.com
- Instagram: @monarchtherapykzoo
Image Credits
Enna Photos